Antalya and the Turkish Riviera: regions, getting there, ancient sites and costs

The Turkish Riviera around Antalya suits you if you want to combine a resort beach holiday with excursions to Roman theatres and ruined cities. The hotel zones stretch from Kemer west of the city via Konyaaltı and Lara to Belek and Side in the east. The ancient cities of Perge, Aspendos and Termessos lie in the surrounding area, and in the 2026 season the province counts a total of 232 Blue Flag beaches.

In 2025 around 4.3 million passengers boarded flights to Antalya at the main German airports. That was 2nd place among all foreign destinations (as of 2025). In the same year AYT airport handled 39.1 million passengers and works around the clock.

Anyone planning with older guidebooks should know five changes. The Antalya Museum is closed, the theatres of Perge and Side are closed off, and the cable car up the Tünektepe is out of service (as of September 2026). In addition, an accommodation tax halved to 1 % applies until the end of 2026.

Getting there and from the airport to the holiday resorts

Antalya airport (AYT) lies north-east of the centre and is connected by the D400; by car it is about 20 minutes to the city centre. There is one domestic terminal and two international terminals. Which one you use is decided by the airline and not by your country of origin.

Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 are about 2.5 km apart, and a free shuttle connects them. Terminal 1 and the domestic terminal have their own entrances but are connected to each other (as of September 2026).

AntRay tram: line T1A from the airport

The AntRay tram connects the airport with the city centre, the long-distance bus station (Otogar) and Fatih, shown on the network map as line T1A. It stops twice at the airport: "Gelen Yolcu" for arriving passengers, "Giden Yolcu" for departing ones. For the old town the map shows a connection from İsmetpaşa to the Kale Kapısı stop on line T2. Kaleiçi itself is marked at the following stop, Üç Kapılar (as of the 2021 network map).

You pay at the turnstile. Luggage is only allowed if it is easy to carry and weighs at most 25 kg. Children under seven travel free when accompanied by their parents (as of September 2026).

Havaş bus: from the domestic terminal to Konyaaltı

The Havaş bus into the city starts at the domestic terminal and meets all arriving domestic flights. If you land on an international flight, you walk across from Terminal 1 through the connection. From Terminal 2 you first take the shuttle to Terminal 1 and walk on from there. The journey via the Otogar to Migros AVM in Konyaaltı costs 230 TL and takes about 45 minutes depending on traffic (as of September 2026).

Back to the airport Havaş runs at 01:30, 03:30 and 05:00, then hourly from 06:00 to 21:00, for 220 TL. If you want to board along the way after the starting stop Migros AVM, you have to reserve by phone 30 minutes before departure (as of September 2026).

Taxi, transfer and minibuses

Taxis wait in front of all terminals, and a price list hangs next to the taxi rank. With a package holiday you go to your tour operator's desk directly in front of the terminal, where you are told which transfer bus goes to the hotel.

From the long-distance bus station, 4 km north of the centre and reachable by AntRay, minibuses run towards Aspendos, Side/Manavgat and Alanya. To Kemer, by contrast, they start from the Kemer stop west of the centre.

Second airport: Gazipaşa-Alanya

For Alanya the small Gazipaşa-Alanya airport is also an option. In 2025 around 282,000 foreign nationals arrived there, and at Antalya a good 15.6 million. Havaş meets the landings and takes about 60 minutes to Alanya; the journey costs 350 TL. Back there are only four departures a day: 08:00, 11:00, 18:30 and 19:30 (as of September 2026).

Where to stay: the regions compared

According to the official tourism portal GoTürkiye, the luxury resorts cluster first in Belek, then in Lara. After that comes Kemer with the next-highest density of hotels. In the city itself lie the old town Kaleiçi and Konyaaltı beach.

Quieter than the large resort zones, according to GoTürkiye, is Çıralı beach, which is protected in Olympos National Park. East of Olympos, loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) lay their eggs on a beach.

Sights: Kaleiçi, Perge, Aspendos, Side and Alanya

The admission prices of the state museums and excavation sites apply to foreign visitors and are given in euros (as of September 2026). The MüzeKart museum card is valid only for Turkish citizens.

Kaleiçi: city walls, Hadrian's Gate, Yivli Minare

An inner and an outer wall enclose the old town in a horseshoe shape, once with 80 towers. Inside stand around 3,000 houses with tiled roofs, and since 1972 the district and harbour have been protected as heritage. The ancient harbour now serves as a marina, and excursion boats go from there along the cliffs.

Hadrian's Gate was built in AD 130 in honour of Emperor Hadrian: three arches, made of white marble apart from the columns. The Seljuk Yivli Minare from the 13th century, 38 m high and with eight grooves, is regarded as the symbol of the city. At the south-west corner of the wall, in Karaalioğlu Park, stands the 14 m high Hıdırlık Tower. The Antalya Ethnography Museum charges no admission (as of September 2026).

Antalya Museum: demolished, new building announced

The Antalya Museum, named "Museum of the Year" by the Council of Europe in 1988, has been closed to visitors since 16 July 2025 (as of September 2026). The old building was demolished because of risks identified in an earthquake analysis. The new building is to have 19,500 instead of 9,500 m² of enclosed space. In November 2025 the Minister of Culture announced the opening for 2026; until then the 64,420 objects are stored in air-conditioned depots in the museum garden.

Perge: theatre closed, site open

Perge lies 18 km east of the centre, and according to the network map tram line T1C ends at the Aksu stop near the site. It is open daily from 08:00 to 20:00, last admission 19:30, admission 11 euros (as of September 2026). The theatre, once for 12,000 people, has been closed since July 2024 until the restoration is complete.

Aspendos: theatre for 15,000 spectators

Aspendos lies about 45 km east of the centre. The architect Zenon built the theatre between AD 138 and 164; it holds 15,000 spectators and is one of the best-preserved Roman theatres. Every summer the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival takes place here.

It is open daily from 08:00 to 18:45, admission 15 euros, and an audio guide is available on site. There is also an evening opening from 19:00 to 21:30, which is omitted on certain days. The MuseumPass is not valid in the evening (as of September 2026).

Side: ancient city, Temple of Apollo and museum in the town

Side lies on a peninsula 350 to 400 m wide; the name means "pomegranate" in Luwian. The Temple of Apollo stands at the end of the colonnaded street next to the Temple of Athena, right at the entrance to the ancient harbour. The 2nd-century theatre rests in part on an artificial slope of arches and vaults.

According to the museum portal, the ancient site ("Side Örenyeri") is open daily from 08:00 to 18:45 and in the evening from 19:00 to 22:00, with the ticket office open until 21:30. Admission costs 7 euros, but the theatre itself has been closed since November 2024 because of restoration. The Side Museum in the Roman bath next to the theatre was the first museum in Turkey in a village. It is open daily from 08:30 to 21:00, admission 5 euros, together with the site 10 euros (as of September 2026).

Waterfalls: Düden and Kurşunlu

According to the network map, the Upper Düden Waterfall in the Kepez district is near the T3 stop Şelale. On average 15 to 16 m³ of water per second emerge from the karst there, and you can pay the admission at the turnstile with the Antalyakart. The Lower Düden Waterfall falls about 8 km from the centre from a height of 40 m into the sea. You can see it from Gençlik Park or from an excursion boat.

The Kurşunlu Waterfall in the Aksu district falls 18 m and lies in a 2 km long gorge with seven small pools. The nature park costs 95 TRY per person (as of the 2026 tariff).

Alanya: castle, Red Tower, Damlataş

The castle of Alanya has 6.5 km of walls with 140 bastions, and the Inner Castle lies up to 250 m above the sea. The museum portal gives daily 08:00 to 17:30, ticket office until 17:00, admission 12 euros (as of September 2026). The octagonal Red Tower (Kızılkule) is 33 m high and was commissioned in 1226 by Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I.

In the Damlataş Cave it is a constant 22 °C at 95 % humidity, and admission is charged. In front of it lies a beach. Cleopatra Beach is about 2 km long and freely accessible; you can hire sunloungers and parasols.

Tünektepe cable car: out of service

The cable car runs from Sarısu in Konyaaltı to the top station at 605 m altitude. On 12 April 2024 a cabin was destroyed there: one person died, seven were injured, and 174 passengers were stranded for about 22.5 hours. In September 2026 the cable car is not running, and no tickets are sold. In April 2026 the city administration told the city council that the cables were to be removed and the installation redesigned; it gave no date for a reopening.

Day trips: Termessos, Olympos, Phaselis and Köprülü Canyon

Termessos: mountain city in the national park

Termessos lies 30 km north-west of Antalya in the Güllük Dağı-Termessos National Park. Alexander the Great besieged the city in 333 BC; it did not surrender. The access road branches off at kilometre 24 of the Antalya–Korkuteli road. Without a car you take a Korkuteli minibus from the bus station to the junction and continue from there by taxi.

The ancient site costs 3 euros admission (as of September 2026). The 2026 fee tariff places the national park in category I at 95 TRY per person.

Olympos, Chimaera and Phaselis

Olympos lies 85 km south-west of Antalya and 45 km from the centre of Kemer. The site opens daily from 08:00 to 21:00, admission 10 euros (as of September 2026). Above Çıralı beach, at an altitude of about 300 m, the flames of the Chimaera (Yanartaş) burn. Escaping methane feeds them; at night you can see them clearly, by day hardly at all.

According to the culture portal, it is about half an hour on foot from the entrance of the Olympos site; at the Çıralı Yanartaş rest area the fee of 95 TRY applies (as of the 2026 tariff). Phaselis was founded in the 7th century BC on a small peninsula and has three harbours. It lies 18 km south-west of Kemer and opens daily from 08:00 to 20:00, admission 10 euros (as of September 2026).

Köprülü Canyon: gorge, rafting, cypress forest

Köprülü Canyon National Park was designated in 1973. The gorge of the Köprüçay is 14 km long, and its walls rise over 100 m. In the park you can raft or canoe, and there are also the ancient city of Selge and the largest natural cypress forest of the Mediterranean region.

From the Antalya–Manavgat road you turn left 5 km after Serik and then drive about 37 km north. On admission the official sources contradict each other: the 2026 tariff gives 95 TRY per person, the culture portal free admission.

Best time to visit: climate in Antalya by month

The table shows the official 1991–2020 normals of the Turkish weather service MGM for the Antalya station. The water temperature is an MGM mean for the Turkish Mediterranean coast from the years 1970–2025; there is no separate value for Antalya there.

July and August, with a mean of 34.9 °C by day, are the hottest months, and the station's record is 45.0 °C (measurement period 1930–2025). In June and September it is around 32 °C with hardly any rain, and the sea then has a coastal mean of 23.9 °C and 27.0 °C. May and October stay milder at 26.4 °C and 27.3 °C, but October already brings 76.6 mm of rain.

Most precipitation falls in winter, in December alone 271.7 mm. The season is highly concentrated: in August 2025, 2,511,274 foreign nationals arrived via Antalya airport, in January only 162,413.

Costs: transport, admission and accommodation tax

For conversion: on 24 September 2026 the Turkish central bank quoted 55.4945 TRY for 1 euro (buying) and 55.5945 TRY (selling).

The table does not give the fare per journey on bus and tram, the admission at the Upper Düden Waterfall or taxi tariffs, because no official figure was available online for them.

The accommodation tax has applied since 2023 at a standard rate of 2 % of the overnight price excluding VAT. A presidential decision (Official Gazette of 1 May 2026) reduces it to 1 % up to and including 31 December 2026. It is also due on food, drinks, activities, pool or spa sold in a package with the overnight stay, so for example on all-inclusive.

Practical information: money, time, electricity, emergencies

Money: You pay in Turkish lira (TRY). With the Girocard you can get cash from many cash machines, but most Turkish banks charge a fee for it. Credit cards are accepted, and sometimes you have to show your passport or ID card as well (as of September 2026).

Time: Turkey has stayed on summer time all year round since September 2016, that is on UTC+3. In Germany UTC+1 applies, and during summer time from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October UTC+2. In Turkey it is therefore 1 hour later in the German summer and 2 hours later in winter.

Electricity: 230 V at 50 Hz, plugs of types C and F (according to WorldStandards, as of 7 September 2025).

Emergencies: 112 applies to all emergency services and is free from mobile and landline. The location is determined automatically, and the service is available in four languages.

Concessions: Free travel from age 65 and the MüzeKart museum card apply only to Turkish citizens.

Return flight: Check beforehand which terminal your airline flies from. The journey times of the city buses to the airport are in the "Antalyakart" app and available by phone on 0242 606 07 07.

The current rules on entry, safety and health are set out by the German Foreign Office.

Who this is not for

• If you cope badly with heat: In July and August the mean daily maximum is 34.9 °C, and 45.0 °C has been measured.
• If you are planning a beach holiday in winter: December and January are the wettest months with 271.7 mm and 210.6 mm of precipitation, and the sea in January has a coastal mean of 16.7 °C.
• If you are looking for empty places in August: In August 2025 about 15 times as many foreign nationals arrived via Antalya airport as in January.
• If you are counting on the Antalya Museum, the theatres of Perge and Side or the cable car: All four are currently closed (as of September 2026).
• If you expect free sandy beach in front of the hotel in Lara: Large parts are run commercially, and in front of some hotels you mainly bathe from jetties.
• If you travel to Alanya via Gazipaşa without a car and want to be flexible about the return: The Havaş bus to the airport runs only four times a day.