Antalya

Kaleiçi, the old town inside the walls

Kaleiçi means "inside the castle" in Turkish. A double ring of horseshoe-shaped walls once wrapped around the old city, and inside them stand some 3,000 houses with tiled roofs. Most of the walls were torn down in the mid-1930s. In 1984, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism received FIJET's Golden Apple award, given by an association of travel journalists, for its restoration work here, and Kaleiçi is now a protected area. Plenty of the old houses have been turned into guesthouses. Enter through Hadrian's Gate (Hadrian Kapısı). It was built to honor Emperor Hadrian's visit to the city in AD 130, and with its three arches, it also goes by Üç Kapılar, the Three Gates. The Yivli Minaret (Yivli Minare), built after the Seljuks took the city in 1207, is Antalya's first Turkish building. Its style suggests it dates from the reign of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I. The fluted, 38 m shaft is set with blue tiles. Nearby, the Kesik Minaret (Kesik Minare) began as a church inside a Hellenistic and Roman agora building and became a mosque in Ottoman times. A fire badly damaged it in 1895, and it's been known as the "truncated minaret" ever since.

The harbor and Hıdırlık Tower

Follow the lanes of Kaleiçi downhill and you'll reach the old harbor, a semicircular natural bay shaped into a harbor in the Hellenistic period. Today yachts and tour boats come and go, and around sunset the waterfront restaurants switch on their lights one by one. On one side of the harbor, Mermerli Beach (Mermerli Plajı) is a small beach tucked right under the old town. Wade in and face west, and the ridgeline of the Bey Mountains (Beydağları) runs along the far side of the bay. At the sea-facing edge of the old town, Hıdırlık Tower (Hıdırlık Kulesi) stands on the cliff. It's thought to have been built as a monumental tomb in the 1st or 2nd century, then folded into the city's defenses as a watchtower in Byzantine times. Lean on the railing of the park beside it and the harbor, the cliffs and the mountains across the water all fit into one view.

A waterfall that drops into the sea

Along the city's shoreline, you see cliffs before you see sand. They run for about 20 km across the south of the city, from the Konyaaltı side to Lara Beach (Lara Plajı), and stand an average of 40 m above the water. Because the city sits on top of them, a park or promenade often ends right at a drop to the sea. Düden Waterfall (Düden Şelalesi) pours straight off these cliffs into the Mediterranean. You can look down at the spray from the park above, or take a tour boat from the harbor and look up at it from the water. The beaches are mostly at either end of the city. Konyaaltı Beach to the west runs about 7 km, covered in fine pebbles, with more than 30 sections run by different operators. Lara Beach to the east is a wide stretch about 10 km from the center, lined with large hotels.

Ancient cities for a day out

Three ancient cities make good day trips. In July and August the average high is just over 34°C, so for ruins without shade, it's easier to go in the morning, when they open. • Perge — The two towers you see first at the entrance date from the 3rd century BC, and the city was at its height under Roman rule in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Its stadium held 12,000 people and is the second-largest of its kind in Anatolia, and St Paul stopped here several times on his travels. • Aspendos — The theatre, built in the 2nd century by the architect Zenon, survives almost intact. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism describes it as the best-preserved Roman theatre in the Mediterranean world. Climb to the top row and look down at the stage, and the scale sinks in. An ancient aqueduct also survives nearby. • Termessos — A mountain city in a valley between the peaks of Güllük Dağı. Alexander the Great besieged it in 333 BC, and the story goes that the city still didn't give in. From the parking area, you walk a footpath uphill to reach the theatre and agora.

A table with plenty of tahini

Tahini (sesame paste) turns up again and again on the city's own list of local dishes. The best known is tahinli piyaz: a white bean salad with a generous pour of tahini sauce, nutty and rich. Plenty of places serve it alongside skewered şiş köfte. Hibeş, for dipping bread, is a thick tahini dip too, and the dessert kabak tatlısı is pumpkin cooked down in sugar and topped with tahini. Kölle, wheat boiled with beans, chickpeas and broad beans, is a simple bowl. If you're after meat, look for tandır kebab (Tandır Kebabı), slow-cooked in an oven. From the same list, turunç reçeli (Turunç Reçeli) is a jam made from bitter oranges, with a slightly sharp edge. A jar makes a good gift to take home.

A 3-night, 4-day itinerary

Day 1 — Arrive at the airport → tram into town → enter Kaleiçi through Hadrian's Gate → Yivli Minaret and Kesik Minaret → sunset at Hıdırlık Tower → dinner at the old harbor Day 2 — Perge early in the morning → straight on to the Aspendos theatre and aqueduct → afternoon swim at Mermerli Beach → piyaz and köfte for dinner Day 3 — Morning walk up the trail at Termessos → afternoon at Konyaaltı Beach → dinner in the lanes of Kaleiçi Day 4 — Düden Waterfall → Lara Beach → airport

What to eat

• Tahinli piyaz (white bean salad with tahini)
• Tandır kebab (meat slow-cooked in an oven)
• Hibeş (tahini dip)
• Kabak tatlısı (pumpkin dessert with tahini)

Handy tips

• On the trams, including the T1 line that runs via the airport (Fatih–Havalimanı–Expo), you can just tap a contactless debit or credit card at the gate. There's no need to get an Antalyakart transit card.
• The Antalya Museum (Antalya Müzesi) is closed. The 2026–27 schedule lists it as closed for both October 2026 and November 2026 to May 1, 2027, with no reopening date given, so if you were planning to see the sculptures from Perge, rework that day ahead of time.
• Termessos stops selling tickets early: 5 pm in October 2026, and 3:30 pm from November 2026 to May 1, 2027. After that, check the new schedule from the Antalya Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism. At Perge, the ancient theatre is temporarily closed for restoration.