We run two jeep safaris on this coast, and they are different days out, different mountains, different rivers, different prices. Guests ask us almost every day which one to book, so here is the answer from the operator that runs both. There is no wrong choice and no commission steering us: we would rather you picked the tour that fits your group than the one that costs more.
The two tours at a glance
Side Jeep Safari: Taurus Mountains and Green Canyon
The Side jeep safari is a full-day, 8-hour convoy of open-top 4x4s, each carrying eight to ten guests with a professional driver at the wheel, nobody in your group drives. The route climbs from orange and lemon orchards past a Roman bridge and ancient aqueducts, pauses for a swim and freshly made Turkish pancakes in Oymapınar village, and lines up viewpoints over Green Lake, Oymapınar Dam and Green Canyon before a lakeside lunch, which is included. Adults pay €18, children aged 7–12 pay €9, and infants up to 6 travel free. The optional extras are small and transparent: a one-hour boat trip on Green Lake at €5 per person, and a Manavgat Waterfall stop with the entrance fee paid at the gate. Hotel pickup is included across Side, Kumköy, Çolaklı, Evrenseki, Gündoğdu, Sorgun, Titreyengöl, Kızılağaç and Kızılot.
Alanya Jeep Safari: the Dim River day
The Alanya jeep safari is also a full 8-hour day, but the flavour is different. The convoy climbs through citrus orchards and banana plantations, breaks at a waterfall for photos, and pulls over at panoramic viewpoints where the whole Alanya coastline spreads out below. You visit a village house and its mosque, photograph the turquoise reservoir behind the Dim Dam, then sit down to lunch on platforms built over the Dim River — included in the price — before a swim in water that stays mountain-cold even in August. Adults pay €30, children pay €17 from age 4, and infants up to 3 ride free; local travel insurance is also included. The optional Dim Cave visit carries a small entrance fee paid locally. Pickup covers the whole Alanya area, from Kestel and Mahmutlar through the centre to Avsallar, İncekum and Okurcalar.
Who each tour suits
Families
Read the child age bands carefully, because this is where real money hides. In Side, children ride free up to age 6 and pay €9 from 7 to 12. In Alanya, free travel ends at age 3 and the €17 child rate begins at 4. A family with a five-year-old pays nothing for that child on the Side tour and €17 on the Alanya tour: a difference worth knowing before you book, and exactly the kind of detail a reseller rarely mentions. Beyond the arithmetic, both are superb family days: children consistently rate the summer water fights between the jeeps as the highlight of the entire holiday, and every child rides with an adult.
Couples and photographers
Alanya edges it for drama: the coastline panoramas, the turquoise of the Dim Dam and lunch on a platform over the river make it the more photogenic day. Side answers with emerald, the viewpoints over Green Canyon and Green Lake are a colour you will not quite believe until you see it, and its foothills, where Yörük families still live as they have for generations, feel further from the resorts than they are.
First-timers and mixed groups
Either works. Both convoys move at sightseeing pace — this is not extreme off-roading — and professional drivers handle all of it. One honest caveat, identical on both: the mountain tracks are unpaved, dusty and bumpy in places, so mention back or neck problems before boarding; the Alanya tour is also not recommended for pregnant guests.
Thrill-seekers
Be honest with yourself: on a jeep safari you never take the wheel, and for some people that is the whole point while for others it is a deal-breaker. If driving yourself is what you are after, a quad or buggy safari is the better fit, those are self-drive adventures where the challenge scales with how confidently you handle the machine, and anyone who would rather not drive can ride as a passenger. You will find the full adventure line-up in our complete local guide to Side excursions.
Value: what the price actually buys
- Side, €18 per adult: 8 hours, hotel pickup and drop-off, guiding, swim stops, village pancakes and a lakeside lunch. The €5 Green Lake boat trip is the only extra most guests add.
- Alanya, €30 per adult: 8 hours, pickup across a much wider hotel zone, guiding, the riverside platform lunch, and local travel insurance included.
- Both: free reservation, pay on the tour day, free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure, booked direct with the operator, no middlemen and no hidden costs.
For a line-by-line cost breakdown, including what the optional extras add to a family bill, see our jeep safari prices guide.
How to decide
- Let your hotel decide first. The pickup zones do the choosing for most guests: staying in Side, Kumköy, Sorgun or anywhere along that strip means the Side tour collects you at your hotel gate; based between Kestel and Okurcalar, it is the Alanya tour.
- Small children on board? The Side age bands are kinder to families with under-7s.
- Chasing the swim? The Dim River is the colder, more dramatic dip of the two days.
- Travelling outside high summer? The Side tour runs all year, switching to covered jeeps in the cooler months; the Alanya tour runs daily from April to November.
Still weighing it up? Our jeep safari FAQ covers the practical questions, and since reservation is free on both tours, you can secure the day that fits and pay nothing until the tour day itself. For the timing question specifically, see which months suit a mountain day best.