Side → Alara Castle Transfer

Side to Alara Castle private transfer

Most of the trip to Alara is about a single rock. It rises out of the river valley a few kilometres back from the coast, and the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad took the fortress on its summit in the early 1230s, then had a caravanserai built at its foot for the trade roads running inland. Alarahan is that caravanserai: a long, low stone building on the flat ground right beside the road, while a few hundred metres away the castle walls climb the crag. Guests from Side usually give it a morning — the han, the climb, the view down the Alara valley towards the sea — and are often back by the pool before the afternoon heat sets in.

The drive is 35 km and takes about 35 minutes. From the Side peninsula the car joins the D400 at Manavgat and runs east towards Alanya, past the turnings for Kızılağaç and Kızılot, with the fields and orchards of the coastal plain on one side and the Taurus foothills drawing closer on the other. At Okurcalar it leaves the highway and heads inland up the valley, the river alongside and the slopes closing in, until the han appears at the roadside with the rock standing up behind it. On the way back the beaches of Okurcalar and İncekum are a few minutes off the same highway, İncekum a little further east, so a swim fits easily between the castle and the hotel.

• Wear shoes with grip and carry water: the way up is a steep passage cut through the rock, the steps are worn and there is almost no shade on the crag, so in summer go early in the day.
• Parts of the rock-cut stairway have collapsed, so judge the climb on the spot and leave it out with small children; the han and the riverbank are worth the trip on their own.
• Waiting time at the han or a return pickup at an agreed hour can be arranged when you book, so give a rough idea of how long you want to stay.
• Mention a beach stop at Okurcalar or İncekum when you book, so the return leg is planned around it rather than squeezed in on the day.