Antalya Travel Guide: What to Know Before You Go

Antalya is two places at once. There's the resort coast that most package holidays sell, a long line of hotels east and west of the city. And there's a real Turkish city of more than a million people, with a medieval core, a university, traffic and an evening promenade. The trip gets much better once you spend at least part of it in the second one.

How the city is laid out

Everything hangs off the coast. Kaleiçi, the old town, sits in the middle on top of the cliffs around the old harbour. To the west, Konyaaltı beach runs for several kilometres towards the mountains. To the east, the cliffs continue past Karaalioğlu Park towards Lara and its sandy beach, then the airport. The main shopping streets and the tram run just north of the old town, along Cumhuriyet Caddesi and Atatürk Caddesi.

How long to stay

Three days is a comfortable minimum for the city and one day trip. Five lets you add a second trip, Side or Termessos, and a lazy beach day. Our three-day itinerary shows how it fits together.

The museum question

The Antalya Museum, one of the most important archaeological museums in Turkey, closed in July 2025 so that its old building could be demolished and rebuilt. The official target is to reopen by the end of 2026, but large building projects slip. Check the official museum site before you plan a day around it. Until it reopens, the statues from Perge are out of reach, which makes the site itself even more important.

Money and tipping

Cards work almost everywhere in the city, including many taxis. Carry some lira for markets, dolmuş minibuses and small cafés. Ticket prices at the ancient sites are set in euros and paid in lira, and they change every year. In restaurants, leaving around 10 percent is normal when service isn't already on the bill.

Small practical things

Tap water is safe to drink in principle, but most locals drink bottled or filtered water, and you'll probably prefer the taste. Plugs are the European two-pin type. Mosques are open to visitors outside prayer times, and you take your shoes off at the door.

From June to September the heat is the main thing to plan around. The sea breeze helps on the cliffs, much less so in the streets behind them. Do the outdoor sites early, rest in the afternoon, and go back out when the city does, after about 7pm.