Antalya and the Turquoise Coast

April to June and September to October are best for sightseeing and walking, with warm days and a sea that stays warm into November. July and August are very hot and humid, often above 35°C on the coast and hotter inland at Perge and Aspendos, so visit sites at opening time and save the afternoons for the sea. Winter is mild and quiet, with rain, snow on the mountains and many resort hotels closed.

The provincial culture directorate lists most archaeological sites as open daily, 8am to 7pm until 31 October 2026, then 8am to 5pm from 1 November until spring, with ticket sales ending half an hour before closing. Check before you go.

Antalya Airport is one of the busiest in the country, a short drive from the city. Long-distance buses leave from the city's main bus station for Side (via Manavgat), Kemer, Olympos, Demre and Kaş, and local dolmuş minibuses link villages to the main road. Within the city, trams and buses use the rechargeable AntalyaKart. For Termessos, Köprülü Canyon and the Lycian coast at your own pace, a hire car is the easiest option; the coast road west of Kemer is beautiful but twisting and slow. Kaş can also be reached from Dalaman Airport, and ferries cross from Kaş to the Greek island of Kastellorizo.

• Many nationalities can enter Türkiye visa-free; others must apply online for an e-Visa. Use only the official government site, evisa.gov.tr, and check the rules for your passport before you travel.
• Müzekart is valid only for Turkish citizens. Visitors can buy MuseumPass The Mediterranean (valid 7 days from first use) or MuseumPass Türkiye (15 days); each pass allows one entry per site and is not valid for night openings.
• The Antalya Museum, once the finest archaeological museum on the coast, is closed: its old building was demolished for a new museum on the same site. Don't plan around it until the ministry lists it as open again.
• Carry water, a hat and sunscreen to every site; there is little shade at Perge, Aspendos or Myra.
• Boat trips from Kaleiçi harbour are touted hard; compare a few and agree what's included before you board.
• Dress modestly in mosques, and cover shoulders and knees at St Nicholas Church.
• On rafting and diving trips, pick licensed operators that supply helmets and lifejackets or properly maintained gear.

Antalya's signature dish is piyaz, a salad of white beans dressed with tahini, lemon and garlic, served with grilled şiş köfte. Look also for hibeş, a spicy tahini spread, and fresh-squeezed orange and pomegranate juice from the region's orchards. On the coast, grilled fish and meze come with a view; in Çıralı and the Lycian villages, try gözleme, honey and home-made breakfasts. Kaleiçi has the widest choice of restaurants in the city, while Kaş has an excellent string of small meze places around the harbour.

Be honest with yourself about what you want. The all-inclusive resorts of Lara, Belek, Kemer and Side are comfortable, good value for families and hard to leave, which is the problem: you can spend a week and see nothing but the pool. For exploring, stay in a guesthouse in Kaleiçi, a pension in Side's old town, a family-run place in Çıralı or a small hotel in Kaş. Mixing a few nights in the city with a few on the Lycian coast works well.

The Lycian Way was Türkiye's first long-distance walking route, waymarked by Kate Clow in 1999 along old Roman roads, mule paths and coastal trails from Ölüdeniz, near Fethiye, to Geyikbayırı above Antalya. The Culture Routes Society now gives its full length as around 760 kilometres. Few people walk it all; most choose a section of a day or a few days, such as the stretch around Kaş, the coast between Üçağız and Kaleköy, or the path from Çıralı towards Olympos and the mountains. The trail is often rough, stony and steep, with long dry stretches. Spring and autumn are the seasons for it; summer is too hot for serious walking. Carry plenty of water, a map or GPS track, and tell someone your plans.

The coast divides into two ancient regions. East of Antalya, on the flat, fertile plain, lay Pamphylia, with rich trading cities such as Perge, Aspendos and Side that flourished under Rome and filled their streets with marble statues. West of Antalya, in the mountains, was Lycia, a federation of cities with its own language and its own way with the dead, building tombs cut into cliffs or raised on pillars. The Lycian League, a council of cities with votes weighted by size, is sometimes cited as an early model of representative government. Seeing both, in the space of a few days, is one of the pleasures of the region.

Kaş is the main diving centre on the coast, with clear water, steep walls, caves, amphorae and wrecks, including an old aircraft sunk on purpose for divers. Courses and guided dives run for beginners as well as experienced divers. Kekova, Kaş and the waters around them are protected areas, so don't take anything from the seabed. Elsewhere, boat trips, sea kayaking and swimming in coves are the easiest way to enjoy the Turquoise Coast.

Loggerhead turtles nest on beaches including Çıralı from about May to September. During the season, protected beaches are closed to the public overnight, and fires, camping and vehicles on the sand are banned; follow the posted hours, keep lights off the beach and never disturb nests or hatchlings. Don't climb on fenced walls or theatre seats, and never take stones or pottery from ruins or the sea. Choosing locally run pensions, restaurants and guides outside the resort zones spreads your spending further, and water is precious in summer: use it carefully.