Didim is a seaside resort very popular with British holidaymakers visiting Turkey's Aegean coast. The town is famous for two things: the Temple of Apollo, located about 5 minutes by bus from Didim's modern city centre; and the beaches of Altinkum, a long stretch of golden-coloured sands that give the beach its name.
Although I was in Didim before, the town has changed quite a lot in the previous few years, with new apartment buildings and holidays home springing up all over the place. To be honest, the city centre itself does not have much to look at; most visitors to Didim head either straight to the Temple of Apollo or to its soft golden beach.
During the summer months, the beaches of Didim are fillled with sun-seekers and it is often difficult to find a spot on the beach on weekends. Being one of the favourite spots of British tourists, restaurants and bars in and around Didim also try to cater to their taste by serving up British foods and talking like the Brits. As many British have decided to make Didim their second home by purchasing real estate in the town and around Altinkum, everywhere in town one hears British accents in shops and in cafes, even during the winter months when most tourist establishments are closed for the winter.
Winter months are the time used by hotel owners in many resort towns along Turkey's Aegean and the Mediterranean coasts to refurbish their properties and improve upon existing infrastructure. It seems many local town councils in Turkey also caught on this habit; while I was there in late March, the entire beach front promenade of Didim was dug up to make way for 'upgrading' works, with piles of construction materials lying about and excavators moving happily all over the beachfront. As most restaurants and cafes along the Altinkum coast were closed for the winter anyway, the beach was fairly empty and this upgrading work did not cause any inconvenience to visitors.
Although the hotel I stayed at was right on the beach of Didim-Altinkum, the water temeprature is still a bit too chilly in late March to have a swim in the sea. In addition to the main beaches of Altinkum, there are also many smaller and less crowded beaches along the main route from Akkoy to Didim, as well as in the village of Akbuk, about 30 minutes away by minibus from Didim's downtown areas.
Compared to other resort towns such as Fethiye, Kusadasi or Bodrum, the price levels in Didim are actually fairly cheap, even in the midst of high seasons. Even within Turkey's real estate industry sector, Didim-Altinkum has long been considered the place where the average British lower-middle class families purchase their holiday aparments abroad because of its comparatively lower prices. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the modern town centre of Didim is actually a very bland place catering most to family-oriented tourism, and is not the posh and fasionable place where the jet-set cliques wine, dine and tan themselves on their exclusive yachts or splash their 2000TL a bottle champagne around. As for the cultural visitors to Turkey who are interested in visiting the Temple of Apollo in Didim, many of them do not stay overnight in Didim at all; they simply come by rental car for a few hours, or tour the Temple as part of the pre-arranged excursion package purchased either in their home countries or at a local agent in Kusadasi. Most day-trips organized by local travel agencies from Kusadasi to Didim spend less than two hours at the Temple of Apollo, because these day tours also include visits to the ancient city of Miletus and Priene, and hence are under time pressure to complete the circuit within an 8-hour time span.
Didim is easily reached by bus from Aydin and Izmir's main bus station, journey time is approximately two hours. As there are no direct bus links to Kusadasi, those coming from/heading to Kusadasi have to change bus at Soke. Didim Seyahat operate frequent buses every 30 minutes between Didim and Soke, as well as between Didim - Izmir (every hour) and Didim-Aydin.
Four buses a day, operated by Pamukkale Turizm bus company, run directly from Didim to Selcuk, but not the other way round (i.e. no direct bus links from Selcuk to Didim).
Copyrights@2012. All text and photos by YC Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
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