Kızılot → Side Transfer

Kızılot to Side private transfer

Kızılot is where the coast between Manavgat and Alanya turns into a row of large beach hotels, and staying in one of them means having nearly everything inside the gate except history. Side is the closest place that has plenty of it: a Roman theatre that still towers over the town, the agora and the colonnaded street, and the Temple of Apollo out on the point with the harbour restaurants just behind. The plan guests have in mind hardly varies: an afternoon among the stones, a meal by the water, back in the room before midnight. At 21 km it is far too long to walk and a chore by highway minibus with children in tow, so it is usually done by car.

The drive is 21 km and takes about 25 minutes. From the hotel gate the car joins the D400 and runs west, past Kızılağaç and the turnings down to Titreyengöl and Sorgun, all of them towards the sea. The one place that slows things is Manavgat, where the highway goes straight through town and over the river bridge, sharing it with local traffic. West of the river the car leaves the D400 for the road south to Side and stops at the car park by the bus station, where the car-free old town begins.

• Agree a fixed return time when you book the ride in, because a car can be arranged for a set hour far more easily than found at the edge of the old town late in the evening.
• If you would rather the driver stayed through the afternoon than came back for you, ask for waiting time at booking; it is arranged then, not on the day.
• The ruins are open ground with little shade, so in summer a late-afternoon departure from Kızılot gives you the stones in softer light and the harbour at dinner time.
• Give the full name of your hotel rather than just Kızılot: the strip runs for kilometres, and the driver needs the right gate.