Side-Turkey.

Our Side jeep safari costs EUR 18 per adult and EUR 12 per child, and that price includes return hotel transfer, licensed guides, a roughly six-hour 4x4 route through the Taurus Mountains, cultural village stops and lunch at a restaurant overlooking Green Canyon. What it does not include: Manavgat Waterfall entrance, the mini zoo, the panoramic boat, drinks and photo service. This page lists every item, honestly.

Why we publish the full list

I am Murat Atalay, and my team runs excursions from Side and Manavgat. The complaint I hear about jeep safaris is rarely about the driving or the dust. It is about the extras nobody mentioned until the convoy had already stopped somewhere. This page does the opposite: below is the complete included and optional list for our Side jeep safari tour, exactly as it works on the ground, so you can budget the whole day before you leave your hotel.

At EUR 18 per adult and EUR 12 per child this is the cheapest full-day safari in our range, and it can be that cheap precisely because several stops along the route are optional. That is not a trick; it is a structure. You pay a low base price that covers transport, guiding, the off-road route and lunch, then decide on the day which extras are worth your money. You can reserve seats without any prepayment and settle the balance when you join the tour.

Included: the five things you never pay extra for

Five items are covered by the ticket price, full stop. Nobody will ask you for another euro for any of them.

• Return hotel transfer from regional hotels around Side and Manavgat
• Licensed professional guides for the whole day
• The full 4x4 off-road route through the Taurus Mountains
• Cultural stops at agricultural fields, an authentic village and a historic mosque
• Lunch at a premium restaurant overlooking Green Canyon

Each one deserves a closer look, because "included" can mean very different things from one operator to the next.

Return hotel transfer

We collect you from hotels across the Side and Manavgat area in the morning and bring you back after the tour. The exact pickup time is confirmed the day before and varies from hotel to hotel, so keep your phone on or check with reception. Hotel pickup is free and already in the price; just tell us where you are staying when you book.

Licensed professional guides

Your guide is licensed, works this route all season and talks with guests in plain language rather than a memorised script. Guides manage the convoy timing, the cultural stops and the lunch seating, and they are the person to ask about anything on the optional list before you spend money on it. Guiding is fully included; there is no obligatory "guide fee" collected at the end.

The 4x4 Taurus Mountains route

The heart of the day is an extensive off-road route through the Taurus Mountains in open-top 4x4 vehicles, starting in the foothills a short drive inland from the coast. Expect dust, forest tracks, water splashes and mountain viewpoints across a day of around six hours. The driving, the vehicle and the fuel are all included; you are never charged per section or per viewpoint.

Cultural stops: fields, village, mosque

Along the way the convoy pauses at working agricultural fields, an authentic mountain village and a historic mosque. These stops are included and unhurried: you can walk around, ask questions and take your own photos freely. At the mosque, shoulders and knees should be covered and shoes come off at the door; your guide explains the etiquette before you enter.

Lunch overlooking Green Canyon

Lunch is served at a premium restaurant with a terrace view over Green Canyon, and it is included in full. One honest note that belongs here rather than in small print: drinks are not included, at lunch or at the breaks, so bring some cash for water, soft drinks or fresh juice.

Optional: the honest list, item by item

The optional list on this tour is unusually long, and I would rather explain it here than have you discover it stop by stop. Every item below is genuinely optional: skipping it costs nothing, and nobody on my team earns anything by pressuring you into it.

Manavgat Waterfall entrance

The convoy stops at Manavgat Waterfall, a wide, powerful fall on the Manavgat River. The viewing area sits inside a national park, and the park charges its own entrance fee at the gate. That fee is set by the park authority, not by us, which is why it cannot be folded into the tour price. If you skip the ticket, you can wait at the tea gardens and stalls by the entrance.

Mini zoo and the lion cubs

One stop includes a small zoo known for its lion cubs. Entry tickets and the photos taken with the animals are both paid separately on site. Some guests love it; others prefer to give animal attractions a miss, and that is entirely fine. You can simply have a drink nearby until the group moves on. Nobody is obliged to go in.

Green Lake panoramic boat

Where the route meets Green Lake, the emerald reservoir behind the Oymapinar dam, there is an optional panoramic boat trip on the water. It is a calm, scenic add-on rather than an adrenaline one, and tickets are bought on the spot. Ask your guide for the current price and timing in the morning so you can decide with the full picture.

Drinks and snacks at the breaks

All drinks, with lunch and at the rest stops, are paid for separately. The stops are simple roadside places, so bring cash; small notes in lira or euros are easiest, and a family can get through a surprising amount of water in the summer heat, so budget for it.

Photo and video service

A photo and video team works the convoy during the day, and the results are offered to you at the end of the tour. Buying is optional and there is no awkwardness in declining; plenty of guests are happy with their own phone pictures, which you are free to take everywhere. If you want professional shots of your jeep in action, though, this is the only way to get them, since you will be inside the vehicle at the time.

Included vs optional at a glance

If you only remember one thing from this page, make it this table.

How the Side departure compares with our other jeep safaris

The EUR 18 Side departure is the value option in our jeep range, and the optional-heavy structure is exactly why the base price can stay so low. Our other departures are priced differently because routes, distances and inclusion balances differ.

Families staying west of Side sometimes do better on the dedicated jeep safari from Kumkoy: the adult price is higher at EUR 24, but the child price of EUR 10 is actually lower than the Side departure's EUR 12, so run the numbers for your own group before deciding.

Want white water in the same day? The combo option

If a mountain day sounds right but you also want time on the river, our rafting and jeep safari combo pairs the safari with rafting in Koprulu Canyon for EUR 28 per adult and EUR 16 per child. For EUR 10 more than the safari alone, an adult adds an entire rafting session to the day, which is why the combo is our most popular upgrade from this tour. Seats are confirmed when you book and you pay on the day of the tour, not before.

Practical notes so nothing on the list surprises you

Wear closed shoes or trainers rather than flip-flops, and leave the white outfit at the hotel; jeep tracks and pale clothing are old enemies. Bring sunglasses for the dust, sunscreen, and a small amount of cash for whichever optional items appeal to you. A zip-lock bag or dust-proof pouch keeps phones happy on the open-top sections. Nothing else is required; everything the tour itself needs is already included.

The bottom line

For EUR 18 you get the transfer, the guides, the full Taurus off-road day, the cultural stops and lunch above Green Canyon. Everything else is a choice, not a surprise, and now you know each choice in advance. When you are ready, book the Side jeep safari tour online in a couple of minutes: no prepayment, free hotel pickup, and the full optional list already in your head before the first stop.

Frequently asked questions

Is hotel pickup really included in the EUR 18 price?

Yes. Return transfer from regional hotels around Side and Manavgat is part of the ticket price. Pickup runs in the morning; the exact time is confirmed the day before and varies from hotel to hotel.

How much cash should I bring for the optional extras?

We deliberately do not print gate prices here, because the national park, the zoo and the boat operator set their own fees and can change them. Bring some cash and ask your guide for the current prices in the morning, before the first stop.

Are drinks included with the lunch at Green Canyon?

The meal itself is fully included at a premium restaurant overlooking Green Canyon, but drinks are paid separately, both at lunch and at the rest stops along the route.

What does a child pay, and is there a family-friendly alternative?

A child pays EUR 12 on the Side departure. On the rafting and jeep combo a child pays EUR 16, and on the Kumkoy departure EUR 10, so it is worth comparing the totals for your own group.

Do I have to pay online when I reserve?

No. You reserve your seats without any prepayment and pay on the day of the tour. That way the price and the optional list on this page are both settled in your mind before any money changes hands.