'''Aegean Turkey''' (''Ege Bolgesi'') is in Turkey. It occupies western part of the country, including the western coast (Aegean Sea coast) across a wide arch of Greek islands and some places more inland.

Regions

  • Central Aegean ? Izmir and its vicinity with lots of history
  • Northern Aegean ? milder climate than the south with olive groves everywhere
  • Southern Aegean ? crystal clear torqouise sea, verdant pine forests
  • Cities

  • Izmir ? Turkey_fs third biggest city, and a beautiful coastal one. Undeniably the capital of the region.
  • Ayvalik ? a pleasant town in the north with distinctlively Greek/neo-classical architecture everywhere.
  • Bergama ? located near the ruins of the ancient city of Pergamon.
  • Bodrum ? nice and trendy resort known for its castle and/or _gfoam parties_h.
  • Ce?me ? town on the westernmost tip of Turkey.
  • Denizli ? hub to Roman sites such as Pamukkale, Hierapolis, Aphrodisias in southeastern Aegean Region.
  • Fethiye ? a town in the south, surrounded by verdant mountains and torqouise sea. Gateway to Oludeniz?the Blue Lagoon.
  • Kusadasi ? a resort town with the citadel on an island. Has a large harbour used by ships cruising around Mediterranean.
  • Marmaris ? a little touristy, but nice resort. One of the gateways for _gBlue Voyage_h.
  • Other destinations

  • Dalyan ? miles of channels meandering around marshlands, beach where endangered caretta caretta turtles lay eggs, and nearby rock tombs engraved on hillsides.
  • Ephesus ? once the capital of Roman province of Asia Minor, now one of the Roman sites that are in best condition in Turkey.
  • Oludeniz ? the _gBlue Lagoon_h.
  • Pamukkale ? the _gcotton castle_h, white world of travertines.
  • Understand

    Talk

    Turkish is the native language in the region. But as tourism is one of the main industries of this region, finding someone who can communicate in English or German to a lesser degree is generally not a problem.

    Get in

  • Most of the tourism-oriented towns have direct '''bus''' services from many other important centres of the country, such as Istanbul.
  • The major '''airports''' of this region are located in/near Izmir, Bodrum, and Dalaman. All handle a number of international flights as well as much more frequent domestic (national) flights.
  • All major coastal towns have '''ferry''' links with the nearest Greek islands.
  • Major hub of the region for '''rail''' transport is Izmir.
  • Get around

    See

    This is the region with the highest concentration of '''ancient city''' ruins in Turkey. At every 10 or so kilometers, you_fll come across with another ancient city. Some, such as Ephesus, still exhibit much of their former glory, while many others are nothing more than a pile of collapsed marble columns at first sight, awaiting excavation. Even most of still-inhabited cities and towns (such as Izmir, Bodrum, Bergama to name a few) are merely modern versions of ancient cities. It_fs hard to find a city ''younger'' than 3000 years old in this region.

    Do

    Eat

    Drink

    Get out

    If the sea, sun, and ancient cities here are not enough, why not moving on southeast to Mediterranean Turkey?