Is Marmaris worth visiting?

Is Marmaris worth visiting?It certainly is! There’s much more to Marmaris than just sitting on the beach. Its lush, green forests are ideal for outdoor sports such as cycling and horse riding, the sea hosts a whole myriad of water sports, the cafe and restaurants along the sea front have British as well as European and local Turkish cuisine and the bars and nightclubs come alive after dusk with their various entertainments.

Nature in Marmaris

Marmaris has outstanding natural beauty and even has its own national park set in ancient Physkos and Amos where you can find a variety of plants – pine, wild olive, oak and plane trees, oleander bushes and black locust trees with the edible locust beans used to make carob. If you want to see some wildlife, Iztuzu Beach is the place where loggerhead turtles lay their eggs on a protected area of the beach and you can see them swimming if you go on a boat trip.

Historical Sights of Marmaris

The boat ride along the Dalyan canal is popular with daytrippers, from there you can see the carved Lycian Tombs of the Kings of Kaunos. Marmaris castle, which was used by Suleyman the Magnificent as a military base and suffered damage during WWI, is now restored and has an interesting archaeology museum. North of Marmaris is Kedrai Ancient City on Sedir island, which is better to visit in spring or autumn to avoid the heat and crowds. The ancient city was inhabited in the 6th century and has a Roman Theatre with a capacity of 2,500 people, a church, the Apollon temple and the remains of an agora surrounded by city walls.

What to do in the evenings?

If you’re still feeling energetic after all that sightseeing, there’s lots to do in the evenings. In fact, you can even party until dawn! Whether you prefer to make yourself at home and have fish and chips while watching football on TV or if you want to try the local Turkish cuisine, menus are varied in Marmaris and its surrounding region. The Turkish kebab is most people’s image of local cuisine but there are other things to try like Gözleme – thinly rolled bread dough with fillings of spinach, potato, mince or cheese cooked on a large metal plate over a fire. Or there’s the traditional breakfast bagel known as ‘simit’, plain or with a filling of cheese, cucumber and tomato. There are cheap, mid-range and plush restaurants along the coast or at the harbour.

Long beach is a nice place to walk in the evenings, listening to the sound of the waves. The promenade that runs parallel to this beach has karaoke bars, pubs, nightclubs and Turkish taverns, called ‘meyhane’s, where Turkish music is played and local drinks like rakı and şalgam are served. Marmaris Bar Street is popular with singles and groups, boasting laser shows with dancers and foam parties, live music and DJ’s playing everything from pop to techno to reggae until 5am.