3 Best Sights in Side, The Turquoise Coast

Across the street from the theater, the Side Museum is housed in a restored 2nd-century AD Roman bath that was expanded in the 5th or 6th century. The collection of Roman statuary and other artifacts is small but interesting, featuring a gorgeous group of marble torsos that includes the Three Graces; various cherubs; a brilliant satyr; a bust of Emperor Hadrian; a Roman sundial; and the usual smattering of inscriptions, amphorae, columns, and sarcophagi. The sculpture garden behind the museum is larger than the museum itself and overlooks the Mediterranean.

If you follow the hustling main street filled with shops selling jewelry and cheap clothes until you reach the water and then turn left, you'll reach the picture-postcard ruins of Side's Roman Temple of Apollo, its gleaming white marble columns set off beautifully by the blue ocean behind it. Millions of visitors a year visit the sun god's ruined temple; come at first light to avoid the crush. Beside it lie the ruins of the temple of Apollo's half-sister Athena, goddess of wisdom and war.

Opposite the Side Museum is the city's large theater. It was built in the 2nd century AD, though the design is more Greek than Roman. There are views out over the agora, which is closed for excavations. Other remnants of the ancient city can be seen along the road (Side Caddesi/Liman Caddesi) leading from the bus stop to the old harbor, including the marble columns of the grand fountain identified as the Nymphaeum.