Side Old Town, Turkey

Is Side Old Town worth visiting?

Yes — it is one of the few places on the Turkish coast where ancient ruins, the sea and a living town share the same few hundred metres. You walk to dinner past 2nd-century columns, and the sunset at the Temple of Apollo is the best on this stretch of coast.

It is less rewarding if you want quiet, untouched ruins: the lanes are full of shops selling leather, carpets and souvenirs, and in high season the main street is crowded by mid-morning. For empty ruins in the mountains, head to Selge; for a more complete Roman city, Perge near Antalya is better. Side wins when you want history and the beach on the same day.

Side ancient city entrance fee

Walking the old town costs nothing. There is no gate ticket: the Hellenistic walls, the Roman arch and Vespasian monument, the colonnade, the agora seen from outside, the Temple of Apollo and the harbour are all free.

Two sights charge separately. The ancient theatre is open daily from 8:00 to 19:00, with the ticket office closing at 18:30, according to the official Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism page. The ministry does not publish the foreign-visitor fee, and the figures in guidebooks are clearly out of date, so we are checking it. The Side Museum in the Roman baths by the agora has its own ticket too.

The Müzekart is for Turkish citizens only. Visitors report that the theatre desk takes lira and bank cards but not euros, so bring a card.

What to see in Side Old Town

• The Nymphaeum by the main gate — the base of a three-storey fountain fed by the aqueduct; the lower level with three niches survives.
• The main gate and walls — the Hellenistic entrance on the land side, where the city begins.
• The colonnaded street — a straight Roman avenue from the gate to the centre, once lined with porticoes and shops.
• The Roman arch and Vespasian monument beside the theatre — an arch about 13.5 m high and a fountain niche that once held the emperor’s statue. This is the classic Side photo.
• The agora — the market square where pirates once sold slaves.
• The theatre — the biggest building in town, with Dionysus reliefs on the stage front.
• The Temple of Apollo — a few re-erected columns on the tip of the peninsula, best at sunset.
• The harbour — boats and waterfront cafés where the walk ends.

How long do you need in Side?

Two hours covers the walk from the main gate to the harbour with stops at every major ruin. Add 30–45 minutes for the theatre and about 45 for the museum. If you want to see the temple at sunset and stay for dinner, make it a full late afternoon and evening.

Coach tours from Antalya and Alanya often bundle Side with Aspendos, Perge and the Manavgat Waterfall; on those you get about an hour here — enough for the theatre and the temple, not for the lanes. If Side matters to you, come on your own for half a day.

A short history of Side

Greek settlers from Kyme in Aeolis founded Side around the 7th century BC. The name isn’t Greek: in the local Anatolian language it meant “pomegranate”, and the fruit appears on the city’s coins.

Side surrendered to Alexander the Great without a fight in 334 or 333 BC — sources differ. In the 1st century BC Cilician pirates made it their base and slave market, until Rome moved against them from 78 BC and absorbed the city. The 2nd and 3rd centuries AD were its peak, and most of what you see — the aqueduct, theatre, baths and colonnades — dates from then.

Side revived again in the 5th–6th centuries as a Byzantine metropolitan see, then declined after Arab raids and earthquakes and was empty by the 12th century. In 1895 Muslim settlers from Crete built the village of Selimiye among the ruins, and that village grew into today’s resort.

Side ruins map: how the town is laid out

The layout is simple: you enter from the north-east and walk south-west to the sea. At the neck of the peninsula are the car park, the Nymphaeum and the main gate. The main street runs from there to the theatre, the agora and the museum halfway down.

Beyond the theatre is the old village of Selimiye, whose lanes still follow much of the Roman grid, with column drums on many corners. The Temple of Apollo and the smaller Temple of Athena stand at the tip, with the harbour beside them. End to end it is about 1 km — 15–20 minutes without stops.

Old town, theatre, temple or museum: what to choose

Short on time? Walk the old town from the gate to the Temple of Apollo — it’s free and covers the essentials. The theatre is worth its ticket if you haven’t seen Aspendos. The museum is a good plan for the hottest hours.

Historic sights around Side compared

Every historic sight in Side rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

Nearby — add to your day

39

Roman Theatre of Side

Side, Turkey

45 min · Closed for restoration · 4 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Roman Theatre of Side

44

Side Harbour

Side, Turkey

45 min · Free · 5 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Side Harbour

45

Agora of Side

Side, Turkey

30 min · Free — view through the fence · 6 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Agora of Side

44

Temple of Apollo

Side, Turkey

30 min · Free · 6 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Temple of Apollo

How to do it right

• Start at the Nymphaeum and gate and finish at the Temple of Apollo — you’ll reach the sea just in time for sunset.
• Sit out the midday heat in the Side Museum: it’s inside stone Roman baths and stays cooler.
• The harbour is the easy dinner stop — a couple of minutes’ walk from the temple.
• Already seen Aspendos? You can view Side’s theatre walls from the street and save the time.
• Before 10:00 the ruins are almost empty — the best time for photos without crowds.
• Look out for stretches of the aqueduct by the Side turn-off on the D400 coast road.

Questions