When to come, and what each month is like

Çeşme is a summer destination with a real off-season, and choosing the month decides most of what your trip will feel like.

May and early June: warm days, cool evenings, sea temperature climbing into the swimmable range by late May. Everything is open by the start of June, prices are lower and Alaçatı is walkable at any hour. The best time for a first visit if you care more about the place than the scene.

Late June to August: the full season. Long hot days, water at its warmest, every club and kitchen open, and the peninsula's population multiplied several times over. Reserve everything — table, lounger, room — and accept that Alaçatı's streets and the Ilıca road are slow in the evening. The meltem, the north-westerly summer wind, blows most afternoons and makes the heat manageable.

September: for many people the best month. The sea is at its warmest after a summer of heating, the crowds thin after the first week, and the light turns. Most places stay fully open into early October.

October: shoulder season. Swimming is still possible in the first half of the month, but the beach clubs begin to close and the evening turns cool. Good for walking, eating and the thermal water.

November to April: quiet. Alaçatı keeps a small number of hotels and restaurants open for weekends, the coast is empty, and the weather is mild but changeable. This is a different trip — landscape, food and thermal baths rather than the sea.

One practical note: the meltem is a genuine planning factor, not a detail. It defines where windsurfers go, when boats sail, and which side of the peninsula is comfortable on a given afternoon. Ask locally in the morning rather than committing to a plan the night before.