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Visiting Alanya in December

BySunMed Guide

Visiting Alanya in December

Weather in December: Average high 15.3°C, 214.9mm rainfall.

# Alanya in December: The Honest Version

Let’s get the obvious thing out of the way first. December in Alanya is not the postcard version. The Mediterranean is still sitting there looking dramatic and beautiful, but you’re not lying on a beach in a bikini. Temperatures hover around 15 degrees, which feels pleasant enough in the middle of the day when the sun appears, but drops noticeably in the evenings and becomes genuinely chilly when the clouds roll in. And clouds do roll in. Nearly 215mm of rain falls across the month, making December one of the wetter periods of the year. You’ll have dry days, sometimes several in a row, but you’ll also have days where it rains steadily and you’re stuck wondering what to do with yourself.

The crowds, or rather the lack of them, are the real story here. Alanya in summer is heaving with tourists and the whole town orients itself around that fact. In December it’s almost quiet enough to feel slightly eerie. Many hotels, restaurants and shops operate on reduced hours or close entirely. The famous beach clubs are shut. Some of the smaller guesthouses lock their doors until April without a backward glance.

What remains open is actually the more interesting stuff. The Alanya Castle and Red Tower are genuinely worth visiting without three hundred other people pressing around you. The old town has a completely different character when it’s not baking and overcrowded. Local restaurants serving actual Turkish food become much easier to find because the tourist-facing establishments have retreated.

So is it worth going? For beach holidays, absolutely not, this is not your month. For someone who wants to explore history, eat well, walk without sweating, and see a resort town stripped back to something more authentic, there’s real appeal here. Photographers and curious travellers tend to get a lot out of it.

**Practical tip:** Pack layers you can actually peel off. That midday sun can surprise you, but you’ll be genuinely cold after dark without something warm.

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