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Kuşadası, Turkey
A view of the city center and harbor. Kuşadası, Turkey. 
Kuşadası is a coastal resort town in the Aydin Province of Aegean Turkey. It has become a popular holiday resort, especially for visitors from Northern and Western Europe. It has about 50,000 residents, although that grows significantly during the high season from May to October.
Kuşadası, Turkey. Kuşadası takes its name from the Turkish 'kuş' (bird) and 'ada' (island) -- literally 'Bird Island', a reference to Guvercin Adası ('Pigeon Island'), which is connected to the mainland of Kusadasi by a short causeway. Today, citizens of Kuşadası often shorten the name to Ada.
Kuşadası caters to tourists, growing to over half a million during the high season, when the large resort fills with tourists (from Turkey itself, northern Europe and the Balkans) plus the hotel staff, bar staff, construction workers, and drivers who are needed to work in the restaurants servicing all these visitors. The hills behind Kuşadasi are built up with big hotels and blocks of holiday flats.
Get in
• Visitors can arrive by highway (from north, south, and east); the city is linked by a modern six-lane highway to İzmir's Adnan Menderes Airport.
• There are daily ferry services to and from the nearby Greek island of Samos.
• The city is a port of call for cruise ships plying the Eastern Mediterranean. In a controversial deal in 2003, the previously public-owned port was leased to a private company and renovated to attract luxury cruise liners. Today, Kuşadası is the second busiest cruise port in Turkey, after Istanbul, mainly due to the archaeological attractions at Ephesus. The Kuşadası docks are right downtown, and terminals offer a good selection of stores including a duty-free shop.
• If you are starting from Izmir Adnan Menderes airport, take the ESHOT 204 bus for 5.75 TL to the Izmir otogar. On the ground floor of the otogar there will be tickets stands for the various bus companies, e.g. Anadolu, Pamukkale, etc. An Anadolu bus cost 12 TL (2013) and will drop you off at the Kusadasi otogar.
Get around
There are 3 major ways to get around within Kusadasi. The first and the most common way is by minibus service (called dolmuş, literally "stuffed", in Turkish), which is available between 7:30 AM and 12:00 AM during the high season from May to October. Minibus routes and stops within town are shown by minibus signs by the roads.
The second way to get around in town is by taxi. To find a taxi, you’d rather go to their office or call one of the taxi companies than waiting on the street. Taxis are yellow with company names on side; and fees are paid according to taximeters: distance calculater which the driver switches on when you get in the taxi. Make sure it is on the day (lower) setting if you are riding in the day or evening. Taximeters run double between 12:00 am and 06:00 am.
The third way to get around in town is by foot. Most of the town is relatively flat and the scenery is nice. To walk from one end of town to another takes 30 minutes.
What to See an Do in Kuşadası
• The City Walls. There were once three gates. One remains today.
• Kaleiçi Camii. The mosque built in 1618 for Grand Vizier Öküz Kara Mehmed Pasha.
• The Öküz Mehmet Pasha caravanserai is near the docks. It was built in 1618 as a strong-room for the goods of seamen.
• Guvercin Adası (i.e., 'Pigeon Island'). The peninsula at the end of the bay, has a castle and swimming beaches, including a private beach and cafe with a view back across the bay to the harbour of Kuşadası. There are public beaches at the back of the peninsula, towards the open sea.
Dilek Peninsula is the Peninsula lying between Kusadasi and Aydin centre. It is in Western (Aegean) coast of Turkey and it has many many rare plant species.
•Beach life. There are some good beaches both south and north of Kusadasi. All beaches are commercialized with hotels surrounding them. South of Kusadasi is the ladies beach, lost paradise beach and the long beach.
Buy
The "downtown" area near the waterfront is quite modern, with many stores and an open air bazaar. Offerings range from typical souvenirs to fine jewelry and Turkish rugs. Hawkers frequently implore passersby to come inside, but with patience, visitors can find quality items at prices often somewhat better than in large cities. Bargaining is expected, and essential in the bazaar.
There are many showrooms displaying traditional Turkish handmade silk and wool carpets where staff happily explain the rug making process. Learn about silk production, natural color dyes and the art of traditional carpet weaving. There will be some pressure to buy, but should you wish to purchase a traditional Turkish rug, it will be sent to your home by world wide delivery if its available.
Note: Recently there have been many dealers especially in the market who have been blatantly ripping off and stealing from tourists. Do not purchase big ticket items from shops in Kusadasi as there are many known scams especially in the jewelry stores and the leather dealers in the area; mainly the types of scams include credit card identity theft and the sale of highly defective products in stores.
Fake leather, fake Jewelry are passed off as real products and there are currency scams that operate in lots of the stores also (stores will quote products in Lira then charge customers in Euro's). Store contact details are fake as are certificates of authenticity. (Wikitravel)
Ladies Beach (Women and men are not separated, it is related to a mythological event). Kuşadası, Turkey.
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