Resort Antalya – description, pros and cons
What are the advantages and disadvantages of rest in Antalya for Russian tourists? What are the beaches and resort areas? Where it is better to choose a hotel how to choose what to pay attention to? Read the answers and see detailed map of the resort Antalya and the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
Attention!
If you are going to move around Antalya by public transport (not taxi), then know an important point. Now (June 2021) To use AntalyakArt, it is necessary to first bind it to his Hes-code. This HES code will receive when filling in the entrance form to Turkey. Binding can be made on the site https: // HES.Antalyakart.Com.TR /
Where is
The resort city of Antalya is located on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, in the south of the country. The city of Antalya is the capital of the province of the same name.
Distance to nearest major cities: Istanbul at 480 kilometers north, Ankara 380 kilometers north-east, Izmir 350 kilometers to the West.
To understand the location of Antalya relative to other resorts and airports, watch the Mediterranean coast map in Turkey. Click on the map to enlarge.
What is called the phrase "resort Antalya"?
Once in the 90s under the word "Antalya" implied the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea of Turkey. Tourists and travel agents thought on the principle: "If they arrive at the airport Antalya, hence and rest in Antalya".
Since then, tourists have become much more educated, travel agents have risen geography. Now under the phrase "Resort Antalya" imply the coast in the city of Antalya and the neighboring (east) Beach Lara. Click here to see the Antalya map. In detail all parts of the resort we will consider below.
Further east of the beach of Lara beaches begin the beaches and hotels of Bellek resort in Serik. Belek is a completely separate resort, read our detailed article "Resort Belek".
South along the coast behind the city of Antalya is the mountainous region Kemer. Kemer is a completely separate resort, read our detailed article "Resort Kemer".
Description of Antalya resort
In its modern borders, the resort Antalya is not as big as the majority of guidebooks and web sites are described. Total within the city and in the neighboring resort area of Lara 34 kilometers of the coast, of which only 18 kilometers are suitable for beach holidays.
In Antalya, several resort zones, each with its own characteristics. All resort areas we will consider in detail just below in this article.
There are about 40 hotels with official 5 stars, and ten more hotels of official stars do not have but in terms of quality of service and infrastructure, it would be quite possible to qualify for 5 stars.
4 star hotels – about a dozen, hotels 3 and 2 stars – also about a dozen. And two more hundreds of small hotels without stars, apart-hotels, guest houses, mini-hotels. This is a very curious feature of Antalya – here hotels prefer or have official 5 stars, or not to have stars at all.
Important note! When you look for tours and hotels on the Internet, you will see tens of hotels 4 stars and a hundred hotels 3 stars. Asks, from? Everything is trivial, our tour operators and website owners themselves and in their understanding "draw" stars guest houses, apartments and small hotels, who have official stars and never. Sometimes their assessment is quite relevant, sometimes not at all relevant. If we get lucky.
Important output! Be careful when choosing a hotel in Antalya. Do not believe in stars in search engines, no beliefs of travel agents, nor advertising avenues. Do not be lazy, read the photos from the hotel and reviews already rested (or disguised) tourists there.
The city of Antalya is the capital of the province of the same name and the seventh in size of the city of Turkey. Population of the city – 1 001 318 people on the last official census of 2010. This is an administrative, political, cultural and main tourist center of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
True, the status of the main tourist center Antalya does not have hotels and beaches, but thanks to Antalya Airport airport (Code: AYT) – the third by the passenger traffic of the airport of Turkey (35.7 million passengers on statistics 2019).
pros
First advantage – big city. In Antalya, a huge set of local attractions, they are enough for 7 days of vacation "for the eyes", and for 10 days enough, and at 14. Almost all interesting places can be reached by bus or dolmosh (minibus). About transport in Antalya We will still talk below. Also in the city there are large shops, shopping centers, hundreds of cafes and restaurants.
The second advantage – beaches for every taste. Big Beach in the resort area of Lara – Sandy, places with admixture of small pebbles. Big Beach Downtown – Cognale Beach Pebble. What kind of beach coverage you would not like, in Antalya he is. There are even beaches on the rocks, talk about them below.
The third advantage – almost everyone speaks Russian. Turkey Antalya is considered a "Russian resort", as well as Alanya is considered the "German resort", Fethiye and Didim – "British resorts", Marmaris – "Scandinavian resort". The percentage of tourists from Russia in Antalya is always high, so almost all employees of the tourist sphere have long learn Russian at the base level (150-200 words). You can solve any problem here without knowledge of foreign languages.
Fourth advantage – airport near. Antalya Airport to Lara hotels to go only 15 minutes by taxi or transfer bus. Konyaalta hotels go for 25 minutes.
Minuses
The main drawback is expensive. If you compare the levels of hotels in Antalya and Kemer or Alanya, then accommodation in Antalya will cost 20-30% more expensive. And it happens by 50% depends on the season and location of the hotel.
The second drawback – hotels with the beach across the road. Often with our tourists an unpleasant situation happens: 5 stars have chosen and on the first line, all foreshadows a chic vacation, but upon arrival it turns out that the beach through a lively road. For any tourist it is unpleasant. And even more so with children when you want to relax, and not beyond the children. Unfortunately, in Antalya it is a frequent phenomenon.
The third drawback is difficult to choose a hotel. To choosing the hotel in Antalya you need to approach seriously. There are hotels with "drawn" stars, which the stated level do not comply with. There are hotels with the beach across the road, although they are stated as the "First Beach Line".
There are hotels in fact without a beach, although in the description it is written "A cozy beach is very nearby". Tourists come to such a hotel, still find this beach and it turns out that it is too "cozy" – only 50 meters long, and there are a couple of hundreds of tourists. In addition, few of the tourists are aware of, where in Antalya sandy beaches, where pebble.
Lots of nuances! Do not be lazy, look for photos from the hotel and reviews already rested (or already disgraced, it depends on what hotel) there are tourists.
Antalya resort zones
Moving from East to West. Below the map of the resort of Antalya, click on the map to zoom. Zones on the map indicated by numbers. Below in the descriptions we will specify the zone number.
(1) Lara – Home Resort Zone and Beach in Antalya. Although nominally this area is not in Antalya, but in the neighboring area of Aksu. Beach Lara Sandy, places with admixture of small pebbles. Beach Line Length – 10 kilometers.
Most hotels 5 stars is located in Lara. All hotels of the first line have their own sections on the beach, where umbrellas and sun loungers hold for their guests.
Almost all hotels in the second line also have their own sections. But if you come to rest at the second line, we strongly recommend that you double-check that the hotel has its own section. If not, then rest will be very uncomfortable, because there are almost no publicly available areas on the beach of Lara.
The resort area of Lara is conditionally divided into Western and East (approximately 50/50). In the eastern part there are mainly expensive hotels, here a developed infrastructure – there are shops, pharmacies, cafes. In the western part there are hotels in the gram, and the infrastructure is not here at all.
We recommend all tourists to Lara to all tourists who are needed primarily by the sea, the sun and the beach. And recommend the eastern part, and not Western.
(2) orna – This is not a resort area, but an elite residential area. There are a couple of hotels here, but very far from the beach. There are apartments for rent next to the beach.
Public ornexic beach. Beach Coating – Sand + Small Pebbles. Sun beds and umbrellas are paid – 10 lir for one sun bed or umbrella. On the beach there is a cafe and bars. Current course, see our article "Turkish Lira".
(3) coast from ornekka to the old harbor – This is a rocky sector, unsuitable for beach holidays.
However, there are micro-beaches here, some of them are designated on our map. Most of these micro-beaches even the word "beach" can not be called. Here on the rocks there are wooden flooring, on which there are sun beds and umbrellas for vacationers, and in the sea people descend the stairs. What it looks like, look at the photo next, click on the photo to enlarge. These micro-beaches are paid – from 3 lir per person.
We want to pay attention to that there are hotels along this part of the coast. But resting in these hotels is extremely uncomfortable. Usually in the description of hotels it is written: "Cozy beach ___ five minutes from the hotel". Get ready, it will be too cozy beach – microscopic. And get ready that the descent in the water will be on the stairs, it is unacceptable for recreation with children.
Part of the coast between the ornekka and the old harbor we categorically not recommended.
(4) Old Harbor – This is a classic tourist area for arriving on yachts. There are no big hotels here, but there are several dozen guest houses and apartments for rent. No all inclusive here is not in mom.
An interesting point is that the area of the old harbor is still suitable for beach holidays. Right next to the harbor (south) there is a small beach of Mermella. The beach is pleasant, the coating – sand, but paid – 15 lir per person per day.
Old harbor is part of the old city, there are a lot of shops, cafes, bars, restaurants. Yes, and the old town itself is a landmark.
The Old Harbor area we recommend only those tourists who are very interested in the old town and who is ready for the intimacy to pay for the entrance to the beach.
(5) The coast from the old harbor to the beach Konyaalti. Absolutely unsuitable for beach holidays. High cliffs go here along the coast.
But on the rocks are equipped with dozens of cafes and restaurants. Sit here in the evening and see the sunset for a cup of fragrant Turkish coffee or a glass of beer – one pleasure.
(6) Beach Cognale – Ataturk Park. The eastern part of the beach of Cognalet is occupied by a public park in which no hotels. There are several hotels deeper in the city – already at the park. Just here is one of the most luxury hotels in Antalya – Rixos Downtown Antalya.
On the beach, there are several beach clubs on the park, where you can lie on the beach for 5 lire and more expensive. There are also public areas of the beach, where you can swim and lie on your towel for free.
(7) Beach Konyaalta – Resort Zone. This is the second size and significance of the resort zone of Antalya. Beach Line Length – 4.5 kilometers, Beach Coating – Small Pebbles.
Please note that all hotels in Konyaalta are across the road from the beach. And this is not a small provincial road, but the track of the national value D400. Movement on it is very lively. Transitions Almost all ground (zebras). Watch the photo near, click on the photo to enlarge.
To the beach of Konyaalta, the residential area is adjacent, and there are many shops, cafes, restaurants, bars.
Cognaalti Area We recommend only those tourists who sincerely loves pebbles. Or if there will be "delicious" at the price of the sentence, for which you will be ready to sacrifice a little comfort.
(8) Port Akdeniz – This is a port area, here warehouses and unloading terminals. There are no hotels here, the area for tourist purposes is not suitable.
(9) wild beaches. Begin immediately behind the Akdeniz port. There are no hotels here, but there are wild and always empty beaches. If you took a car or bicycles for rent, then go here, here is beautiful and quiet. However, these beaches are now actively equipped, many people have many people, there are cafes and bars, paid lounge chairs.
Transport in Antalya
There is no metro in Antalya, there is no lung metro system.
There are two long lines of the high-speed tram, but they are not very useful for tourists. The only benefit is the opportunity to take a tram from the airport to the city center, but the hotel will still have to go to a taxi or bus. So it turns out some saving money, but it only concerns those tourists who came to the snow, because with a big luggage in the tram will not be allowed.
The main vehicles in Antalya are buses and dolmoshi (minibuses). And they are really very helpful for tourists.
Antalya has a bus number system – two letters + two digits numbers. Letters denote two district of the city, between which the bus runs. Remember the most you need to tourists "KL". These buses go between the districts of Lara and Konyaalti, and between the districts pass by all major attractions. Most often goes kl08 bus. As he looks, look at the photo above, click on the photo to enlarge.
Or more convenient option – ride a taxi if finances allow. Tariffs for travel, see our article "Taxi in Turkey".
Weather and season
The beach season in Antalya lasts in the same way as the remaining Turkish resorts – from the end of April to the end of November. Read the details in our article "Weather in Turkey".
sights
In Antalya and the surrounding area dozens of interesting places. But in this article we will tell only about seven of the most interesting and visited by tourists. On our map, which we led above, are designated all these places. But before a few historical information.
A bit of history
The city of Antalya in was founded about 150 years.N.NS. King of the Pergamsky Kingdom Attal II. The city was named after His honor – Attal. This name for 2 thousand years has changed to Antalya.
In 133.N.NS. The city entered the Roman Republic, then was part of the Byzantine Empire. Up to the beginning of the 13th century, it was a major trading city and the main base of the fleet of Romans and Byzantines. Nothing extra ordinary did not happen. In 1206, the city was besieged by the Turks, but at first failed, took only a year later.
From the moment to today, also large-scale events in Antalya did not occur. Even the war for Turkey’s independence bypassed the city side. Maybe for this reason there are almost no historical sights in Antalya. But there are a lot of modern.
Douden waterfalls
These waterfalls are considered the main natural attraction of Antalya. Although in fact not the same they and natural. The fact is that most of the water for the river and waterfalls are now producing water treatment plants. The driver who is now falling from Dudy waterfalls, quite recently. let’s not talk about sad.
Waterfalls two – upper and lower. Upper is far away in the north, 9 kilometers from the city center, on the 21st street, and their tourists usually do not look.
Lower Waterfall Dudy – Tourist Bestseller. All overview tours of Antalya are visiting here, all swallowing cruises. For inspection of waterfalls from sushi, a special observation deck is equipped. But of course, more interesting to look from the sea.
Lower Falls Duden is located on the eastern outskirts of the city, near the place where the beach begins Lara. Everyone is easy to get nearby, all dolroms (minibuses) and buses, following in Lara and Lara stop near.
Inspection for free, opening hours – around the clock, year-round, unless of course the cleaning facilities fail. But in this case, tourists and residents of the city will not be up to the waterfalls.
Aqualand and Dolphinland
Attention! Aqualand and Dolphinland never opened in the season of 2020. Now June 2021, and they are still closed. Probably in 2021 they will not open.
The largest water park in Antalya, and here is the Dolphinarium. This is the oldest water park of the entire resort of Antalya, opened in 1993.
Located next to the beach of Konyaalti, in the place where the Ataturk Park ends and the hotel area begins. Getting easy. All minibuses and buses are stopped here, which follow from Konyaalti to the city center or back.
In the water park there are about 10 large slides and a modest children’s zone. Input price – 75 lire for an adult and 50 lire for a child (7-12 years old) on weekdays, 65 and 45 lire on weekends and holidays. Calendar of the holidays, see our article "Holidays of Turkey". Children under 6 years old are always free. The price includes a locker rental.
In Dolphinariums you can see the show of dolphins and sea seals for 65 lire for an adult and 50 lire for a child (3-12 years old). For 100 dollars you can swim 5 minutes with dolphins. Photos with dolphins – $ 20.
Attention! This water park is always loaded. In the summer season on weekends you can stand in line on the slide of 10-15 minutes. Our advice – come only on weekdays. And better to opening (10-00) to exactly enough tubing for skiing. And better satisfy, as drinks and snacks are about 4 times more expensive than on the street.
Aquarium Antalya
Advertising this oceanarium loudly states: "Go through the largest tunnel in the world through aquarium, the length of the tunnel – 131 meters!"Apparently the administration is not aware that there is a tunnel even more in the Shanghai Oceanarium – 155 meters long.
But in any case, even this tunnel should look. In general, Antalya Aquarium is small, but very interesting. It is approximately a Moskvarum at VDNX (Moscow). Also here are the thematic exhibitions "Iceworld" and "WildPark".
Akvarium Antalya is across the road from the water park Aqualand. How to get, we wrote above when they spoke about aqualand.
Aquarium ticket costs $ 35 (33 when buying Online), Combo Aquarium + Wildpark – $ 50 (45 when buying online), Full set (Aquarium + Wildpark + Iceworld + XD Cinema) – 100 dollars.
Sandland
This is the park of sand sculptures in the open sky. Officially, it is called "Antalya Sand Sculpture Museum".
In 2018, there were already 150 statues from sand. Administration declares that it will be even more. Some statues are significantly more human growth.
Sandland Museum is located on the western edge of Lara Beach. From Lara hotels just sit down to any Dolmush (minibus), going to the city. From the city Sit on any minibus going to the Lara area.
Input price – 30 lire for adult, 15 lire for child (3-12 years old), children under 3 years old.
Opening hours – from 9-00 to 23-00. Very interesting here after sunset, the figures are highlighted, it looks even a little scary.
Museum of Antalya
This is one of the biggest museums of Turkey. In 13 halls, 5,000 exhibits are exhibited, and another 30,000 at the museum in the store. General Exhibition Square – 7,000 square meters.
It reflects the whole history of Turkey – from the ancient civilizations of Lycia and Hettov to the modern republic. The selection of exhibits is great – almost entire statues of the Ellin era, coins, weapons, especially interesting "Hall of the statues of emperors". For lovers of money, this museum will be especially interesting. Here you can see "Lidiya Lion" – the most ancient coin.
Museum is located on the eastern outskirts of Konyaalti Beach. From the hotels in Konyaalti, go on any Dolmoshe (minibus) towards the center. Drive from Lara on any dolmoshe in Konyaalti.
Opening hours in the summer season – from 8-30 to 19-30. The museum is closed on religious holidays. Entrance price – 45 lire.
The Antalya Museum has an exhibit that Turks consider arch-important, but the rest of the world does not think so. Here allegedly stored the power of St. Nicholas. So the Turks themselves believe, but no Christian Church recognized these power. According to the official version, the relics were taken to Italy in the 11th century and are now stored in the city of Bari.
Read our detailed article "Museum of Antalya".
Gate Adriana
This is the main reminder that the city of Antalya was founded even in an antique era. This is the most ancient landmark of the city. Once it was the gate in the city wall. The wall is not preserved, only the gate has been preserved.
The gate was built in 130 in honor of the visit of the Emperor Adrian. They are small – 8 meters in height, three large arches. Made completely from marble, except Pillars – they are from granite. Most likely before the gate was the second floor, where they stood the statues of emperors and gods, but before our days the second floor was not preserved.
The gate of Adrian is located in the old town, about 500 meters east of the old harbor, on Ataturk Street. Focus on McDonalds, Gate 100 meters from him.
Inspection of the gate for free. Opening hours – round the clock year-round.
Old city
This is a big area of the city to the north and east of the old harbor, the Turks call him "Caleach". The district retained the traditional style of the Ottoman Empire of the 19th century. Almost all the streets of the old city are pedestrian – to walk a pleasure.
Here are narrow streets, beautiful minarets, many shops, cafes and restaurants. Many buildings are used for guest houses and guest houses.
The most interesting places in the old town are considered: Tekel’s mosque Mehmet Pasha (18th century), Gate Adrian (2nd century), damaged mosque and minaret Kesik (13th century, but it used to be the Roman temple of the 2nd century). Be sure to go to the viewing area, the harbor view is magnificent.
Buy something in the old town we would not recommend. Here prices are always overestimated. View, take a walk, go to a cafe on a cup of Turkish coffee with Turkish sweets – Here are the main classes in the old town.
It’s important to know
– In Antalya in the tourist areas, restaurants and shops without problems take dollars and euros. However, the city will already need Turkish lira – pay transport and attractions tickets. Read our detailed review "Where and how to change money in Turkey";
– If you arrived not at all inclusive, then there will be no problems in Antalya. You can eat in local cafes, good choosing a big. And you can go for the products in the supermarket, the benefit of them here. Read about the prices of our articles "Prices for products in Turkey" and "Fruits in Turkey";
– buy a local SIM card (ordinary prepaid or tourist tariff) in Antalya there are no problems. The question is exactly what to choose? Read our articles "Internet in Turkey Chezewo" and "How to call from Turkey Döshevo";
– And of course Antalya is one of the leaders in the country by the number of souvenir shops. Probably their more only in Istanbul near Sultanahmed. What is better to buy in these stores, read in our article "What to bring from Turkey".
Have a good holiday in Antalya, and read our interesting articles about Turkey (List of articles below).
