Antalya is the gateway to Turkey's Turquoise Coast — a Roman-walled old town that tumbles down to a yacht harbour beneath the Taurus Mountains, with waterfalls that spill straight into the Mediterranean and 2,000-year-old theatres a short drive away. It's a beach holiday and an ancient-history trip stacked on top of each other. Here's how to do it properly.
Overview
The city sits on the Gulf of Antalya, around 1.3 million people in the city proper. The heart of it for visitors is , the walled old town of Ottoman timber houses and bazaar lanes. Everything radiates out from there — beaches west and east, Roman cities to the east, mountains and eternal flames to the southwest.
Kaleiçi
Language is Turkish, with English, German, and Russian common across tourist areas. The currency is the Turkish lira (TRY). Time zone is TRT (UTC+3), no daylight saving.
Best time to visit
April-June and September-October. Those are the comfortable windows — warm days, swimmable sea, manageable crowds. July and August are hot (30-35°C) and packed; winters are mild but wet (10-16°C), fine for ruins, wrong for the beach.
If you can only pick one window: late September to mid-October, when the sea still sits around 26°C and the tour buses have thinned out.
Getting there
Antalya Airport (AYT) is 13 km northeast of the centre and one of the busiest charter hubs in the world — direct flights pour in from across Europe and the Gulf, with quick domestic hops to inland Cappadocia if you're touring more of Turkey. That's good for you: fares are competitive.
From AYT into Kaleiçi, you've got three options:
Taxi — easiest with luggage. Agree roughly 700-900 TRY (about $20-27) to the old town, or insist on the meter. Lira prices shift fast, so confirm before you get in. Use BiTaksi or Uber to summon a metered car and skip the haggle entirely.
HAVAŞ shuttle — a cheap airport bus toward the centre, then a short taxi to your hotel.
AntRay tram — the modern light rail connects to the airport area and runs into the city. Cheap with an AntalyaKart transit card, slower with bags.
The ride takes 30-40 minutes. On the way out, build in a buffer — AYT gets slammed with charter traffic and security lines crawl.
Where to stay
Four areas, four different holidays:
Kaleiçi (old town) — stay here. Converted Ottoman houses turned boutique hotels on streets like Hesapçı and Hıdırlık, everything walkable, sunset on the harbour at your doorstep. It's the most atmospheric base in the city and the pick for a first trip.
Konyaaltı — west of the centre, backed by mountains, a long pebble beach and a palm-lined promenade. Good for beach-first travelers who still want the museum and old town a tram ride away.
Lara — east of the centre, golden sand instead of pebbles, and a strip of big all-inclusive resorts. Family-friendly, a bit removed from the old-town character.
Belek — further east, the luxury-golf-and-Blue-Flag-beach enclave. Manicured, insulated, and honestly a long way from anything authentically Antalyan.
Skip Belek's all-inclusive bubble if you came for Turkey rather than for a poolside lounger. Base in Kaleiçi and day-trip to the beaches and ruins instead.
What to do
Kaleiçi — free, half a day. Enter through Hadrian's Gate and get pleasantly lost; the lanes all eventually spill down to the marina.
Hadrian's Gate — a triple-arched marble gateway from 130 AD, free and open 24/7. Look down at the worn original road below the modern walkway — chariot ruts are still visible.
Düden Waterfalls — the Lower falls plunge ~40 m off a cliff straight into the Med (best seen from a harbour boat tour). The Upper falls sit in a park you can walk behind, small entry around 30 TRY.
Aspendos Theatre — one of the best-preserved Roman theatres in the world, 2nd century AD, seating 15,000 and still hosting concerts. Entry ~200 TRY, about 45 km east. Go early, before the heat and the buses.
Perge — an expansive Greco-Roman city with a colonnaded main street, stadium, and Roman baths, ~18 km east. Entry ~150 TRY. Almost no shade — bring a hat and water. Far quieter than Aspendos.
Side — a seaside ruin-town ~75 km east where the marble Temple of Apollo sits right on the waterfront, glowing at sunset (free to view).
Antalya Archaeological Museum — statues, sarcophagi, and mosaics from Perge, including the Hall of Gods. Entry ~200 TRY, open Tue-Sun, reachable by the nostalgic red tram. A cool, shaded escape on a hot day.
Mount Chimaera (Yanartaş) — natural gas vents that have burned out of the mountainside for millennia, near Olympos, ~80 km southwest. Entry ~50 TRY, a 20-30 minute uphill hike, best after dark.
Beaches — Konyaaltı (pebble, mountain backdrop) and Lara (sand). Bring water shoes for the pebbles; a sunbed and umbrella runs ~150-250 TRY.
Food and drink
Eat where the menu shows prices. That single rule sidesteps most trouble.
Order grilled levrek (sea bass) or çupra (sea bream) with rakı on a harbour terrace — about 700-1,000 TRY ($20-30) for two. Try testi kebab, slow-cooked in a sealed clay pot and cracked open at your table. For cheap and excellent: gözleme (stuffed flatbread) with ayran, around 200-300 TRY; a lahmacun or döner near the harbour for a fast lunch. Breakfast is a whole event — a full kahvaltı spread of olives, cheeses, eggs, honey, and simit runs 250-400 TRY per person.
Accept the çay (black tea) you'll be offered everywhere. It's hospitality, not a sales tactic. And finish a meal with a Turkish coffee — the kind your fortune gets read from in the cup.
Budget
The lira is volatile, which usually makes Antalya excellent value for foreign visitors. A few rules to keep it that way:
Pay in lira, not euros — euro prices get rounded up.
Withdraw from bank ATMs, not airport kiosks, for a better rate.
Always decline the "pay in your home currency" (DCC) option on card terminals. It quietly costs you several percent.
Use the AntalyaKart for trams and dolmuş minibuses — city transport is genuinely cheap.
A comfortable mid-range day — boutique room, two meals out, a couple of paid sites, a beach sunbed — sits well below what the same day costs on the Greek islands, or in Athens, across the water.
Safety
Antalya is generally safe — low everyday crime, standard tourist caution. Two things to watch:
The overcharging scam — a friendly local invites you to a bar, and a huge bill materializes. Stick to places with visible menus and prices. Check restaurant bills in resort areas like Side.
The sun. Summer heat is no joke on the exposed ruins. Hydrate, hat up, and don't tackle Perge at noon.
Most nationalities (US, UK, Canadian, much of Europe) enter visa-free for up to 90 days. A few still need an e-Visa (apply at evisa.gov.tr, ~$50). Confirm your passport's status before you fly and keep 150+ days of validity.
Useful Turkish phrases
Merhaba — Hello
Teşekkürler — Thank you
Lütfen — Please
Evet / Hayır — Yes / No
Ne kadar? — How much?
Hesap, lütfen — The bill, please
Çok pahalı — Too expensive (your bazaar workhorse)
Afiyet olsun — Bon appétit
Learn those eight and you'll get warmer prices and wider smiles. Antalya rewards the effort.
