Alaçatı is the prettiest town on the Çeşme Peninsula: a former Greek settlement of pale stone houses, narrow cobbled lanes, courtyard restaurants, and old windmills on the rise above town. It is now fashionable, expensive, and busy in summer, but the old centre still has enough texture to justify the fuss.
The other half of Alaçatı's identity is wind. The shallow southern bay has steady conditions that made the town one of Turkey's best windsurfing and kitesurfing bases. Beginners get forgiving water, better riders get reliable wind, and everyone else gets the pleasure of watching sails cut across the bay in the late afternoon.
Come in spring or autumn if you can. July and August bring crowds from İzmir and Istanbul, and the boutique-town polish can feel a little much. Outside peak season, Alaçatı is easier to like: breakfast in a stone courtyard, a slow walk through Hacımemiş and Kemalpaşa streets, sunset at the windmills, and a day on the water if the wind is up.