Alanya Mountains: The Banana Orchards, Dim River Gorge, Sapadere Canyon, the Taurus Mountain Villages, and the Back Country Above the Resort Strip
The Alanya mountains route covers the banana orchards on the Taurus foothills, the Dim River gorge with the reservoir restaurant rafts, the Sapadere Canyon trekking and swimming, the Taurus mountain villages above the resort strip, and the dramatic landscape contrast between the Mediterranean coast and the mountain interior.
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Banana Orchards: The Alanya Tropical Microclimate
The Alanya banana orchards on the south-facing Taurus foothill slopes between 50 and 300 meters altitude above the resort strip are the most unexpected single agricultural landscape on the Turkish coast, where the banana plants with the large paddle leaves create the most tropical-looking single agriculture zone in Turkey outside the Antalya greenhouse industry. The microclimate created by the Taurus Mountains blocking the cold northern air and the Mediterranean thermal mass moderating the winter temperature allows the banana cultivation that has been commercially productive in the Alanya area since the 1930s. The Alanya banana is the sweetest single banana variety produced in Turkey.
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Dim River: The Mountain Gorge and the Lake Restaurant
The Dim River gorge 11 kilometers from Alanya central, where the Dim River descends from the Taurus Mountains through the limestone gorge to the Dim Dam reservoir, provides the most completely integrated single nature excursion from the Alanya resort: the Dim Cave stalactite cave at the gorge entrance, the restaurant platforms floating on the Dim Dam reservoir serving the fresh mountain trout, and the hiking path along the gorge wall above the river for the most scenic single walking trail in the Alanya mountain hinterland. The Dim Dam lake is stocked with rainbow and brown trout from the state hatchery and the trout fishing is the most popular single sport fishing activity above the Alanya resort.
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Sapadere Canyon: The Swimming Gorge
Sapadere Canyon, 26 kilometers north of Alanya at the Sapadere village at the foot of the Taurus mountains, is the most visited single trekking and swimming destination in the Alanya mountain hinterland with the narrow limestone gorge where the cold spring-fed stream flows at knee depth through the 100-meter-high walls and the wooden walkway allows the gorge traverse without swimming. The Sapadere Canyon is more dramatic in scale than the Alanya city-side canyon excursions and the combination of the mountain village lunch at the Sapadere village restaurant and the canyon swim is the most refreshing single mountain day excursion from the eastern Riviera resorts.
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Taurus Villages: The Mountain Community Above the Resort
The Taurus mountain villages above Alanya including Gundogmus, Guneykoy, and Akseki maintain the most traditional single highland village life within 1 hour of a major resort city in Turkey with the stone village houses, the terraced goat herding, the highland vegetable agriculture, and the village black mulberry jam and the mountain herb teas that the villagers sell at the roadside stands on the mountain road above Alanya. The contrast between the 5-star all-inclusive resort life on the Cleopatra Beach and the traditional mountain village life 40 minutes above is the most dramatically social-geographic single contrast available in any Turkish resort destination.
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Sorgun Pine Forest: The Eastern Riviera Nature Reserve
The Sorgun Pine Forest at Titreyengol, 25 kilometers west of Alanya between Side and Manavgat, is the only surviving natural woodland on the Turkish Riviera resort coast with the Taurus black pine and the maquis shrub ecosystem forming the most ecologically significant single coastal nature reserve between Antalya and Alanya. The Titreyengol brackish lake at the forest edge is an important bird habitat with the purple heron, the pygmy cormorant, and the kingfisher nesting in the reed beds alongside the most developed single beach resort hotel strip on the eastern Riviera.
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Alanya to Antalya: The Western Riviera Drive
The Alanya to Antalya coastal highway drive of 135 kilometers along the D400 through the Taurus coastal range with the sea views, the citrus orchards, the greenhouse agriculture, and the resort hotel clusters of Incekum, Side, Manavgat, Belek, and Serik is the most scenically varied single coastal drive on the Turkish Riviera. The Aspendos Roman theatre visible from the highway between Manavgat and Antalya is the best-preserved ancient theatre in the world and the mandatory single stop on the western Riviera drive. The full Alanya to Antalya drive with stops at Side, Aspendos, and Perge is the most historically rich single coastal day circuit in the Antalya province.
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More in Alanya
Alanya History: The Seljuk Conquest and Alaeddin Keykubad, the Alanya Shipyard, the Byzantine Kalonoros, the Ottoman Incorporation, and the Banana Agriculture of the Sheltered Microclimate
Alanya Practical: Antalya Airport Transfer, Bus and Shuttle Connections, the Beach Choice, Accommodation from Budget to All-Inclusive, the Best Season, and the Departure Summary
Alanya to Antalya: Aspendos the Best Preserved Ancient Theatre, Perge the Pamphylian City, Termessos the Unconquered Taurus Fortress, and the Antalya Province Ancient Heritage
Alanya Essential: The Seljuk Red Tower, the Fortress on the Promontory, Cleopatra Beach, Damlatas Cave, the Turkish Riviera Resort Character, and the Dim Cave Day Trip
Eastern Riviera Circuit: Side the Apollo Temple on the Beach, the Manavgat Waterfall, the Side Roman Ruins, the Seleucia Pieria Ancient City, and the Full Eastern Riviera Day Trip
