Things to do
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Alaçatı Surf Beach
A shallow flat-water bay with a dependable afternoon meltemi, which is why it holds international windsurfing events and why the schools here take complete beginners. The water stays waist-deep a long way out.
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Çeşme Castle
A Genoese fortress of 1508 rebuilt by Bayezid II, standing directly over the harbour with the town museum inside it. The ramparts are walkable and take in the strait to Chios.
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Alaçatı
A village of cut stone houses, blue shutters and cobbled lanes that was Greek until 1923, now the most photographed street in the Aegean. Its windsurfing bay is separate, three kilometres south.
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Çeşme Museum
The castle's own museum, covering the peninsula from the Ionian settlements through the Ottoman port and the naval battle of 1770 fought in the bay outside. It is small and included with the castle ticket.
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Delikli Koy
A rocky cove on the western tip near Ayayorgi with clear deep water and no sand, reached by a track from the Çeşme road. It is where locals swim when Ilıca is full.
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Ilıca Beach
A long sand bay on the north side of the peninsula where hot springs rise through the seabed, so the shallows stay warm into autumn. It is the busiest beach on the peninsula and the most family-minded.