Side in one paragraph, before you plan anything
Side sits on a small peninsula with a Roman town still standing inside it — a colonnaded street, a theatre, marble blocks between the shops — and sand running away on both sides. East of it the Manavgat river comes out of the mountains; inland the Taurus range closes the view from every hotel balcony. That geography is already the whole holiday: water in front of you, ruins under your feet, and a second, greener landscape behind you.
So the planning question here is not what there is to do, but how many days go to the coast and how many go inland. Decide that early and the week takes care of itself: the beach and the old town need no booking, and two or three days go to whatever needs a vehicle and a driver who knows the tracks.
The beach and the ancient town, the days you do not need to book
The old town is walkable end to end and the ruins are not fenced off from daily life — you pass them on the way to dinner. The temple columns at the tip of the peninsula are the sunset spot everyone eventually finds. Go once early for the quiet and once at dusk for the light; neither visit costs you a tour.
Sand runs both west and east of the peninsula, which is why hotels here talk about a west beach and an east beach rather than one strip. Entrance arrangements and ticket prices for the enclosed archaeological areas change, and we do not publish numbers we cannot stand behind — ask at your hotel desk on the morning you go.
The river: Manavgat, the waterfall and a working Turkish town
East of Side the Manavgat river drops over a wide ledge before it reaches the sea: a broad, loud, low waterfall rather than a tall one, with tea gardens around it. Manavgat itself is a working town on a river rather than a resort — the everyday Turkey nearest the hotel belt.
Our jeep safari sometimes stops at the waterfall on the way home, entrance paid on the spot, but that stop depends on the day's programme and we will not promise it in writing. If the waterfall is what you came for, make it its own outing.
Green Canyon: the water behind the mountains, and the day we run to it
The emerald water people photograph in this region is the reservoir behind the Oymapınar dam — a gorge filled to the rim, which is why it reads green rather than sea blue. It sits inland, above the resort belt, and no beach road goes there: a vehicle and a driver who knows the tracks are the practical way in.
That is our full-day Side jeep safari: eight hours, EUR 20 per adult, EUR 10 for children aged 4 to 12, free for infants 0 to 3, hotel pickup and drop-off included, and lunch at a lakeside restaurant by the canyon included in the price. You travel in a convoy of open-top 4x4s carrying eight to ten guests each with a professional driver — the old Roman bridge where the asphalt ends, orange, lemon and pomegranate orchards, cotton and sesame fields, ancient aqueducts, a panoramic viewpoint over the lake, a swim stop with freshly made Turkish pancakes at Oymapınar village, a photo stop at the dam wall and the viewpoint above the canyon.
After lunch there is exactly one optional extra: a one-hour boat trip on the lake at EUR 5 per person, paid on the day, bringing the whole day to EUR 25 per adult. You decide at the water, not now.
The mountains and the villages behind the resorts
Inland the landscape turns to pine, rock and small farming villages, and this is the part of a beach week that surprises people. The jeep day includes a village mosque visit with the guide and a village break where a small zoo can be entered on a separate ticket. In the foothills there is a chance of passing nomadic Yörük families — a chance, not a scheduled stop.
Two operational facts belong in the diary before a mountain day. Summer departures include water fights between the jeeps, so assume everything you carry gets wet; winter runs use covered jeeps with no water games. The tracks are bumpy in places — mention back or neck problems before you board.
White water in Köprülü Canyon
The rafting river is the Köprülü, up in the canyon of the same name, and it is genuine white water rather than a float: Grade II to III on the stretch our boats run, with helmets, paddles and life jackets provided and professional guiding through the run. A Roman-era bridge still crosses the river at Oluk.
We sell it as a jeep-and-rafting day, because the drive up is half the point. From Side that is seven hours at EUR 28 per adult and EUR 17 per child, with an approximately 12 km track and lunch included. From Evrenseki, Kumköy and Manavgat it is nine hours at EUR 40 per adult and EUR 24 per child, adding the off-road jeep section, riverside lunch and the full rafting kit; the Evrenseki and Kumköy days also carry activity insurance, and the Kumköy day includes a swim stop in the canyon water. Age bands throughout: infants 0 to 3, children 4 to 11, adults 12 and over.
Evenings, and the one day that leaves the Side area
The night jeep safari is the evening version of the mountain day: five hours, EUR 35, for guests aged 12 and over, early June to mid-November, with pickup in the late afternoon, dinner on board a catamaran, music and a swim at the lake. Guests do not drive the jeeps, and the tour is not suitable for people with mobility impairments — a design limit, not a formality.
Staying further east? The Alanya jeep safari to the Dim River is the same idea in another valley: eight hours, EUR 30 per adult and EUR 17 per child, April to November, with pickup across the Alanya area between Kestel and Okurcalar, waterfall and dam photo stops, a village and mosque visit and lunch on a riverside platform. Pickup there is in Alanya, not Side.
Putting a week together without wasting days
A shape that works for seven days: two or three days for the beach and the old town at your own pace, one full inland day for the jeep safari, one rafting day if the ages in your group allow it, one evening tour, and the rest left empty. What does not work is stacking two full-day trips back to back with small children — the jeep day is eight hours and the rafting days seven to nine.
Booking here is deliberately low-commitment: reservations are free, no card is taken online, you pay in euros on the day, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before departure. Hotel pickup and drop-off is included on every day: from Side and the surrounding resort areas on the Side departures, and from its own resort belt on each of the other days. Guiding runs in English, German, Russian and Turkish.
- Beach and old town: free, no booking, best early in the morning or at dusk
- Jeep safari to Green Canyon: 8 hours, EUR 20 adult, EUR 10 child 4-12, infants 0-3 free, lunch included
- Optional Green Lake boat hour: EUR 5 per person paid on the day, EUR 25 per adult all in
- Rafting and jeep from Side: 7 hours, EUR 28 adult, EUR 17 child
- Rafting and jeep from Evrenseki, Kumköy or Manavgat: 9 hours, EUR 40 adult, EUR 24 child
- Night jeep safari with catamaran dinner: 5 hours, EUR 35, ages 12 and over, early June to mid-November
- Alanya Dim River jeep safari: 8 hours, EUR 30 adult, EUR 17 child, April to November, Alanya-area pickup