Tours in Antalya region

The Antalya coast runs about 640 kilometres, and the Taurus never leaves it. Mountains rise within thirty kilometres of the water, so the resorts sit in one line. Everything is on the sea or up a gorge.

How the strip is laid out

Read the coast from west to east and the choice sorts itself out.

• Kemer. Pine forest down to pebble beaches under the Bey mountains, the coolest air here.
• Antalya. The one working city on the strip, and the airport the whole region uses.
• Belek. Flat sand, golf courses and large all-inclusive hotels, laid out from nothing since the 1980s.
• Side. A Roman town on a peninsula with the resort grown around the ruins.
• Alanya. A Seljuk castle on a headland, a long beach, and the lowest prices along here.
• Kas and Kekova. Three hours west, Lycian rather than Pamphylian, and quieter.

One road, the D400, threads the whole thing together, and Alanya to Kemer is about four hours along it. Antalya still has no railway, so every transfer is by road. Nobody arrives by train.

The half of the region that faces uphill

Behind the hotels the land climbs fast, and that is where the active days go.

• Koprulu Canyon. Fourteen kilometres of grade two and three water under 400-metre walls, rafted from April into November.
• Canyon walks. Goynuk above Kemer and Sapadere above Alanya are waded, not hiked, in water near ten degrees.
• Forest tracks. Jeep and buggy safaris climb from every resort, two to three hours and dusty by design.
• Yayla. High summer pastures, where coastal families still move animals up in July.

Why one day trip carries five prices

Almost everything here is sold with hotel pickup, and the pickup is half the product. A Pamukkale day from Side and the same day from Alanya differ by three hours in a minibus, not by content. Read the departure time first.

Practical

• Heat. July and August hold near 35C with the sea about 29C, warm enough to stop cooling you.
• Season. April to June and September to November suit ruins and canyons; the sea stays swimmable into November.
• One airport. Antalya serves the whole coast; transfers run thirty-five minutes to Belek, two hours to Alanya.
• Cold water. Rivers coming off the Taurus stay cold through August, whatever the beach is doing.
• Money. Cash in lira goes further than cards outside the hotels; tipping is about ten per cent.
• Booking. Rafting and boat days go early in August; in May the night before is enough.