Alaçatı, from someone who lives here.
Where to stay, eat and swim, when to come, and what changed this season. A local's letter from the Aegean.
Alaçatı is a small Aegean town in the Çeşme district of İzmir, about an hour from the airport. Greek families built most of it in the 1800s, and its stone houses, blue shutters and bougainvillea are why people come. They stay for the food, the wind and the long summer nights.
I'm Mert, a hotelier who lives here. Why I write this letter
The guides
Where to stay in Alaçatı
Neighborhoods, hotel styles, and how to choose, from someone who runs three of them.
Where to eat
My table list, from meyhanes to tasting menus.
Coming soon
Best time to visit
Month by month: crowds, wind and prices.
Coming soon
Beaches of Çeşme
Which beach for which kind of day.
Coming soon
A short history
Agrilia, the stone houses, the windmills.
Coming soon
Buying property as a foreigner
What Americans ask me most.
Coming soon
The best hour in Alaçatı is early morning, before the shops open. The streets belong to the cats, the bakeries and the people who live here. Come in May or late September and you'll have more of those hours.
Get the letter
Openings, closings, festival dates and what's actually worth your time this season. Every two weeks, from me.
Subscribe