Silifke is a city (population: about 65,000) in the region of the Cilician Mountains, Southern Turkey. Although it appears on the coast in zoomed out maps, it is slightly inland, but has coastal suburbs.
Get in
By plane
The nearest airport for both international and domestic flights is in Adana, about 140 km away.
By bus
The easiest connections are perhaps by minibuses from Mersin (which take around 2 hours and cost 10 TL) and by buses from the inland city of Konya (which cost 30 TL).
Silifke's main bus station (otogar) is in town centre.
By train
There is no rail network around Silifke. The nearest stations are in Karaman (about 150 km north, which has two daily connections from Istanbul) and in Mersin (about 90 km east, served by a frequent commuter line from Adana via Tarsus).
By car
The main highway between Antalya and Adana (D400) runs across the city. There is also another highway (D715) coming from Konya in the north through the spectacular Göksu Valley. All roads except the one leading to Mersin in the east are very (in some cases extremely) winding.
Get around
See
- Ruins of the Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter (Roman equivalent of Greek Zeus) are standing right in the modern centre. Later converted to a church, now there are only five columns standing. No admission fee, as there is no guard or a gate.
- The turquoise Göksu River, the name of which means “celestial water” or “azure water” in Turkish, flows through the city with its wide, eucalyptus-lined bed. In the centre, there is an intact Roman bridge spanning over the river. Ancients knew the river as the Saleph. This is the river in which Holy Roman emperor and Crusade leader Frederick Barbarossa drowned in 1190 (the exact site of the event, marked by a monument, is upriver in the Göksu valley, though).
- Archaeological Museum, simply named “Silifke Museum” and signed correspondingly (or as just Müze both on the road signs and on the building facade), is on the highway to Antalya, not far from the centre.
- Yerköprü (88 km northwest, off D715 to Mut) is a very pretty, richly vegetated area, with an extremely scenic waterfall and wooden walkways, including a suspension bridge over the ravine.
Do
You can go birdwatching in the nearby Göksu Delta, where the Göksu empties into the Mediterranean. The delta is home to 106 species of birds of international importance, 12 of which are endangered species.
Buy
Eat
Drink
Sleep
- Otel Arısan, İnönü Cad. 91 (in the city centre, near the otogar), +90 324 714 33 31, otelarisan33@hotmail.com. Clean rooms come with a TV and a balcony, although the view is not that spectacular with a bit of distant mountains. 24-hour solar powered hot water. Attendant in the lobby said there is no need for booking at weekends (at least in spring months). Could be a little bit cheaper but still quite good value for money. Double rooms: 15 YTL per person/night (non-A/C, shared bathroom facilities) – 20 TL per person/night (A/C, private bathrooms). Breakfast is provided for an additional fee (07:00-10:00, 3 TL).
See also Taşucu, which is only 15 km away and where there are more guesthouses located near the shore.
Connect
The telephone code for Silifke is 324.
Go next
Anamur, Alanya, and Manavgat on the road west to Antalya; Heaven and Hell caves (Cennet-Cehennem), Maiden’s Castle (Kızkalesi), Mersin, and Tarsus on the road east to Adana; Konya on the road north; Northern Cyprus to the south (via Tasucu harbour).