Alaçatı



Alaçatı (pronounced aa-LAA-chaa-tuh) is a village in Central Aegean, just east of Çeşme, on the peninsula jutting out into the Aegean Sea.

Understand
It was called Agrilia and inhabited by local Greeks until 1920s. Alaçatı was long forgotten until 1990s when it started to attract Turkish intellectuals yearning for a peaceful, rural haven. Since 2000s, it is much trendier and has a wider visitor profile, which includes many windsurfers.

By bus
Buses departing from Izmir's Otogar (main bus station) heading for Çeşme&mdash;the principal town of the peninsula&mdash;calls at Alaçatı. The buses are run by, with one and a half hour intervals between 6:30AM and 7:30PM during off-season, most likely more frequent during summer. Buses depart from platform 141 (upper floor) of Izmir Otogar, and there is a ticket office inside the building, close to the platform. Some buses also call at Fahrettin Altay bus station, located just next to the İstinyePark mall.

There are also minibuses (dolmuş) from Çeşme, and Ilıca every 15-30 minutes depending on the time of the day and the season.

By car
Alaçatı lies very close to O-31, a motorway (toll-road) with 3-lanes per direction linking Izmir with Çeşme. It takes around 45 minutes to get to the village from Izmir, which lies 72 km east of Alaçatı.

The village lies 8 km east of Çeşme.

Get around
The beach on the windsurfing cove, which lies about 2 km south of village, is connected to village centre by minibuses (dolmuş).

Buy
There is a lively street market held every Saturday, with fresh fruit and vegetables, clothes, and various other products on the offer.

Eat

 * Pide — Turkish pizza, available at everywhere, and mostly tasty, but you should definitely taste the ones at Babylon Aya Yorgi beach.
 * Fish — Definitely there are many alternatives for fish restaurants in Alaçatı and around nearby Çeşme as well. Dalyan is a very close village where locals prefer to dine in. Do not forget to try Turkish raki with fish.

Connect
Alaçatı and its approach highway between Izmir and Çeşme have 4G from all Turkish carriers. As of Sept 2022, 5G has not been rolled out in Turkey.