Buggy or jeep safari Side: the quick answer
These two trips often get mentioned in the same breath at hotel reception, yet they are built for different holiday days. The buggy is a driving experience: you are at the wheel, the guide sets the pace, and the point is the ground under your tyres, from forest tracks and dirt to dust and, when conditions allow, mud. A jeep safari, as our sister site describes it, is a sightseeing day: someone else drives, and the point is where the jeep takes you.
Neither is the better trip. They answer different wishes, so the fair approach is to put the facts next to each other and let you match them to your own group.
Our buggy safari at a glance
This is what the site sells, taken straight from our own tour record.
- At the wheel: you, in an automatic buggy steered with a wheel and pedals, and each driver may bring a passenger along
- Ground covered: 18 km of the course, where dirt roads and forest tracks alternate with rough patches and little streams to splash through
- Length: approximately 4–4.5 hours from your hotel and back, with the transfer and briefings counted in
- Departures: 08:00, 11:00 and 13:00, which mark the start of the activity, not your pickup, which is earlier
- Fares: €30 per driver and €15 per passenger, handed over on the day itself
- Ages: 16 or older to drive, passengers from 6
- Licence: not asked for, as every metre of the route is private off-road course and none of it is public road
- Food and drinks: not part of the package
The jeep safari on our sister site
Our sister site sidejeepsafari.net runs its own full-day jeep tour from Side, and it has published its own jeep-versus-buggy comparison, written from the jeep's point of view. Its current fares are listed there; we keep the figures off this page so that there is only ever one place to check them. These are the points its records set out.
- Programme: Side Jeep Safari: Full-Day Taurus Mountains, about eight hours
- Driving: guests ride in 4x4 jeeps with professional drivers and do not drive themselves
- Route, as the sister site lists it: a Roman bridge, off-road riverbed and stream crossings, orchards, Roman aqueducts, a Green Lake viewpoint, a swim stop in Oymapınar village, Oymapınar Dam and a Green Canyon viewpoint
- Included there: hotel pickup and drop-off, tour guiding, and lunch at a lakeside restaurant by Green Canyon
- Not included there: drinks, photos and video, and an optional boat trip on Green Lake
- Age bands there: adults from 11, children from 2 to 10, and a separate band for infants up to 1
- Open-top jeeps in summer, with water fights, and covered jeeps in winter
- Guiding in English, German, Russian and Turkish; free cancellation up to 48 hours ahead, with payment in euros on the day
- A second jeep programme with a zoo stop exists there, while the classic route does not visit the zoo
Who each trip suits
Choose the jeep if nobody in your group wants to drive. That is the clearest dividing line, and a perfectly good reason: on our sister site's jeep day, professional drivers handle the wheel while you watch the mountains roll past. It also suits families with younger children, since the sister site has an age band for children from 2, whereas our buggy takes passengers only from 6. And if you want a whole day with lunch, a swim stop and viewpoints wrapped in, the jeep offers that format and ours does not.
Go for the buggy if being at the wheel is what you are after. From 16, anyone can drive once the practice drive is done and the guide is satisfied, while those who would rather not ride along at the passenger fare. The outing is shorter too, approximately 4–4.5 hours door to door, so the pool or the old town still gets the rest of your day. You will come back dusty, so dress for it.
A group can also split up. If half of you want the wheel and the other half want scenery, nothing says you all have to do the same trip.
How to decide
Start with the driver question. If at least one person in your party is 16 or older and keen to drive, the buggy is worth a look; if nobody is, the jeep is the natural fit. Then check your children's ages, because a child under 6 cannot join our buggy at all.
Next, consider how the day is shaped. Our buggy sets off at 08:00, 11:00 or 13:00; the transfer reaches your hotel some time before that, the exact moment varying with your hotel and the route, and we confirm it after you book. The sister site presents the jeep as a full-day outing, so it takes the whole day rather than a slice of it.
Finally, think about what you want to remember. On the buggy it is the feel of driving through dust and water splashes yourself; on the jeep it is the places along the route. If you would like a second opinion, a WhatsApp to +90 536 603 75 84 listing your group's ages is all we need to give you a straight answer.
What the buggy day includes
Whatever slot you book, the base runs things the same way: check-in, an information briefing, a safety briefing, a walk-round of the vehicle and a practice drive. The guide, whose word is final, then clears each driver for the main safari. Nobody misses out, because a guest who stays out of the driver's seat still does the full route as a passenger.
Paying is simple. There is no card and no online payment; you settle the fare on the tour day. Holiday plans shift, so cancelling costs nothing as long as you do it at least 48 hours before the start.
- Hotel to base and back again, from any of the nine pickup areas around Side
- Your buggy and a helmet you keep on throughout
- Information and safety briefings, the vehicle explanation and the practice drive
- Professional guidance along the route
- Insurance, where applicable under the operating policy
- Changing cabins and showers at the base
- Your own spend on the day, if you want them: goggles, a bandana, a snack or a drink, and shots taken by the base team