Kusadasi, Turkey
April 18, 2025
They warned us in advance that there would be 3 cruise ships in port the day we arrived. Sure enough, I opened the curtains to look into a stateroom about 70 yards away.
My cold had progressed to the point that I wasn’t feeling too great. It was a sunny and warm day though and we figured getting some fresh air would be good. So off we went through the gauntlet of about 20 shops selling “genuine handmade “ Turkish rugs, Turkish delight candy, leather and pottery amongst a myriad of other stuff. And that was just to get out of the cruise terminal!
We set our sights on getting stamps which were only sold at the post office. On the second try, we got really good directions from a lady in a beauty salon (they’re the BEST place to get good directions) and found it about 1km away. As an aside, I have learned not to trust Google maps in anywhere but the US. I can’t even count the wild goose chases it’s sent us on during our travels.
Anyway, got the stamps and walked back through the bazaar area which dwarfed what we had in the cruise terminal. Most popular for sale besides the above mentioned stuff was “genuine knockoffs”. Shoes (both athletic and women’s) were very popular along with anything you want with Gucci, Prada, YSL, etc labels. Everyone was in front of their stores calling to you to come in and buy. They were actually very polite and backed off easily when you said no thanks. Considering this has been their culture for at least 4000 years, we weren’t annoyed or offended.
We skipped the trip to Ephesus, the ancient city about 1/2 hour away that was built in 10,000BC. We had to get back to pack to disembark the next day.
Oddly, the town didn’t seem crowded at all, despite 3 ships being in port. It had beautiful beaches and tons of hotels. It’s an easy destination to get to for most of Europe to find reliably warm weather, friendly people, good food and cheap prices.
We liked it but I would stay away during high season, but I guess you could say that about anywhere.
The sign is in case you don’t know where you are.
Beaches and hotels
Old fortress guarding the harbor