アンタルヤの観光スポット:旧市街、滝、遺跡、ボートトリップ

The best things to do in Antalya fit into four or five days: one day in Kaleiçi, the walled old town, with the Düden waterfalls; one day for the Roman cities of Perge and Aspendos; one day on a boat; and one or two days on the beach or a longer trip to Kekova or Pamukkale. Our guided days from Antalya hotels start at $50 per person for a boat trip and $90 for a city or history tour, with pickup included. Below is what each sight is like, how long it takes, and which ones are better done on your own.

Things to do in Antalya at a glance

The city itself has an old quarter, a harbour, cliffs over the sea and a large archaeological museum. Around it, within one to three hours by road, are some of the best Roman ruins in Turkey, two waterfall parks and a coast of pine-covered bays. Most visitors from the USA, Canada, Spain and Mexico stay in Lara, Konyaaltı, Belek or Kemer and come into the city for a day, which is a mistake if you like history: Kaleiçi deserves an evening as well as a morning.

Every guided trip in the table is on our Antalya tours page with photos, what is included and the pickup areas.

Kaleiçi: the old town on foot

Kaleiçi means "inside the castle", and the old town still sits inside parts of its walls, on a slope above the harbour. Enter through Hadrian's Gate, the triple marble arch put up for the emperor's visit around AD 130, and walk down through lanes of restored Ottoman houses to the harbour. On the way you pass the clock tower, the fluted brick Yivli Minaret, the symbol of the city, and the Broken Minaret (Kesik Minare), which has been a Roman temple, a church and a mosque.

Allow two or three hours, and go in the late afternoon in summer: the streets are steep, there is little shade at midday, and the old town is at its best at sunset, when the restaurants on the walls fill up. The Hıdırlık Tower and the park beside it, at the southern edge of Kaleiçi, are the usual place to watch the sun go down over the Beydağları mountains.

Be ready for the trade around the harbour. Carpet and leather shops and boat sellers are persistent, and menu prices in the restaurants with a sea view are well above those a few streets back. Kaleiçi is easy to visit without a guide; a guide is worth it if you want the history of each building, which is what our private Antalya Old Town tour does over 7 hours, from $90 per person, with Düden at the end.

Antalya waterfalls: Düden, Kurşunlu and Manavgat

Antalya has three waterfalls that people mean when they search for "Antalya waterfalls", and they are not the same experience:

• Lower Düden drops straight off the cliff into the sea at Lara. You see it best from the park on top or from a boat below.
• Upper Düden is in a park in the north of the city. You walk behind the curtain of water through a small cave. It is shaded and cool, and crowded on summer weekends with local families.
• Kurşunlu is a nature park east of the city, off the road towards Perge. Several thin falls drop into a green pool, with a short trail through the trees. It is the quietest of the three, but you need a car or a taxi; none of our tours stop there.
• Manavgat is a wide, low waterfall on the river near Side, about 75 km east. It is more a riverside stop with cafés than a sight, and it is the last stop on the Perge, Aspendos and Side day.

If you only have time for one, choose Lower Düden for the view and Upper Düden for a cool hour in summer. Both are on our Antalya city tour with the waterfalls and a boat trip, a full group day from $90 per person with lunch and hotel pickup. Entrance to the waterfall parks is paid at the gate, and the fees change each year.

Perge, Aspendos and the Roman sites

The ruins are the reason to choose Antalya over a beach resort elsewhere. Perge, 20 minutes from the airport, is a large Roman city with a colonnaded street, a stadium and the round towers of its Hellenistic gate. Aspendos has the best-preserved Roman theatre in Turkey; the stage building still stands to its full height, and opera and ballet are staged there in the warm months. Side ends the day with the Temple of Apollo on the shore.

Plan a full day. The sites are spread along the coast to the east, and public transport to Perge and Aspendos is poor. Our Perge, Aspendos and Side day tour is from $90 per person with a licensed guide, lunch and pickup, but the entrance fees are not included, so add the tickets for each site to the price. Perge and Aspendos are museums of the Ministry of Culture; current fees are on muze.gov.tr, and the MüzeKart pass covers both.

Honest warning: from late June to early September the ruins are hot and exposed. Perge has almost no shade. Go early, or choose a cooler month. In April, May and October these sites are at their best.

Antalya Museum: see the statues from Perge

Many of the finest statues found at Perge are not at Perge. They stand in the Antalya Museum, on the cliff road on the west side of the city, in a hall of gods and emperors that is one of the best collections of Roman sculpture in Turkey.

Plan two hours, ideally on the same trip as Konyaaltı beach, which starts below the museum. It is 10 to 15 minutes by taxi from Kaleiçi and a good choice for a hot afternoon, when the ruins outside the city are too hot to visit, and for anyone who has already done Perge and wants to see what came out of the ground there. Check opening hours and the fee on muze.gov.tr before you go.

Antalya beaches: Konyaaltı, Lara and beyond

The city has two long beaches. Konyaaltı, to the west, is pebbly, with clear water and the mountains behind it; there is a promenade, public sections and paid beach clubs with sunbeds. Lara, to the east, is sandy and lined with big resort hotels; its public sections are smaller. If you want sand for small children, Lara is better. If you want clear water and a view, Konyaaltı.

For a view from above, the cable car at the western end of Konyaaltı goes up Tünektepe hill, where the whole bay and the city are spread out below you. Swimming season runs roughly from May to October; in July and August the sea is warm and the beaches are full.

The prettiest beaches in the province are not in the city at all: Phaselis and the bays around Kemer, Adrasan and Suluada to the south-west, and Kaputaş far beyond, near Kaş. These are best reached by boat or on a day trip.

Antalya boat trips

There are three kinds of Antalya boat trip, and the one sold to you in the old harbour is the shortest. Wooden boats leave from Kaleiçi harbour for one to three hours along the cliffs to the Lower Düden falls, with a swim stop on the longer trips. You buy these on the spot; prices are set by each boat.

The full-day trips are better value for swimming. From Adrasan, our Suluada island day is from $50 per person, and the Porto Ceneviz day, with quieter bays, from $60, both with lunch on board and hotel pickup. From Kemer Marina, the Mega Star boat with a foam party is from $75; it is loud and fun, and wrong for a couple who want quiet. Drinks are extra on all of them. For a boat to yourselves, a private yacht from Antalya is from $1,499 for two hours for up to 12 guests.

Our Suluada boat tour from Antalya starts with hotel pickup and a drive of about 2 to 2.5 hours to Adrasan, then a boat to Suluada, the "Turkish Maldives", with swim stops, the Blue Cave and lunch on board; it runs in the summer season.

The longest boat day is Kekova, where the walls of a sunken Lycian town lie in shallow water. It comes with Myra and the Church of St Nicholas in Demre, from $120 per person. All boat days and their pickup areas are listed with our other Antalya day tours. Prices vary by season and hotel area, so ask us for today's price for your date.

Day trips from Antalya: Myra, Pamukkale and Cappadocia

Once you have seen the city, the coast and the near ruins, the next ring of sights is two to four hours away. Myra's rock tombs and the church of St Nicholas, the bishop behind the Santa Claus story, are about two and a half to three hours west. Pamukkale's white terraces are three and a half to four hours inland: a group day is from $90 per person with tickets and lunch, a private Pamukkale tour from Antalya from $180. Sagalassos, a Roman city in the mountains with almost no crowds, is a private day from $140 per person.

We compare them all, with pickup areas and what is included, in our guide to Antalya day trips. For Cappadocia, a day trip is not realistic by road; read our Cappadocia tour from Antalya for the options with a night there. The full list of one-day excursions across Turkey is on the day tours page.

If Antalya is one stop on a longer trip, look at the gulet cruises between Olympos, Kekova and Fethiye and the multi-city tours on our Mediterranean Turkey tours page.

How many days in Antalya, and when to go

Four days is the right length for most visitors: one for Kaleiçi and the waterfalls, one for Perge and Aspendos, one on a boat and one for the beach or the museum. With six or seven days, add Kekova and Myra and either Pamukkale or Sagalassos. Three days is enough if you skip the long trips.

Spring (April to early June) and autumn (late September to October) are the best months for ruins and walking. July and August are for the beach; the sites are very hot by late morning. Winter is mild and quiet, and many beach hotels close, but the city, the museum and the ruins stay open.

For a trip that combines the coast with the rest of Turkey, see our Mediterranean Turkey tours. The Antalya destination guide covers the city's areas and how to get there, and our full Antalya tours list has every trip with live prices.

Frequently Asked Questions