Things to do in Antalya

Landmark · Muratpaşa

The Roman-walled old town around the horseshoe harbour, entered through a three-arched marble gate built for the emperor Hadrian's visit in AD 130 and still the way in.

Local tip: Walk through the gate rather than photographing it — the original Roman road surface is preserved below, a couple of metres down, with the ruts worn by carts still in it. Then get lost in the lanes rather than following the harbour signs.

Nature · Konyaaltı

A continuous cliff-top park running for kilometres above the sea, with the Beydağları range rising to 2,300 m straight out of the water on the far side of the bay.

Local tip: Go at sunset in winter, when the mountains opposite are snow-capped and you are standing in 15°C. That contrast — snowline and shirtsleeves in one view — is the thing Antalya actually sells.

Culture · Konyaaltı

One of Türkiye's great archaeological museums, built around the sculpture halls from Perge — Roman emperors and dancing girls in marble, excavated 18 km east and displayed almost intact.

Local tip: Give it two hours and start with the Hall of Gods rather than working through chronologically. It is a short walk from the nostalgic tram terminus, so you can pair it with the cliff park.

Landmark · Güllük Dağı, ~35 km north-west

A Pisidian mountain city at 1,050 m that Alexander besieged and gave up on, now a ruined theatre and a hillside of smashed sarcophagi swallowed by pine forest inside a national park.

Local tip: It is a steep 30-40 minute climb from the car park and there is no shade — go early, take water, and go on a weekday. Almost nobody does, which is why it is the best ancient site in the province.

Food · Muratpaşa

The old commercial street behind the centre where the city eats lunch: şiş köfte off the grill with Antalya's tahini piyaz, pickles and a bowl of chickpeas, at counters that have run for decades.

Local tip: Order the köfte with piyaz rather than chips, and do it between noon and two. Several of these places sell out and shut in the afternoon, and the evening versions are aimed at visitors.

Neighborhood · Muratpaşa (east)

The eastern beachfront district of big blocks and hotels, ending where the Düden river reaches the edge of the falez and drops about 40 m off the cliff straight into the Mediterranean.

Local tip: See the lower falls from the water — the small boats from the old harbour get you under them, which the clifftop viewing park cannot. The upper falls, inland at Kepez, are a completely different and much greener place.