Antalya and Kaleiçi

Antalya is the gateway to the Turkish Mediterranean: most European flights to the coast land here. Around the city spread the big resorts of Lara, Belek and Kemer, made up of all-inclusive complexes that Sabaro does not offer. What interests us lies elsewhere: the old town of Kaleiçi, with its Ottoman houses and small hotels, and a hinterland that holds some of the country's finest Roman sites, less than an hour away by road.

Kaleiçi, the town within the walls

Kaleiçi means "inside the castle". The walls, a horseshoe around the old harbour, were built in turn by the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods. Inside, about 3,000 tile-roofed houses line lanes now filled with shops, cafés and boutique hotels.

• Hadrian's Gate, built in 130 in the name of the Roman emperor, is the main entrance to the old town and one of Antalya's best-preserved monuments.
• The Fluted Minaret (Yivli Minare), built by the Seljuks, is the symbol of the city. The complex includes a mosque, two madrasas (Koranic schools), a lodge of Mevlevi dervishes and tombs.
• The Karatay Madrasa stands out for the niches and patterns of its mihrab, the niche that shows the direction of Mecca.
• To the south-west, the 2nd-century Hıdırlık Tower, 14 m high, stands in Karaalioğlu Park, 14 hectares of gardens ending in viewing terraces over the sea.

Below the walls, the old harbour shelters the boats that run along the cliffs to the Düden Waterfall, which falls straight into the sea.

Antalya Museum, one of the country's great archaeological museums, holds the Roman statues from Perge and finds from Karain Cave and the Church of St Nicholas at Demre. On 22 October 2026 the official museums portal listed it as closed to visitors; check whether it has reopened before you travel.

Aspendos, Perge and Termessos

Three sites less than an hour away, enough for two full days:

• Aspendos, about 45 km east, has one of the best-preserved Roman theatres in the world. Built between 138 and 164 by the architect Zeno, it seats 15,000; the Seljuks used it as a palace, which saved it. A kilometre-long aqueduct brought water to the acropolis. The theatre hosts an opera and ballet festival every summer. Open daily from 8 am to 7 pm local time; €16 from 1 April 2027, audio guide included.
• Perge, 18 km away, one of the largest ancient cities preserved in Turkey, is on UNESCO's Tentative List. You walk along the colonnaded street, past the baths, the agoras and the horseshoe stadium. The theatre is closed until its restoration is finished. Open 8 am to 7 pm local time; €12 from 1 April 2027.
• Termessos, 30 km north-west, perched in a national park, is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the country; its people withstood Alexander the Great's siege. The climb is steep but the view is worth it. €5 from 1 April 2027.

A day trip combining Aspendos, Perge and the Manavgat Waterfall sells from €45 per person. Karain Cave, where Neanderthal remains were found, completes the picture (€6).

Side on its peninsula

Eighty kilometres east, Side was the chief port of Pamphylia. The modern village, founded in the early 20th century by Cretan immigrants, grew up among the ruins. The theatre, at the heart of the peninsula, opens from 8 am to 7 pm local time (€8 from 1 April 2027); the museum, housed in Roman baths, displays finds from the city's excavations (€6). Antalya airport is about an hour away.

Alanya and its castle, as a day trip

An hour and forty minutes' drive east of Antalya, Alanya is dominated by its rock: a headland entirely ringed by walls, where Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods overlap. The fortress took its monumental form in the 13th century under the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad: 6.5 km of ramparts, 140 bastions and nearly 400 cisterns. The inner citadel, the İçkale, stands at the highest point, 250 m above the sea.

The castle is open daily from 8 am to 6.30 pm local time; admission will be €13 from 1 April 2027, and the Alanya Museum €5. On the way, about forty kilometres north-west of the town, Alara Castle crowns a crag above the river, with its caravanserai at the foot of the hill; the climb is up a staircase cut into the rock.

Sabaro's hotels

• Casa Sur Antalya: the painter Muhittin Selamet's house, restored as an eight-room hotel with a garden of orange and banana trees against the ancient wall, near Hadrian's Gate. Listed by the Michelin Guide. Priced at €218 a night for two, without breakfast, in early June 2027.
• Akra Antalya: a large five-star city hotel on the cliffs, with a platform beach reached by lift, six pools including an indoor pool heated all year, and a spa. The pick for a city stay with children, or out of season. Priced at €211 a night for two, without breakfast, in early June 2027.

When to go

Antalya can be visited all year. Average highs range from 15 °C in January to 35 °C in July and August; the sea is above 25 °C from June to October and still 22.6 °C in November. The city gets 1,070 mm of rain a year, almost all between November and March. For the sites, choose April-May and October-November; in summer, visit Aspendos and Perge when they open at 8 am. From 9 to 20 November 2026, COP31, the UN climate conference, is held in Antalya: heavy security, disrupted travel and limited hotel availability are expected.

Safety

None of the European foreign ministries that Sabaro follows advises against Antalya; several ask for heightened vigilance nationwide and advise keeping away from demonstrations. The Safety table on this page gives your country's advice.