Things to Doin Antalya

What there is to do in Antalya: the major sights, local experiences and the practical detail you need to plan around them.

Things to do

What deserves your time in Antalya

Major attractions matter, but so do timing, price, accessibility and whether an experience actually deserves part of your trip.

Historic quarter

Kaleiçi (the old harbour town)

The municipality traces Kaleiçi to a small Hellenistic settlement that became Attaleia when Attalos II of Pergamon took the region; its monument page dates the founding to 158 BC and catalogues dozens of numbered monuments from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman periods, among them Hadrian's Gate, Hıdırlık Tower, the Yivli Minare complex, the Karatay Madrasa (1250), the Clock Tower (1921) and the Tekeli Mehmet Paşa Mosque (1606–1617). Hesapçı Sokak, which runs from Hadrian's Gate to Hıdırlık Tower, follows the line of Attaleia's ancient main street, and Roman road remains were found beside it. The Ministry's culture portal describes two- and three-storey traditional houses on narrow lanes running down to the ancient harbour, now a yacht marina. Kaleiçi is not a UNESCO site: in August 2024 the Antalya Governorate reported that the Ministry had begun work toward putting it on the World Heritage Tentative List.

Roman monumental gate

Hadrian's Gate

A gate of white marble, apart from its columns, with three openings, built in AD 130 in the name of the emperor Hadrian, whose visit the Governorate credits with prompting the city's development. The original design was two storeys and the upper storey has not survived. Two towers flank it: the southern one is called the Julia Sancta Tower and dates from Hadrian's period, while the northern one keeps ancient lower courses under Seljuk upper sections. A later city wall enclosed the outer face and the gate went unused for many years until the wall's remains were demolished in 1882. GoTürkiye lists entering Kaleiçi through it, and the Governorate reported a three-stage conservation plan for it in August 2024.

Seljuk mosque complex

Yivli Minare complex and Mevlevihane

The fluted brick minaret, 38 m high with 90 steps up to its balcony and decorated with blue tile, is the city's best-known landmark. The Ministry's heritage directory dates the mosque to 1230 under the Anatolian Seljuk sultan I. Alaaddin Keykubad, says it has six domes and calls it the oldest surviving multi-domed mosque type in Anatolia, and lists it as 'Yivli Minare Camii (Antalya) [2016]' in its Tentative List directory; it is not an inscribed World Heritage property. The complex includes the Mevlevihane, built in 1225 according to the municipality, which the Ministry's culture portal presents as a museum together with a hamam and two tombs. Museum opening hours were not retrieved.

Historic church-mosque

Kesik Minare

The municipality records that the building stands within what was the city agora in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, that an Early Byzantine church, the Panhagia, was built inside it and from the Middle Byzantine period was the most sacred place in Pamphylia, and that the church was converted to a mosque in the time of Şehzade Korkut. The municipality says a fire in 1895 damaged the building, which is why it is called the Kesik (cut or truncated) Minare.

Beach

Konyaaltı Beach

The municipality describes Konyaaltı as one of Turkey's best-known beaches, about 7 km of coast with fine pebbles, numerous private operations alongside public access, and facilities for a full day by the sea, and lists it among Antalya's Blue Flag beaches. Antalya Aquarium stands 70 m from it according to the aquarium operator, and the Ministry's Antalya Museum is on Konyaaltı Caddesi.

Accessibility: In July 2017 the Governorate reported an accessible-beach pier at Konyaaltı so that visitors with disabilities can enter the water with staff assistance. Current arrangements were not confirmed.

Municipal beach

Lara public beach (Lara Halk Plajı)

The Blue Flag database lists the municipality's Lara Halk Plajı 1 as a sandy public beach that has held a Blue Flag in every year from 2011 to 2025 except 2018, with 24-hour camera surveillance, an operating season of 15 May to 30 September, and cultural and sports programming. The database places it about 10 km from the airport and 15 km from the city centre.

Accessibility: The database lists disabled-accessible restrooms, ramps, lounge chairs, umbrellas and floating loungers for water access.

Waterfalls

Düden waterfalls

Lower Düden (Aşağı Düden, also called Karpuzkaldıran) is where the Düden Stream drops about 40 m straight into the sea, 8 km from the city centre in the direction of Lara; the culture portal names Gençlik Parkı as a viewpoint and says boat tours operate nearby. Upper Düden (Yukarı Düden) is in Kepez district: the water sinks into Bıyıklı Düdeni, travels about 14 km underground through the Varsak Depression and resurfaces at Düdenbaşı, and the portal states that at least 10 cubic metres a second emerge even when there is no surface water, with an average of 15–16 and a maximum of 94.

Accessibility: The culture portal says Upper Düden can be reached by city transport (address Düdenbaşı Mah. 21. Cad., Kepez). No step-free information is published on the pages read.

Aquarium complex

Antalya Aquarium and Face 2 Face Wax Museum

A private aquarium at Dumlupınar Bulvarı No. 502, Arapsuyu, Konyaaltı, opened on 15 August 2012. The operator describes 40 thematic aquariums followed by a tunnel 131 m long and 3 m wide, which it calls the biggest in the world (the operator's own claim), and lists Snow World and Ice Museum (1,500 m² of real snow at about −5°C, with protective clothing issued at the entry), the WildPark reptile house, an XD motion cinema, VR 360 and the Face 2 Face Wax Museum (more than 50 figures in about 1,000 m²) under the same roof, most of them on the terrace floor.

Booking: The operator's visiting-hours page showed 09:00–22:00 every day on 21 September 2026. Its last-entrance figures disagree: at least 30 minutes before closing on the hours page and 45 minutes on its home page, so arrive earlier than either. It publishes no age or height limits for the XD cinema, Snow World or VR 360; ask at the desk before buying extras for a small child.

Accessibility: The operator says wheelchairs are always available (complimentary, first come first served, no reservations), that there is disabled parking, and that visitors with babies can use pushchairs in the aquarium. Its route description says visitors go down a floor by stairs before the tunnel; a lift and step-free access to the terrace-floor attractions are not confirmed.

Time

The operator gives one to two hours for the aquarium and tunnel, about an hour for Snow World and Ice Museum, 20–30 minutes for WildPark and 8–10 minutes for the XD cinema, and three to five hours for a full visit.

Municipal museum

Antalya Toy Museum

A municipal museum in the Kaleiçi yacht-harbour area (Selçuk Yat Limanı Sokak No. 112, Muratpaşa) that opened on 23 April 2011 and holds about 3,000 antique toys from the 1860s to the 1980s. The museum's own site calls it Turkey's third toy museum after those in Istanbul and İzmir.

Accessibility: The museum's own site describes a panoramic lift; confirm on arrival.

Archaeological museum (closed when checked)

Antalya Museum

The Ministry's museum listing showed the Antalya Museum (Konyaaltı Caddesi No. 88, Muratpaşa) as closed to visits on 21 September 2026, with no reason or reopening date on the page. The Ministry describes a collection that includes Roman sculpture from Perge, the Elmalı coins and finds from the Church of St Nicholas, and the museum received the Council of Europe's Museum of the Year award in 1988. The Provincial Directorate describes 13 exhibition halls, a children's section and open-air displays.

Booking: Check the status on muze.gov.tr or by phone (0242 238 56 88) before planning around it. Perge's sculptures are displayed here, so a closed museum affects what is available to see of that site.

Information last verified: September 21, 2026

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