Istanbul - It’s one of the best kept secrets on the Turkish coast – the spit of land on the Aegean that once marked the end of the Silk Road from China.
Today, the Cesme Peninsula offers a different, quieter type of Turkish holiday, a change from the big, busy resorts. GARETH HUW DAVIES found elegant, stone-built boutique hotels, revolutionary restaurants, swish shops and some of the world’s best windsurfing…
1...BREEZING IN
Turkey shows its sophisticated face on its westernmost point. The Cesme Peninsula is a very 21st Century variation on the tourism blueprint. Instead of building yet more bland hotels for the mass market, crumbling old houses have been turned into small hotels of character. Listed by The New York Times among the top places in the world to visit, Cesme is only 60 miles from Izmir airport, which is served by budget flights from Britain. Even in the fierce heat of summer, the peninsula has its own air-conditioning. A breeze blows pleasantly, and constantly, from the north, powering wind turbines that have replaced old stone windmills on the hills.
2...SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
The pretty town of Alacati is a destination created almost entirely since the turn of the century, when much of it was run-down and neglected. It shows how much the country’s tourism industry has matured after all those years of lining the coast with mass-market accommodation.
A hundred or so small hotels and B&Bs have opened in renovated stone houses – and any one of them could easily grace the pages of a glossy magazine. They are all different, competing hard through their colour schemes, the grain of the wood, and the power of the flowers tumbling down old stone steps. You’ll find them in narrow streets full of smart fashion and design shops, and one-off restaurants and cafes.
3...SERVING UP A TREAT
The standard Turkish tourist menu makes full use of the country’s abundant produce. But there is a culinary revolution under way, as more creative chefs go beyond the standard meze, meatballs and lamb kebabs. Kemal Demirasal is one pioneer. In his elegant Alancha restaurant (alancha.com), high above Alacati, he uses cherry and peach wood-fired ovens to add new and unexpected flavour to local vegetables. Pulled lamb shank with wood-grilled spring onions, wheat crumbs, dried olives and celery mayonnaise, followed by oven-roasted grapes, caramelised sesame seeds and lemon verbena, were memorable plates among many. We have good memories, too, of L’Escargot Restaurant (lescargot.com.tr) and the Agrilia, both in Alacati.
4...SURF’S UP
Those balmy zephyrs that blow for more than 300 days a year have turned the shallow waters around Alacati into one of the top three spots in the world for windsurfing, on a par with established resorts in the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. And it has all happened since the late 1990s. Surfers use a safe, wave-free, sand-bottomed bay where conditions are ideal – and forgiving – for novices. With the water so shallow, when you fall off it’s quicker to get back on the board again. There is a good choice of surfing schools. And there are more quiet, sandy beaches nearby.
5...PURE PEACE
I don’t know of a more exquisitely peaceful place for breakfast than behind high walls in the garden of a small hotel in Turkey, in the relative cool of early morning. And at 4pm, you can head back to your hotel after a busy day out for tea and fresh cake. We stayed at the Tas hotel (tasotel.com), a 120-year-old former Greek mansion with blue shutters, a red roof and cream walls – our large room was next to the swimming pool. There is free wifi at the hotel, free transfers from Izmir airport, and Patrick, ‘the most handsome stray cat in town and ours now’. The town is a short stroll away. I’ve also stayed at the Zeytin Konak (alacatizeytinotel.com), which has similar peace and seclusion. At both hotels, chefs make their own bread, pastries and watermelon rind jam.
6...FAMOUS FINDS
The Greek and Roman sites on Turkey’s west coast are fabulous. They range from the huge and extremely crowded Ephesus, and the more distant Pergamon. Both are a day-trip from the peninsula. But why go so far? The smaller 5 000-year-old settlement at Ildiri (ancient Erythrai, one of Asia Minor’s 12 Ionian cities) is a seaside village on the peninsula. You’re free to wander among the ruins, or climb the steps of the ancient theatre on a hill overlooking the Aegean and the nearby Greek island of Chios. Statues, jewellery and other finds are on show at Izmir Museum. The ancient sites of Priene, Miletus, and Didyma are within easy reach if you have a hire car.
l For more information, visit explorealacati.com and Turkey specialist exclusiveescapes.co.uk. - Mail On Sunday