Kuşadası is a major Aegean resort town and cruise ship port. Being so close to the renowned ruins of Ephesus, it gets more than its share of Turkish and foreign visitors. Once a sleepy farming village, Kuşadası was transformed by the Turkish tourism boom of the 1980s. It’s now a busy resort with a beach along the waterfront boulevard in town and several other beaches north and south of the town. They tend to be crowded in the summer. Scores of hotels provide for the sun-seekers.
The prime beach—rather narrow, and backed by city—is Ladies Beach (Kadınlar Plajı). Some visitors make the 15-minute, 8-km drive to nearby Pamucak Beach, which is wide, long and uncrowded, nearer to Ephesus, but with fewer services.You can use it as a base for visiting sights in the region such as Ephesus; Priene, Miletus and Didyma; Euromos; Pamukkale and Aphrodisias. Guided tours are available to all these places, or you can see them by yourself.