Your first Turkish bath, step by step

Before the day

• Have only something light to eat beforehand, and no alcohol.
• If you are pregnant, have a heart or circulatory condition, or are under medical care, read the health note below before you book.
• Pack swimwear, dry underwear and a comb — the packing list covers the rest.
• Keep that half-day flexible until your pickup time is confirmed — about 2.5–3 hours door to door.

Pickup and arrival

At the time we confirmed before the day, a vehicle calls at your hotel and drives you to the hamam selected for your hotel's area. You change into swimwear there; a towel and a peştemal — the traditional hamam wrap — are handed to you.

Warming up: sauna and steam room

It starts with heat. The sauna gives dry heat; the steam room is warm and thick with steam. Nothing to learn here: sit, let yourself warm through, and step out of a room whenever you have had enough.

The kese on the warm marble

This is the step no sauna has. On the heated marble an attendant goes over you with the kese, a mitt of coarse woven cloth — a thorough full-body scrub. Say so if the heat or the scrub is too much.

The foam

Once the scrub is done, the attendant covers you in soap foam, washes you under it and rinses it off. Our page on kese and foam goes into both steps properly.

The oil massage, and the way back

The last treatment is a basic aromatic oil massage of about 20 minutes. A final rinse, then you dry off and dress — dry underwear helps for the ride — and the vehicle brings you back to your hotel. Drinks are not included.

The exact order and timing inside can shift a little from one hamam to the next, and with how busy the session is.

Hamam manners, briefly

• Swimwear stays on the whole time.
• Prefer an attendant of your own gender? Tick the box as you book.
• Tipping the attendants is a custom, not an obligation, and it is never in the price.
• Mention any health condition to the hamam before your session starts.
• Coming as a family? See the hamam with children. Still deciding? Read whether a hamam in Side is worth it.

A little background

In this part of the world, heated bathing rooms go back a long way, and in Ottoman times the hamam became part of everyday social life — people came together there while they washed, warmed up and were scrubbed. It is the kese and the foam wash that make it a Turkish bath rather than simply a sauna or a steam room.

Health

The hamam is not recommended during pregnancy or with heart or circulatory conditions. If you are sensitive to heat or humidity, or under medical care, ask your doctor before booking and tell the hamam before your session.