Side Ancient City

Side is unusual because the modern town sits inside the ancient one: shops, hotels and restaurants occupy the streets of a Roman city, so you walk past column stumps and mosaic fragments on the way to dinner. The ancient city was a major Pamphylian port with a well-documented and unflattering history as a slave-trading centre. What survives is substantial - a theatre seating some fifteen thousand, unusual for being built up on vaults rather than into a hillside, a monumental gate, colonnaded streets, an agora, a Byzantine basilica, and the bath complex now housing the museum with its sculpture. The postcard is the Temple of Apollo at the tip of the promontory: five re-erected Corinthian columns with their architrave, standing right at the water with the sun setting behind them, which is why the point is crowded every evening. The town around it is a busy resort, and opinions on the combination vary.

What you actually see

• The Apollo temple - re-erected columns at the harbour point.
• The vaulted theatre - built up on arches rather than a slope.
• The monumental gate - the entrance and colonnaded streets.
• The museum baths - Roman sculpture in the old bath building.

When to go

April to June and September to October. Sunset at the Apollo temple is the set piece and is correspondingly crowded; early morning gives the ruins to yourself.

Honest expectations

The resort town is dense and commercial, with persistent touts on the main street. Sunset at the temple is very crowded. Summer heat is severe and shade is scarce among the ruins.

Nearby

Manavgat waterfall is a short drive inland; Aspendos and Perge are west toward Antalya.