The Authentic Turkish Hamam Experience in Alanya

Right then listen close and put down that lukewarm pint for a second because I am going to tell you about the absolute best way to start your holiday in Turkey. If you have just landed in Antalya and you are feeling a bit groggy from the flight or if you are already sweating buckets in this relentless heat you need to get yourself to a Turkish Hamam. I have been travelling up and down this country for donkey’s years and I can tell you that the Turkish Hamam experience is not just a fancy spa day for posh people it is a proper cultural institution. If you go home without having a stranger scrub the living daylights out of you on a hot marble slab you have basically missed the whole point of coming here.

Let us get the history lesson out of the way first because the Turkish Hamam has been around for centuries. It is not just about getting clean it is a ritual. The Ottomans took the Roman bath concept and made it their own and it is a massive part of daily life here. If you want to geek out on the proper dates and the architecture you can have a gander at the Wikipedia page here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_bath but for now just know that walking into a Turkish Hamam in Antalya is like stepping back in time. The walls are marble and the air is thick with steam and for a couple of hours you can forget about your emails and your mortgage.

Now let me walk you through what actually happens during an Antalya Turkish Hamam experience so you do not look like a muppet when you walk in. First off you will get changed into your swimmers. Some locals go starkers but for us Brits keeping your bikini or trunks on is standard practice in the mixed tourist baths so do not panic. You will head into the sauna or the steam room first. The aim is to sweat. I mean really sweat. You want your pores to open up like a flower in spring. After you have cooked for a bit you move to the main room which is usually stunning with a big marble platform in the middle called the gobek tasi. You lie down there and just bake on the warm stone.

Then comes the main event of the Turkish Hamam which is the scrub or what they call the kese. A massive bloke or a strong lady will come over with a rough mitten and start scrubbing you. I am not going to lie to you it is a bit of a shock at first. They scrub every inch of you. You will look down and see little grey noodles of dead skin rolling off your body. It is gross but oddly satisfying. You realize just how much grime you have been carrying around. After the scrub comes the foam massage. This is the best bit. They use a cloth sack to cover you in a mountain of bubbles. It feels lush. You are slippery as an eel and you smell like a bar of expensive soap.

Finally the package usually wraps up with an oil massage. After the heat and the scrub your muscles are like jelly and the oil massage just melts away any leftover stress. You will walk out of that Antalya Turkish Hamam feeling lighter and cleaner than you have ever felt in your life. Your skin will be soft as a baby’s bottom. This is why I always tell people to do their Turkish Hamam right at the start of the holiday. It preps your skin for a better tan.

However I need to give you some serious warnings so you do not have a nightmare. The biggest rule of the Turkish Hamam is never do it if you are already sunburnt. I repeat do not go if you look like a lobster. If you have been roasting on Cleopatra Beach for three days and you are red and peeling that scrubbing glove will feel like sandpaper on an open wound. It will be agony. Do the Turkish Hamam on your first or second day before you hit the sun loungers too hard.

Another thing to watch out for is the hard sell. In some of the touristy Turkish Hamam places in Antalya they might stop halfway through the massage and tell you that you have a massive knot in your back or some medical issue that only an extra fifty quid massage can fix. Do not fall for it. It is an upsell. Just say a polite no thank you and tell them to stick to the package. Also let us talk about money. If you book a Turkish Hamam in your fancy five star hotel you are going to pay through the nose. They charge London prices. You are much better off booking a local Antalya Turkish Hamam tour. It is the same experience often better and more authentic and it costs half the price.

Regarding transport most reputable Turkish Hamam packages include a pick up and drop off from your hotel. Use it. Do not try to get a taxi yourself. The taxi drivers in Antalya are sound lads but the petrol prices are sky high and the meter will tick up faster than you can blink. If the tour includes the transfer it saves you the hassle and the cash. Also bring some small change for a tip. The staff in the Turkish Hamam work hard scrubbing all that dead skin off you so slipping them a few lira at the end is the decent thing to do.

So there you have it. The Turkish Hamam in Antalya is an absolute must do. It is relaxing it is cultural and it leaves you feeling brand new. Just remember to book early in your trip avoid the sunburn and do not let them talk you into buying extra treatments you do not need.

Right I am done rabbiting on now and I am off for a cold one. I want to hear from you lot. Who has braved the marble slab. Did you feel awkward when the scrubbing started or did you just embrace the chaos. Did you come out glowing or did you make the mistake of going with a sunburn. Drop a comment below and spill the beans. Your stories are what makes this community a proper guide for everyone else so do not be shy and get typing. Cheers.