Planning a trip to Assos
You should have your information in hand before you arrive at Assos. The Anzac Hotel in Çanakkale (www.anzachotel.com) maintains an excellent website with information and maps to aid your way through the maze of secondary roads, olive groves, and plane trees.
Getting There
By Minibus
The public transport route (on one of Ayvaçik dolmuses; tel. 0286/217-2141) from Çanakkale to Assos is a bit convoluted, but here goes: Take a minibus from the Çanakkale otogar (not the dolmus terminal under the bridge) to Ayvaçik (1 hr.; 10TL), and then change in Ayvaçik to the dolmus to Assos (1 1/2 hrs.; 5TL). The latter drops you off at the crossroads near the village entrance and the ancient site (but 238m/781 ft. above the wharf). Dolmuses run from approximately 7am to 8pm, sometimes not at all in winter; a taxi from Ayvaçik to Assos will run around 40TL.
If you're coming directly from Istanbul or Izmir, take a Çanakkale Truva bus (tel. 0212/658-3640) or Kamil Koç (tel. 0212/658-2000) to Avaçik or Kücükküyü. From both locations you'll have to take one of the hourly minibuses departing for Assos (the minibus from Kücükküyü only runs in summer).
By Car
From Çanakkale, follow the signs south to Ayvaçik, and then follow the (well-marked) scenic road to Assos/Behramkale.
The longer, alternative route (and the one I took) follows the road south of Çanakkale through Ezine (where you should stop for cheese!). You can make this a day of sightseeing beginning with a stop at Troy. On the road south of Troy, take the turnoff for Pinarbasi, following the road through Mahmudiye, Ovacik, and Geyikli. After Geyikli, if you follow the road toward Dalyan you will encounter the roadside ruins of Alexander Troas, an enormous (and as of yet still unexcavated and/or looted) candidate for the capital city of the Roman Empire. Dalyan port is an idyllic and untouched corner of Çanakkale and a great spot to stop for a drink or a bite to eat; on your way keep your eyes open for the Kestanbol thermal waters, a natural and artesian hot spring bubbling up to 154°F (68°C).
South of Dalyan (from the road you turned off of) through Kösedere leads to the ancient temple of Apollon Smyntheon at Chryse (in the village of Gülpinar). From Gülpinar, depending on your level of stamina, you can either take the turnoff to the Ottoman castle of Babakale (another paradise on earth, if you ask me), constructed under Sultanahmed III to protect the villagers from frequent pirate attacks, or continue along the peninsular road to Assos/Behramkale.
The entrance to the village and the ancient acropolis, and a number of pensions and hotels, are clustered together near the turnoff from the main road. The sea-level wharf and additional hotels are accessed by continuing along this same secondary cobbled road (past the entrance to the village/site) as it winds its steeply sloping way along the city's fortification walls.
