Turkey Ayvalik Guide

Ayvalik, the name of the city comes from the old name Kidonia, quich means quince in Greek. The Turkish quince means "ayva". So it is today - Ayvalik -. The city is a popular Aegean resort north and one of the best in the bay of Edremit. There are about 30 small islands near the Turkish and Greek waters. However Lesbos is the 3rd largest island in the Aegan Sea, belongs to the Greek's. Sarmisakli Beach is the best area for swimming in Ayvalık, 10km south, where the sandy beach welcomes you.


If you are there, make sure that the Seytan Sofrasi (Devil's Table), the highest peak in Ayvalik and watch the sun goes down Agean overlooking the sea and the islands, where you enjoy the most. There is a restaurant at the top, the best way to sit there midnigth sun and enjoy the lights of the islands and other cities nearby and watch small boats and yachts in the port of Ayvalik. Ayvalık is the oil capital of the country. There are about 20 local olive oil factories and make sure you visit at least one of them.


After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Greeks of Ayvalik to Greece and the Turkish citizens of Greece islands in Ayvalik. The Greeks left, you could still hear Greek spoken in the streets of Ayvalik, although the speakers were Turkish Muslims (had grown up in Greece).


Ayvalik has many ancient Greek and Ottoman houses and Orthodox churches, now converted to mosques. Turkish tourists throng the banks of the many open-air restaurants in the summer, the ferry or take over new open roads to the bay to Alibey Island, where there are more good restaurants and taverns shore. Food and drink, relaxation, swimming and boating are the things to do in the summer.


Ferries run daily in summer between Ayvalik and the Greek island of Lesbos (Mytileni), less often at other times of the year, but the price is so exceptionally high (about U.S. $ 60 for the 2-hour one-way trip), that most people choose to use other Greek-Turkish ferry, as Çesme to Chios, Samos to Kusadasi, Bodrum to Kos, or Marmaris to Rhodes. Ayvalik has an airport near the city, 50 kilometers north-Edremit, where in the summer daily serves aircraft from Istanbul.