Ida Mountain Hotels

The E87/550 Çanakkale–İzmir road descends beyond Ayvacık in curves through pine-forested hills, allowing occasional glimpses over the Gulf of Edremit.

The highway straightens out at Küçükkuyu, the only real coastal town and gateway to the two traditional villages of Yeşilyurt and Adatepe in the foothills of the Kazdağı range (the ancient Mount Ida). Beyond here, the road leads past a dreary succession of Turkish-dominated resorts and second-home complexes to the inland county town of Edremit. At Burhaniye, 18km south, a Side road leads 5km west to the old-fashioned resort of Ören, with an excellent, long, west-facing sandy beach. The attractive village of YEŞİLYURT huddles around a picturesque main square, then continues down tree-lined cobbled streets to the river and uphill again, peeking at the sea from their pirate-proof location. Most of the houses are built in honey-coloured stone and many are being converted into boutique pansiyons for well-to-do İstanbullus.