Hello
This year we spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Side. We arrived on the 23rd of December 2009 and left on the 2nd of January 2010. The weather conditions varied between sunny, cloudy and a few days with rain. Temperatures were between 8 degrees Celsius at night/late evenings up to above 20 degrees at midday. Temperatures during daytime were normally 14-15 degrees. Sea temperature on the 30th of December was 20.4 degrees, nice temperature for a swim (warmer than the North Sea in summer). We spent the days taking walks around the outskirts of Side. We also rented cars and went for day trips to the Green Lakes in the mountains north of Manavgat, and to visit the historic fortress in Alanya. Many restaurants were closed for the winter, but we had no difficulty in finding alternatives both for lunch or dinner meals.
The new mayor has initiated construction of a pedestrian walkway along the beach west of Side. A lot of restaurants have been demolished to make room for the new walkway. The historic buildings inside Side are also to be put back to original condition. A lot of advertising signboards were already removed. The renovation work will last for years, but will be stopped during the tourist seasons. It will be exciting to see the result of the construction work when we return in the summer.
The air-conditioning were used in warm-up mode, and kept indoor temperature at 22 degrees without problems.

Best regards
Inger & Ottar Tverberg