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Ayvalik is a popular North Aegean
seaside resort for local people, with ferries to the
Greek island of Lesbos (Mytileni).
Surrounded by groves of olive trees which produce much
of Turkey's best olive oil, Ayvalik ("Quince Orchard",
pop. 30,000) has an interesting history. After the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Greeks of
Ayvalik moved to Greece, and Turkish citizens |
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of Greece moved to Ayvalik. Thus, even after the Greeks left,
you could still hear Greek spoken in the streets of Ayvalik,
although the speakers were Turkish Muslims (who had grown up in
Greece).
Ayvalik has many old Ottoman Greek houses, and orthodox churches
now converted to mosques. Turkish tourists throng the many
waterside open-air restaurants in summer, or take the ferry
across the bay to Alibey Island where there are even more good
waterside restaurants and tavernas. Dining, relaxing, swimming
and boating are the things to do in summer.
Ferries run daily in summer between Ayvalik and the Greek island
of Lesvos (Mytileni), less frequently at other times of year;
but the fare is so extraordinarily high (about US$60 for the
2-hour one-way voyage) that most people choose to use other
Greek-Turkish ferries, such as from Çesme to Chios, Kusadasi to
Samos, Bodrum to Kos, or Marmaris to Rhodes.
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