“Expedition Castle” Population: 50,700
Market day: Tuesday
Seferihisar is not really a destination itself so much as a place that you have to transit in order to get to the harbour settlement of Siğacık or the beach resort of Akkum. It’s low in specific attractions although a turn of the 20th-century building is now the Kent Bellegi ve Anı Evi (City History Museum, basically) and a large stone warehouse in the town centre has been restored.
Slowly, too, some of the buildings are being whitewashed and their windows given blue, yellow or orange surrounds. Gable ends are acquiring small terracotta snails. It’s all part of the town’s commitment to being one of Turkey’s handful of Citta Slows although this does not yet extend to providing any information about the Ulu Cami whose minaret looks medieval.
Nor does it extend to thinking through public transport usage sensibly – the otogar has just been moved into the middle of nowhere past the town rubbish dump, thereby involving visitors in a whole extra set of delays and costs that seem quite unnecessary.
Seferihisar Museum before it opened
Focal point of the town is a statue of three snails, nodding again to the Citta Slow link. Most of the local buses stop round the corner from here, opposite the post office.
Sleeping
There are no hotels in town. If you want to stay you will need to head out to Siğacık or Akkum.
Transport info
Buses run to Seferihisar from Kuşadası every half-hour during the day and every hour in the evening. They run via Ahmetbeyli, Özdere and Doğanbey.
There are also minibus services from Selçuk.
To get to Çeşme or Alacatı from Seferihisar you need to take a minibus to İzmir‘s western Üçkuyular bus station and change, adding about an hour to what would otherwise be a short journey.
Seferihisar’s intercity bus terminal is now in the middle of nowhere; you need to take a bus from there to the town centre and then change to another bus for Siğacık or Akkum. In the opposite direction the buses travel directly to the otogar. Silly.
Day trip destinations
