Dalaman is a medium sized town located in the province of Muğla, on the beautiful south western coast of Turkey.  It lies on a plain, surrounded by mountains and sea and has a population of around 28,000 inhabitants. Around the town there are eight primary schools, two high schools, one university department and a foreign language school.

Apart from farming, the local economy relies on paper production and the large, recently privatised, factory here, called MOPAK, produces in excess of 100,000 tonne of paper and board per year.

Interestingly there is an open prison here too!  It is located on the airport road about 2kms from the centre, where you will find a chicken restaurant (Piliç Restaurant) run by the prison services.  You can buy freshly barbequed chicken to take away, or enjoy a lunch of half a chicken with salad and rice in the pleasant clean café.

As mentioned, farming plays a very important part in the life of the area.  The soil is rich in nutrients and fruits, such as lemons, oranges, mandarins, pomegranates, melons, watermelons, sweet corn and cotton are grown here. Much of the Dalaman plain is owned by the state owned farm TİGEM, the entrance to which is located on the main roundabout by the town centre.

Alexandria train station in Dalaman

In 1906, the Alexandria train station was built by mistake in Dalaman. This building still exists and serves today as the headquarters of TİGEM. The year before the construction (1905), Abbas Hilmi Pasha (then Khedive of Egypt) had acquired a large part of the fertile plain and had decided to set up a plantation in the region.

He had ordered the plans and the material for his projected residence here to his architects in France, at the same as the plans and the material for a train station for Alexandria in Egypt. Unfortunately, the two simultaneous shipments were misdirected, the materials for his residence heading towards Egypt, and the Alexandria train station ending up in Dalaman. Since it was going to be too costly to re-ship everything to the right destination, the station was built in Dalaman anyway, with even a few miles of purposeless railway track.

Dalaman International Airport

The airport is located approximately 6 kms from the town centre on the coast.  The new terminal building and runway was completed in 2005 and now has a capacity for ten million passengers per year to accommodate the growing number of tourists who flock to the region.

Shopping

Dalaman is still very much a working town which has done little yet to accommodate tourists, but don’t let this put you off!  If you are looking for the real Turkey –this is it.  Enjoy it and if you feel the need for a McDonalds just take a trip to one of the tourist resorts for the day.  Its long main street (Atatürk Caddesi) has recently been modernised and now boasts a shopping mall at one end, which also accommodates the local council offices.  There is a post office (PPT) too, located on one of the side streets about half way down the main street.

Every Thursday, there is a traditional open market (Pazar) where you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, household goods and clothes.

Sports

The Dalaman sports centre is located on the main airport road a little way out of the town centre.  The local football team, Dalaman Belediye Spor, have their pitch behind the sports centre, surrounded by a running track.

Hamam

No trip to Turkey is complete without a trip to a proper Turkish bath house.  The one in Dalaman is a little further up the road from the Sports Centre. You will see the sign near the ‘Istikbal’ furniture shop.

Hospitals

There is a small state hospital serving the town of Dalaman which offers a 24 hour accident and emergency service.  It is located on the airport road close to the TİGEM roundabout.

In nearby Ortaca, on the main D400 highway, there is the new private Yücelen hospital which is already becoming popular with both ex-pats and locals.  +90 252 282 5252

Banks in Dalaman

Bus Terminal (located at the bottom end of the high street, close to the airport road)

Bus travel in Turkey is efficient, to say the least.  You can get from anywhere to anywhere with ease, whether by local Dolmuş to the surrounding towns, of further afield on the regular coach services.