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Ancient columns near Antalya under a blue sky

Best Things to Do in Antalya

The list below starts in the old town and moves outwards. The first five need no planning at all. The rest take half a day or more.

  1. Walk Kaleiçi. Narrow lanes, whitewashed Ottoman houses with wooden bay windows, bougainvillea over the walls. Get a little lost, then find your way down to the harbour. Our Kaleiçi guide has a route.
  2. Hadrian's Gate. Three marble arches built for the emperor's visit in 130 AD, still the main way into the old town from the east. Look down at the paving for the grooves worn by cart wheels.
  3. The Yivli Minare. The fluted Seljuk minaret, built in red brick with turquoise tiles. It's the symbol of the city and you'll see it from almost everywhere in Kaleiçi.
  4. Sunset from the cliffs. Karaalioğlu Park, beside the round Hıdırlık Tower, looks straight across the bay to the Beydağları mountains. Locals come here in the evening with tea and sunflower seeds.
  5. A boat trip from the old harbour. Wooden boats leave from the Kaleiçi harbour through the day. The short trip east along the cliffs to the Lower Düden waterfall, where the river drops straight into the sea, is the one to choose.
  6. Konyaaltı beach. A long pebble beach with the mountains at the far end and a promenade behind it. Free to use. See our beaches guide for the alternatives.
  7. The Upper Düden waterfall. In a park on the north side of town, where you can walk behind the falling water through a small cave.
  8. Aspendos. A Roman theatre so complete that it's still used for opera and ballet every September. Under an hour east.
  9. Perge. A huge Greco-Roman city with a colonnaded street and a stadium, twenty minutes from the airport. Fewer visitors than it deserves.
  10. Termessos. A city built high in the mountains that Alexander the Great decided not to attack. It's a real climb, and wildly atmospheric.
  11. Side. Ruins woven through a seaside town, with a temple to Apollo standing on the shore. Details for these four are in our day trips guide.
  12. The Olympos cable car. From near Tekirova, south of Kemer, it climbs to the top of Tahtalı mountain at over 2,300 metres. Clear mornings only, since in cloud you'll see nothing but grey.

One thing that's off the list for now is the Tünektepe cable car above Konyaaltı. It has been closed since an accident in 2024, and in 2026 the city announced plans to remove the line.