Antalya
Antalya blends Roman grandeur, Ottoman charm and Mediterranean ease along Türkiye's sun-drenched southern coast.
Also part of The South Coast
Antalya sits on a terraced hillside above a natural harbour, its streets fanning out from the old quarter of Kaleiçi toward broad esplanades lined with palm trees. The city is a base for exploring the Turquoise Coast, but its own streets hold enough to fill several days — particularly around the old town's tight lanes, crumbling city walls and sun-warmed stone facades.
Kaleiçi: The Old City
The historic quarter is entered through Hadrian's Gate, a three-arched Roman triumphal arch built during the emperor's visit to the region around 130 AD. Behind it, streets climb and fall through a mesh of Ottoman wooden houses — some converted to boutique accommodations, others still lived in — and small mosques whose calls to prayer drift across the rooftops in the early morning. The most photographed corner is the broken tower of the Hıdırlık Sokağı viewpoint, where the sea appears suddenly between the buildings and the sound of the harbour rises below.
Ancient Layers
The Yivli Minaret, fluted and tall against the skyline, marks the Alaaddin Mosque, a Seljuk-era structure from the 13th century. Close by, the Clock Tower — an Ottoman square tower with a once-functional clock face — anchors the surrounding bazaar area. The Antalya Museum, set slightly back from the coast, holds one of Türkiye's most significant collections of Roman and Byzantine sculpture, displayed clearly and with care. The archaeological park at Kaleiçi Harbour contains fragments of a Roman promenade and bath complex, with the water visible just beyond.
Everyday Life and Flavours
East of the old town, the Konyaaltı Beach runs for several kilometres along a rocky coastline backed by cafés and tea gardens. Westward, Lara Road leads toward the cascade of the Düden Waterfalls, where the river drops directly into the sea. In the market streets off Cumhuriyet Caddesi, vendors sell dried apricots, local olives, and roasted pistachios in paper cones. Restaurant terraces serve mezze — small plates of cacık, levrek ızgara (grilled sea bass), and lawar — as ferries leave the harbour for coastal villages that are otherwise hard to reach by road.
Find it on the map
- Antalya City
Tours that visit Antalya
No tours visit this place just yet — tell us where you want to go and we'll build one. See all tours
Before you book you should know
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Is this trip right for you?
Our groups are capped at eight travellers, which is about a third of what the industry calls a small group. Eight people share one vehicle, one table at dinner and one guide's attention, and the day can change on the road without anybody being left behind. If you are looking for a coach, a fixed script and a microphone, this is not that.
Most days involve real walking, often on ground that was laid two thousand years before walking shoes: marble worn smooth, cobbles, uneven steps and long site paths with little shade. Bring shoes you can spend a morning in.
Some days move between regions and are largely a drive, with stops along the way. Summers are hot — well over 35°C inland — and winters are colder than most people expect, so layers, a hat and sunscreen earn their place in the bag whatever the month.
How demanding a particular trip is, is written on the trip itself: the physical rating in the header, and the day-by-day itinerary above.
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Rooms, and travelling on your own
Trip prices are per person, sharing a twin room. Each traveller picks their own room while booking, so a party can mix the three:
- Twin share — two single beds, shared with someone you are travelling with or with a traveller of the same gender.
- Travelling as a couple — one double room.
- Individual room — a room of your own, for a single supplement on top of the trip price. Availability is limited, and the supplement for a given date is shown next to the option when you book.
Solo travellers are welcome on every departure, and most of our groups have one or two aboard.
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Accommodation
The hotels named in an itinerary are a guideline rather than a guarantee. Where one is full, or has dropped below the standard we booked it for, we substitute a property of a similar standard in the same area — we would rather change the hotel than the trip.
Check-in is usually mid-afternoon. If you arrive early we will ask for the room, but no hotel can promise one before its own check-in time; luggage can normally be left at reception in the meantime. If you want the room from the night before, ask us and we will add the extra night to your booking.
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Passports, visas and insurance
Entry requirements depend on your nationality and change without much notice, so the only reliable source is the official one: the government of the country you are travelling to, and your own foreign ministry's travel advice. Check both before you book a flight.
Many countries ask for a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, and for blank pages. It is worth looking at yours now rather than at the airport.
We ask every traveller to carry travel insurance covering medical treatment and repatriation, and we would strongly encourage cover for cancellation and for your luggage as well.
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Your departure is guaranteed — the day can change
Once a departure is on the calendar it runs. We do not cancel a trip for want of a minimum number of bookings, so a booked date is one you can plan flights and leave around.
What can move is the shape of a day. Museums and archaeological sites change their hours, roads close, weather turns, a local holiday lands in the middle of the week. Where that happens your guide reorders the day, or swaps a stop for one of the same weight, and tells you why. Changes to a booked itinerary are covered by our Booking Terms & Conditions.
