Bryan and I spent our last day of the trip on Buyukada, one of the Princes Islands. The Princes Islands are a series of tiny islands about 10 miles southeast of Istanbul. As I understand it, they serve nowadays primarily as a quick little get-away for Istanbullus. It is very easy to get a ferry that puts you there in -- depending on the island you choose and the speed of the ferry -- 60-90 minutes.
Part of the charm of the islands is that there are no cars, buses, taxis, etc. Transportation is via horse-and-carriage or bicycle. Bryan and I rented bikes, which proved to be a great way to get around.
For most of the day-trip, both of us felt on the fence. Buyukada was fine, but it didn't seem so beautiful or charming that we'd necessarily recommend it.
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But that changed towards the end of our excursion, when we walked down a steep path to arrive at this little beach -- Halik Koyu Plaji. Wow! This is a little stretch of beach; not big at all. And the beach itself is stony; not fine sand. But OMG, it's a beautiful spot, and it was incredible to spend 2 hours there and go for a swim. Our only regret was that we spent so much time exploring the rest of the island. In retrospect, Bryan and I both would have loved spending a much bigger part of the day there. You can now do it the right way when you are in Istanbul!
Hi Marc, I'm living in Istanbul but haven't yet been to the Islands. I'd like to go with my partner who is visiting me on Friday and would love to visit the beach you went to. I've tried searching for directions on google map without much luck. Can you give me some directions?
ReplyDeleteHi Grace! Let me get back to you on Monday. I'm looking back at my Istanbul tour book, and I'm pretty sure I can work this out and give you decent directions. And, yeah, I just looked at google maps too -- no help at all!! I have to reconstruct some of this from memory, so lemme sleep on it. I think I can help you out. Ciao.
ReplyDeleteOK, Grace. Let me try. So, I'm looking at a map where Buyukada is oriented with its north side up. In other words, the area where the ferries come in from Istanbul proper is up top. Now, here's what I remember. We were at the Monastery of St. George, which is smack in the middle of the island (maybe a little south of the middle). Everyone goes there, I think. From there, we rode our bikes down and towards the east. Once we got to the coast, we made a right and headed down south until we got to the bottom of the island. At that point, we just kept following the coast and rode the bikes up on the western side of the island. I believe that the beach I liked so much was on the west side, and about a quarter of the way up the coast -- if I'm right about the precise location, you're on the west side and still a little bit south of the Monastery of St. George. I remember that there was a little cafe and an ice cream stand right at the place that you pay the entry fee for the beach at. You pay there, lock up your bike (at a place they provide), and then you walk down. As I said in my post, I think it's called Halik Koyu Plaji. (Obviously, you can head there in a much more direct way; you don't need to even go to the St. George Monastery -- you can just, I believe, ride bikes down the west side of the island and go straight there.) I hope this helps. Let me know if you find it!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for taking the time to work the directions out - I really appreciate it! I'll let you know whether we find it :).
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Grace. Please keep me posted!
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