Alanya Castle and Cable Car

Alanya Castle is the reason the town exists in its present form. A rocky peninsula rises about 250 metres out of the Mediterranean, and in the early thirteenth century the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad turned it into a fortress city, ringing the hill with walls that run for several kilometres and carrying dozens of towers. Inside are the remains of an inner citadel, cisterns, a small Byzantine church, an Ottoman mosque and a caravanserai, and below the walls the old Ottoman quarter of Ehmedek still clings to the slope. The tour linked here combines the castle with the cable car, which spares you the steepest part of the climb and gives you a bird's-eye view of Cleopatra Beach on the way up.

Most visitors start with the cable car, which climbs from the beach side of the peninsula in a few minutes and drops you at the hillside café terrace. From there it is a gentle walk, partly shaded and partly open, to the castle gate and then upward through the outer defences. The walls are the great feature: they follow the ridge line, drop to the sea on the south side, and give you constantly changing views over the harbour, the Red Tower, the beaches on both sides and the Taurus Mountains piled up behind the town.

Take your time at the viewpoints, because the light over the water changes the whole picture within half an hour.

The inner citadel, known as the Ic Kale, holds the most interesting remains. You can see the ruined Byzantine church with traces of its frescoes, the old cisterns that supplied the garrison, and the Suleymaniye Mosque and small caravanserai that date from the Ottoman centuries. Signs are mostly in Turkish and English, and a guide adds a great deal here, because the stones themselves do not explain who built what.

The legendary spot on the headland is the cliff edge where, so the story goes, prisoners were once thrown into the sea. It is a short extra walk and the view straight down to the water is dramatic.

Practical planning matters in summer, when the stone holds the heat. Go early in the morning or in the late afternoon, wear shoes with grip because the paths are worn and uneven, and carry water since drinks inside the walls cost more than in town. Hours vary by season and the cable car does not run in poor weather, so check on the day if you are travelling out of season.

Many of the combined tours also stop at the Red Tower, the Damlatas Cave and Cleopatra Beach, so you can see most of the headland in a half day without hurrying.

Come back at dusk if you can. The castle hill empties, the town lights come on along the coast, and the walls glow in the last of the sun. Couples tend to prefer this time, while families with small children usually do better in the morning when it is cooler.

Whatever time you choose, give yourself at least two hours including the cable car queue, the walk up and a coffee stop. It is the most rewarding single outing in Alanya and the best way to understand how the town is laid out before you explore it on foot.