The Best Small Towns and Villages

Bergama: The soul of this village is the marketplace. Donkeys and their owners are parked next to stalls of fresh produce. Carpets hang from the awnings of old village houses around the Red Basilica to create a bit of shade from the hot sun. And only a few hundred yards away is Pergamum, one of the finest archaeological sites of antiquity.

Alaçati: A hilltop mound of windmills and 800-year-old Selçuk barrelhouses guard the entrance to the tiny Aegean village of Alaçati. So close to the sea, and yet so far.

Sirince: Originally a sanctuary for Greeks in the dying days of Ephesus, this dense hillside of preserved houses enclosed within a landscape of grape orchards is the perfect antidote to an overdose of archaeological sites. A bottle of local wine enjoyed amid the atmosphere of a former schoolhouse helps the medicine go down, too.

Gümüslük: The chance to walk on water -- or nearly so -- thanks to the sunken city walls of ancient Myndos; what more could one want? How about an undiscovered enclosed bay, a sandy beach, and characteristic waterfront fish shacks.

Karmylassos/Kayaköy: Haunting panoramas of lives interrupted blanket the hillside of this once-thriving Greek settlement, abandoned during the 1924 population exchange between Turkey and Greece. Rather than reinhabit the houses -- now crumbling and roofless -- local Turkish residents have settled in the rolling and fertile plains of the surrounding valley.

Kalkan: An influx of expatriates has put this little merchant village on the map. Now it's a chic and quirky tourist center -- but the popularity has only resulted in improvement. The more old timber houses that are restored, the longer the roster of fabulous rooftop terraces and sea views.

Kaleköy: Also known as Simena, this seaside village clings to the side of the rock more efficiently than its sunken neighbors. With only 300 inhabitants living practically on top of one another, the town is too small to even have a street; a haphazard nonsystem of paths weaves around the village houses. There's no such thing as trespassing -- it's just blissfully simple.

Güzelyurt: A Cappadocian village where the livestock outnumber the residents, Güzelyurt provides a perfectly hospitable, off-the-beaten-track getaway. All of the features that draw you to Cappadocia -- underground cities, rock-cut houses, and monastery complexes hidden in the nearby valley -- are found within the confines of the village.

Ayvali: The smell of apricots permeates the village as the harvest blankets the roofs of the flat-topped, semi-troglodyte houses. Down in the valley is an almost eerie grouping of cave facades that retain the curvy lines of the smooth cave surfaces. At sunset, the sound of drums in the distance and the image of village women baking the evening meal's bread in ancient rock ovens create an unforgettable vision of rural life.