Jeep Tour Side or Rafting: A Day in the Hills or a Day on a River
Both are days out of the hotel, both get you wet, and both are sold from Side. Beyond that they ask quite different things of you.
Short answer
The jeep tour is a sightseeing day on wheels: a professional driver takes you to the Roman bridge, then through riverbeds and stream crossings to the aqueducts, a Green Lake viewpoint, a village swim and lunch by the lake, about 8 hours for €20. Rafting is a day in a raft on a river, where you are part of the crew. We sell only the jeep tours; for rafting, see our sister site siderafting.de, which publishes its own details.
What each day is built around
| Jeep tour (this site) | Rafting | |
|---|---|---|
| Your role | Passenger; a professional driver drives | In the raft, part of the crew |
| What fills the day | Stops: bridge, aqueducts, lake viewpoint, village, dam, canyon view, lunch | The river itself |
| Getting wet | Stream crossings, a swim stop, summer water fights | Comes with the raft |
| Price, ages, length | €20 per adult, €10 for ages 2 to 10, about 8 hours | Published by the sister site |
Why you might pick the jeep tour
Because you want to see a lot of country in one day without doing the work. The convoy covers orchards, fields, the old aqueduct arches, Green Lake from above and the canyon, stopping on the way for a village swim at Oymapınar, pancakes cooked in front of you, and a lakeside lunch. Nobody in the jeep has to paddle, steer or keep their balance; you hold on through the bumpy sections and get out at the stops.
It also suits a mixed party: children under 2 ride free on the day tours, and guiding is offered in four languages: English, German, Russian, Turkish. The Side jeep tour page has the full route.
Why you might pick rafting instead
Because you would rather spend the day on the water than looking at it. A raft puts you on a river with a paddle, as part of a crew, and the day is about that experience rather than a string of viewpoints. If the jeep tour's stops sound like a coach trip with extra dust, rafting is probably closer to what you are after.
We do not describe the rafting day here: which river, what it costs, from what age, how long it takes. Those are for the people who run it to state, and siderafting.de does.
Fitting both into a week
Because the two days are so different, they sit together easily: the jeep tour for the inland scenery and the lunch, a rafting day for the river. If you are also weighing up a quad or buggy, read jeep tour, quad or buggy; if you are thinking about the sea, jeep tour or boat trip compares that too.
