Antalya
A Roman gate and a Seljuk minaret inside the walls of Kaleiçi, the beaches of Konyaaltı and Lara, the Taurus behind, and an airport that handled thirty-nine million passengers in 2025.
- Arrival
- Antalya Airport · AYT
- To the city
- About 13 km to the centre
- Private jets
- General aviation and VIP terminals at AYT
- Best time
- April to October
The city
Old walls, long beaches.
The heart of Antalya is Kaleiçi, the walled quarter of narrow lanes and restored Ottoman houses. Hadrian's Gate, raised by the Romans in the second century, still leads into it, and the tiled minaret of the Seljuks stands above the roofs as the emblem of the city.
Beyond the walls the city spreads along the sea, with Konyaaltı beach on one side and Lara on the other, and the Taurus Mountains close behind. The season runs from April to October; July and August reach 34 °C, while spring and autumn bring warm water without the full heat.
Arriving
Room for every kind of arrival.
Antalya Airport, 13 kilometres north-east of the centre, has three runways, the two longest of 3,400 metres. New terminals opened in April 2025, raising capacity to eighty-two million a year.
- Mykonos 1 h 00
- Tel Aviv 1 h 15
- Vienna 2 h 35
- Abu Dhabi 3 h 45
- Miami 13 h 10 long-range jet
When to go
April to October.
Seven almost rainless months, then a winter of downpours. June to September see barely 30 mm between them and August water at 29 °C; December alone brings 246 mm, though even January afternoons average 14 °C.
- 14° J 216 17°
- 15° F 156 17°
- 18° M 101 16°
- 21° A 46 17°
- 25° M 29 21°
- 30° J 9 24°
- 34° J 3 27°
- 34° A 5 29°
- 31° S 11 27°
- 26° O 73 25°
- 20° N 130 22°
- 16° D 246 19°
What to see and do
Days in and around Antalya.
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Landmark
Kaleiçi
The old town inside the walls, its Ottoman houses now restored as small hotels, restaurants and shops.
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Landmark
Hadrian's Gate
The Roman gate of the second century, built in honour of the emperor, through which the old town is still entered.
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Landmark
Yivli Minaret
The Seljuk minaret, dressed in dark blue and turquoise tiles, that Antalya took as its symbol.
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Opera & music
Aspendos Theatre
Built under Marcus Aurelius by the architect Zenon, the Roman theatre hosts the State Opera and Ballet's Aspendos festival each September.
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Culture
Perge
Most of what stands at this Pamphylian city is Roman, including a stadium for 12,000, colonnaded streets, baths and a second century nymphaeum.
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Nature
Termessos
Alexander the Great failed to take this mountain city in 333 BC; its theatre sits at about 1,000 metres inside the Mount Güllük national park.
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Nature
Lower Düden Waterfall
At Lara the Düden river drops 40 metres from the cliffs straight into the sea, with a park and viewpoints beside it.
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Nature
Olympos Teleferik
Since 2007 this 4,350 metre cable car has climbed from near Tekirova to the summit of Tahtalı Dağı at 2,366 metres.
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Golf
Antalya Golf Club, PGA Sultan
David Jones laid out this par 71 course on the Belek strip, opened in 2003 between the National and Carya courses.
Official site
On the calendar
A date to plan around.
Dates as published by the organisers. Runways, hotels and slots fill early around these weeks: the sooner we know, the more choice you have.
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9–20 Nov 2026
Policy
COP31 UN Climate Change Conference
The 31st UN climate change conference, hosted by Türkiye in Antalya with Australia presiding over the negotiations.
Antalya Expo Center
In 7 days
Where to stay
In the city and along the coast.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Regnum Carya Opened in 2014 between two golf courses, the floodlit eighteen holes of Carya and the twenty-seven of the National, with a Crown Villa of 3,500 square metres.
- Lara Barut Collection Behind a private sandy beach of 275 metres with its own pier, 468 rooms and nine à la carte restaurants.
- Akra A city hotel on the waterfront with a private beach, penthouse suites on the top floors and Asmani for fine dining.
- Mardan Palace Its 546 rooms and suites run from lake houses to a King Suite, with a private beach and Aquamarine for seafood.
- Gloria Serenity Resort Run on an ultra all-inclusive basis, with rooms on a lagoon and villas from garden and pool villas up to a Presidential Villa.
- Calista Luxury Resort Spread over 120,000 square metres, it was the first hotel in Turkey to win the international Green Star award.
- Cornelia Diamond Golf Resort & Spa With a golf club of its own, the Crassula Spa and a beach 250 metres long from which a pier runs out to sea.
- Ela Excellence Resort Belek The Villa Sultan Palace here covers 794 square metres and sleeps ten adults and two children, and there is a heated semi-Olympic pool.
- Susesi Luxury Resort Opened in September 2007 on 90,000 square metres by the sea, with 554 rooms.
- Maxx Royal Belek Golf Resort Suites, lagoon suites and villas, 512 rooms in all, beside a golf course signed by Colin Montgomerie; Forbes Recommended.
- Maxx Royal Kemer Resort Between pine forest and the sea, with suites and villas, an omakase counter and a steak house; Forbes Recommended.
Where to dine
Where to book in Antalya.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Antalya yet. Two of these tables are rated by Gault&Millau Türkiye; the third is listed by Fodor’s.
- 7 Mehmet Gault&Millau, 3 toques Turkish Atatürk Kültür Parkı, above the sea
- Chayote Gault&Millau, 2 toques Modern Turkish Nirvana Cosmopolitan hotel, Kemerağzı
- Seraser Fine Dining Fodor’s International $$$$ Tuvana Hotel, Kaleiçi
Elsewhere in Turkey
More reasons to come.
- Istanbul Hagia Sophia, the Topkapı Palace, and the waterside mansions of the Bosphorus.
- Bodrum The castle above the marina, and the bays of the peninsula.
- Göcek A sailing bay with a dozen islands.
- Cappadocia Rock-cut churches and cave hotels in a valley of stone chimneys.
- Çeşme A resort town on the Aegean, an hour from İzmir.
Flying to Antalya?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.