Alanya lies on the east side of the Gulf of Antalya below a rocky promontory of marble. The ancient city was enclosed by a rambline wall that makes its way all around the peninsula. Alanya was a Cilician frontier fortress on the border with Pamphylia. In 2 B.C. Diodoros, a pirate chief, erected a fortress on the hill and it stood until Pompey's final stages of his campaign against the Mediterranean pirates. Passing into Roman hands, the town was later given to Cleopatra by Antony. It was not until Alanya came under Seljuk rule in 1221 that it became an important naval base and the stronghold on the promontory was completed in 1231.

The old town dates from Seljuk and Ottoman times and lies between the lower and middle walls of the fortress on the eastern slopes of the promontory. The modern town extends along the northeastern shore of the promontory. Once a pleasant, small agricultural town, Alanya has become a popular tourist center due to its wide sand beach stretching more than four miles eastward from the town. The ship will dock at Alanya for a few hours where guests who participated in the overland tour from Antalya will rejoin.