Anamur
Anamur is a city (population of about 67,000 in 2022) in the very south of Turkey — near the latitude of 36° N, it's one of the most southern points of the country. Anamur is also the midway along the entire length of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
Understand
The city consists of two parts: the older town centre leaning against the mountain ranges and newer coastal neighbourhood with concrete blocks mainly used by families as summer houses and about 2.5 km separating each other.
This is one of Turkey’s two banana-producing (in a commercial scale) regions, the other being Alanya. This fact is also apparent in that Anamur is usually a synonym for domestically-produced banana in Turkey.
The Pentadactylos/Beşparmak mountain range of Cyprus, 65 km (40 miles) off-shore, is visible from Anamur on clear days.
Climate
In summers, it's a very hot and sticky place, with temperatures of around 35°C. Those not used to the heat will likely always search for shade.
Furthermore, there is a reason why otherwise tropical banana plants flourish in the subtropical climate of Anamur — temperatures almost never go below the freezing point here: although not frost-free, its winters are some of the mildest in Turkey, with daytime highs of about 15°C.
Sunny and warm springs, especially around April, is by far the most comfortable time to visit Anamur. Although evenings around this time of the year tend to be windy (the word Anamur derives from a Greek expression meaning "windy cape" after all), it is perfectly possible to walk around with just a t-shirt day and night during this season, although locals may think you should be crazy for not wearing a coat in such "cold" (!) weather.
Get in
By plane
The nearest airports for both international and domestic flights is Gazipaşa Airport, about 90 km away. Other near airports are in Antalya and in Adana, both about 250 km away.
By car
The town is served by D400, main highway between Antalya and Adana. Although these are two of Turkey’s biggest cities, and D400 is classified as a highway, the road to both directions is narrow (wide enough for two cars passing side by side though) and very winding.
By bus
All buses operating between Antalya and Adana and all the way to Southeastern region cities have to pass via Anamur, though it is not certain if they accept passengers for Anamur.
There is a 10AM bus daily from Alanya to Silifke which stops in Anamur.
Buses from Antalya in the west take 5 hours and cost 25 TL (make sure you haggle), while those from Silifke in the east take 2 hours and cost 10 TL.
Get around
There are minibuses connecting the town centre to the coast, but you may prefer walking. It takes no more than 30-40 minutes on foot.
See
- 🌍 Mamure Castle (Mamure Kalesi, Anamur Castle) (6 km east on the highway to Mersin). Tu-Su 08:00-17:00 (might be closed for repairs as of 2022). Dating back to the Roman times and later used by the Crusaders and Seljuqs, it is one of the most scenic castles in Turkey, right on the Mediterranean coast. 20 TL.
- 🌍 Ruins of Anemurium (8 km southwest, near Ören village. About 2 km off the highway to Antalya; no public transportation exists to the site from the main road but it's an easy walk). Daily 08:00-19:00 (last entry at 18:30). Also known as Anemourion in Greek, meaning “windy cape”, the ruins are on a cape jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. This is the southernmost point of Asia Minor, but not of the whole country — a village on the Syrian border in Hatay is further south. Anemurium was abandoned in about the 7th century and features high city walls on a mountainside enclosing partially ruined buildings — many are intact enough to give a rough idea about what they were like before the site was abandoned. The site is quite pleasant to walk around. 20 TL.
- 🌍 Anamur Museum (Anamur Müzesi). Tu-Su 08:00-17:00. Regional museum of archaeology and ethnography. Free.
Do
- Beaches. There are great undeveloped sandy beaches almost totally deserted around the ruins of Anemurion, with a seawater temperature close to the levels of a hot tub. However, take care of not disturbing turtle eggs of an endangered species (Caretta caretta), which lay eggs to many beaches in the area. Especially discouraged (and sometimes, outright banned) are using beach umbrellas or other objects with sharp ends, building firepits, and leaving behind even the smallest piece of trash. Sometimes local military police (jandarma) shuts the entrance to the beaches in the evening and through the night, out of environmental concerns.
- 🌍 Pullu I Nature Park (Pullu I Tabiat Parkı).
Buy
As this is Turkey’s main banana producing region, you may assume that you will have bunches of banana in exchange of a few cents. This is sometimes true and sometimes not. During summer, at the height of banana production, it is possible to buy a kilogram of bananas for the fair price of 1.50 TL (but make sure you are not cheated and given less than a kg), but in the spring, when the new growing season is just about to begin, a kilogram of banana is no cheaper than in Istanbul, a thousand kilometres north. However, Bozyazı, a town 15 km east, always offers banana cheaper than in Anamur.
There are two supermarkets (affiliated with the national chains Migros and BİM) in the coastal hood. Migros gets closed during winter and early spring months, though. There are one or two ATMs in the main street of coastal hood, and many others in the town centre (including one of HSBC), mostly along Bankacılar Caddesi. But it is not certain if they are connected to international network.
Sleep
You’ll find a hotel or two and some guesthouses (pansiyon) near the coast.
- Eser Pansiyon, İnönü caddesi No:6, İskele (near the coast), ☏ +90 324 816 47 51, bilgi@eserpansiyon.com. Rooms with en suite bathrooms, air-conditioner. €10/17/24 single/double/triple rooms Sept-Jun; €13/20/28 single/double/triple rooms Jul-Aug.
- Mesut'un Yeri Pansiyon (in the east of town, on the road to Bozyazı/Mersin. Inland from the sea and the camping on the beach, across the highway). Close to the beach, this family-run guesthouse has beautiful views of the castle. Rooms are clean and come with air-con and TV. It's very easy to hitchhike along the highway in front of the guesthouse. 30 TL, including breakfast.
Connect
The telephone code for Anamur is 324.
Go next
Depending on which direction you have arrived from, you're likely to either head west Alanya, and Manavgat on the road to Antalya; or east Aydincik, and Silifke on the road to Mersin. There is also a very winding and narrow mountain road, which can sufficiently satisfy most off-road driving enthusiasts, leading north to Ermenek, a small town over the Taurus Mountains, and the road eventually leads further north to Karaman and Konya in Central Anatolia. Ferries to Kyrenia in Northern Cyprus from town's harbour has been discontinued for some time now, and the nearest harbours with a connection to Cyprus are now Taşucu in the east and Alanya in the west.
| Routes through Anamur |
| Antalya ← Alanya ← | W E | → Aydıncık → Mersin |