Venice Beach has a hedonistic carnival atmosphere with artists, street performers, body beautifuls exercising, music, food smells, shopping and markets, music and lots of things happening. In summer it’s everyday and in winter it kicks off at the weekend, but the long flat beaches lined with tall palm trees and the cafes and shops of a busy seaside front are the perfect place to stroll, ride a bike or chill, and with the chillin’ crowds comes the entertainers and vendors, which in turn attracts more chillers and tourists and the cycle continues. The Venice in the name comes from the artificial canals dug during the founding of the town as a seaside resort at the turn of the 20th Century.

A ‘muscle beach’, skate park, basketball courts and volleyball court are included in people’s understanding of Venice Beach, which mainly means the promenade and Ocean Front Walk, but you’ve probably seen it in a film and know that already – Venice beach is in loads of films…

An old-fashioned beach with hometown charm, Cape May is the oldest seaside resort in America. But don’t let this beach’s age fool you – Cape May retains its classic charm without sacrificing the modern luxuries. Spend a day at the spa, charter a fishing boat, explore the local farmer’s market or scream like a little girl on one of Cape May’s ghost tours.

Alanya was favored as a seaside resort by the Seljuk Turks 800 years ago, just as it is for the thousands of British and European visitors who pack its hundreds of hotels and villas today.

For the Seljuks, the attraction was the mild climate, the good harbor, and its relative closeness to Konya, the Seljuk capital (maps).

For today’s visitors it’s the l-o-n-g stretches of sand beach, the warm waters of Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, and the deep history of the town.

Alanya has grown incredibly during the past decade, and now boasts a population of more than 250,000, which must double during the summer tourist season.

Many visitors fly into Antalya airport on inexpensive package vacations, then bus to Alanya. Lots of new hotels have been built to cater to the package trade.

While you’re here, visit the vast Seljuk fortress which dominates the town from its promontory; the tall, octagonal Seljuk Kizilkule (Red Tower); and the Tersane (shipyard).

The dank atmosphere of Damlatas Cave, said to be beneficial to asthma sufferers, but with hordes of tourists exhaling hot carbon dio into the humid, already-stuffy atmosphere, I have my doubts….

But of course Alanya’s big attraction is its beaches, l-o-n-g swaths of sand to west (several kilometers) and east (many kilometers).