Antalya Airport→Konyaaltı

Konyaaltı is not a resort belt set apart from everything else. It is the western shore of Antalya itself, the stretch of coast where the city goes to swim, walk and eat once the working day ends. A Turkey Transfer ride from Antalya Airport to Konyaaltı covers 12 km and takes about 15 minutes. That makes it one of the shortest airport runs you can book on this coast, and it puts you at a hotel door soon after your passport is stamped.

The driver takes only your party. No other stop is added on the way. The fare is set for the car, not divided by seat, so a family of four or a group of friends pays the same whatever the head count.

Antalya Airport runs two international terminals, T1 and T2, plus a separate hall for domestic connections. Most holidaymakers arrive at T1 or T2. If you connect from another Turkish city, you land at the domestic hall instead.

Your driver waits at the exit of whichever terminal your flight uses. He holds a board with your name, so you do not need to look for a rank or compare cars. Your name on the board is the signal that the ride is yours.

The wait is counted from touchdown, not from the moment your bags reach the belt. It stretches to 60 minutes if passport control is slow. This matters in high summer, when several wide-body flights can land close together and the queue at the desks grows.

If something is unclear, call +90 551 086 83 68. Use this number if you cannot find the driver, if your flight lands on a different terminal than you booked, or if your plans change on the way.

Konyaaltı lies on the far side of the city from the airport. The drive is therefore a crossing of Antalya, not a single coastal highway. Leaving the terminal, the driver joins the D-400 ring road. Locals know it as Kenan Evren Bulvarı. The ring road follows the edge of the city instead of entering it, so you stay on a fast, wide road while the first apartment blocks and orange groves slide past the window.

Next the driver picks up Dumlupınar Bulvarı, which passes Akdeniz University.

Then the car turns onto Atatürk Bulvarı. This is the road that runs the full length of the Konyaaltı coast down to Sarısu. When you turn onto it, you are on the district's main street, and the sea appears on one side of the road as the boulevard bends along the shore.

The route skirts the edge of the old town instead of cutting through it. It also clears more junctions than a purely coastal run further along the shore ever would. ### Typical times and busy times

The given journey time is about 15 minutes. That is the figure to plan around when the roads are calm. Late evening and early morning arrivals are the easiest, because the ring road and the boulevards carry little traffic.

A summer afternoon pickup feels the city crossing more than a night arrival does. The delay sits in the crossing of the city, not on the shore road itself. If you land in the middle of a hot July afternoon, expect to spend more time at the junctions between the ring road and the beach than you would at midnight.

Atatürk Bulvarı is a busy boulevard. Many of the hotels and apartment buildings sit on side streets that run down to the beach, or on streets that climb back toward the hills. Give your driver the exact hotel name and, if you can, the street. A hotel address that simply says "Konyaaltı" can mean very different places along the coast.

At the door, the driver helps with the bags. Standard suitcases are included in the fare, so a normal set of holiday luggage for your party needs nothing extra at booking.

Payment is simple. You pay the driver directly, in cash, once you arrive. No card or online payment is taken beforehand.

"Konyaaltı" names a single beach in most guidebooks. On the ground it is a run of some 13 kilometres of separate former villages that Antalya's growth folded into one district. The names matter, because the character of each end is different.

• Liman sits right against the old walls of Kaleiçi.
• Hurma, Arapsuyu and Uncalı follow along the shore.
• Sarısu is where the cable car starts.
• Altınkum and Gürsu lie further on, toward the foot of Tünektepe.

Liman is the end that feels most like the city. It is busier and more city-adjacent. You can reach the old town on foot in about the time it takes to finish a coffee. If you want cafés and evening life close by, this end suits you.

The middle of the coast is where many visitors settle. The neighbourhoods here mix long-term residents, expats and holiday apartments. The streets feel lived in. You will find ordinary shops, pharmacies and neighbourhood restaurants beside the hotels.

Toward Sarısu and beyond, the coast grows quieter and more residential. Altınkum and Gürsu are further from the old town. A hotel here means a longer stretch of coast road between you and Kaleiçi. It also means less crowd on the pavement outside your door.

The fare itself barely changes across this run. What changes is how much of the city you are still inside of.

Hotels here tend to be mid-size, not the sprawling all-inclusive gates found elsewhere. None of them fence off a private stretch of sand. Restaurants, pharmacies and the beach sit within walking distance of most addresses.

Two weekly markets follow the same geography. Altınkum's market runs on Fridays. Liman's runs on Tuesdays. They sit roughly ten kilometres apart along the same coast. Both trade produce and household goods, not souvenirs.

Konyaaltı Beach runs for roughly 13 kilometres. It is a Blue Flag pebble beach, one of the longest in Turkey. Behind it the Beydağları, the coastal spur of the Taurus Mountains, rise steeply. The mountains are not a distant smudge on the horizon. In the cooler months they can be snow-capped, so you may photograph a pebble beach and a white peak in the same frame.

The beach is pebble, not sand. Water shoes help when you step into the sea. The water is clear, and it drops off a little faster than on the sandy beaches of Lara on the other side of the city.

Along the promenade there are free showers and shaded spots the length of the shore. Beach Park, the strip that runs along the water, is where café and restaurant life happens. It stays busy well into the evening in summer.

A little further inland sits Atatürk Culture Park. It is the green lung of the district, with lawns, a small lake and playgrounds. It is a good place to let children run after a long flight.

Before the municipality's park project in the early 2000s, this was a wilder pebble shore with informal tea gardens rather than today's paved promenade. Older Antalya residents still remember swimming here as children, long before any hotel arrived. Locals still outnumber hotel guests on the sand most summer evenings. They drive down after work instead of staying the week. You share the beach with the people who live in the city, and that gives it a relaxed, everyday feel.

Antalya Aquarium and the Aqualand and Dolphinland water park both sit inside the district. They make an easy outing on a day off the beach, and you do not need a transfer of your own to reach them from most Konyaaltı hotels. The aquarium is known for its long tunnel tank and is a reliable half-day out with children.

The Tünektepe cable car starts at its own station on the Sarısu shorefront. It climbs 1,706 metres of cable line to a summit at 618 metres. The ride takes about nine minutes each way.

At the top you find a slowly revolving restaurant and an open viewing terrace. From the terrace you take in the whole Gulf of Antalya in one turn. The city lies on one side, and the Beydağları rise directly behind on the other. Sunset is the popular time, because you can watch the light change over the sea without a long drive.

Antalya Museum is one of the country's largest archaeological collections. It sits close enough for a half-day visit without eating into your beach time.

The walled old town of Kaleiçi borders Konyaaltı at its eastern end. It is close enough that many guests walk in for dinner instead of booking a separate trip. Inside the walls you find narrow lanes, Hadrian's Gate, the Yivli Minaret and the old harbour marina. From the Liman end you can simply walk.

If you want a separate page about that side of the city, look at the Antalya Airport to Kaleiçi route. It describes the old town on its own. Add your return date and pickup time to this booking, and the fare for that leg shows before you confirm.

Konyaaltı is a place to eat without a plan. Along Beach Park the cafés and restaurants face the sea, and in summer they stay busy late. You can walk from your hotel, choose a table with the mountains in view and watch the light go.

The promenade has the feel of a city evening, not a resort show. Families stroll, groups meet after work and children play near the water.

For a different evening, take the cable car up Tünektepe for sunset and come back down to eat. Or walk east toward Kaleiçi and have dinner among the old stone houses.

Konyaaltı works well for families, for several plain reasons. The beach is long, so there is always room. The promenade is paved, so a pushchair rolls without trouble. Showers and shade are along the shore. The aquarium and the water park are inside the district.

A child or booster seat comes free of charge, but only when it is requested in advance. It is not part of the standard car. If you travel with a small child, add the seat request when you book, so it is in the car when the driver meets you. Do not wait until you are at the terminal.

The ride is short, about 15 minutes, which helps with tired children after a flight.

The driver's wait is counted from touchdown, so a flight that lands late is not a problem for the booking. Give the correct flight number when you book, and the driver knows when to be at the exit. A delayed landing does not mean an extra charge.

At night, the ring road and the boulevards carry less traffic, so the ride at midnight is quick. The city is quieter, the junctions clear faster and you reach your hotel in close to the given 15 minutes.

When you fly home, the same 12 km and about 15 minutes apply in the other direction. The drive still crosses the city, so the busy-time delays described above still count.

Allow extra time in these cases:

• You leave in the middle of a summer afternoon, when the junctions between the beach and the ring road are slower.
• You stay at the far end of the coast, toward Altınkum or Gürsu, and your starting point is further from the ring road.
• You travel with small children or a lot of luggage.

The airport has two international terminals, T1 and T2, and a domestic hall. Check your ticket for the terminal and tell the driver, so you are not left at the wrong entrance.

Add your return date and pickup time to this booking, and the fare for that leg shows before you confirm. If your plans change, call +90 551 086 83 68.

Inland day trips from this side of Antalya run north and north-west of the city instead of east along the coast. They cover three distinct kinds of site.

• The Lower Düden Waterfalls drop straight into the sea about 12 kilometres north-east of the centre. It is a short excursion, easily paired with lunch on the cliffs above the falls.
• Termessos is a Pisidian mountain city built into the Taurus foothills, some 34 kilometres north-west. It sits at altitude inside its own national park. You find walls, a rock-cut theatre and a necropolis, reached by a climb instead of a level path. It takes a fuller half-day than Düden does.
• Karain Cave was inhabited on and off since the Palaeolithic. It lies in the same hill country north-west of the city. It is usually folded into the same day out as Termessos, not booked as a trip on its own.

None of the three sits on the way from the airport. Each is arranged separately once you have checked in.

Summer is the busy season. The beach is full, the promenade stays lively into the night and the afternoon junctions are at their slowest. If you like long, warm evenings and a sociable beach, this is the time.

In the cooler months the city feels quieter and more local, and the mountains can carry snow behind the water. The museum, the aquarium, the cable car and Kaleiçi all work well on a day when the sea is not the main plan.

In every season the transfer is the same short crossing of the city. Choose your neighbourhood first, give the hotel name and flight number when you book, and the rest of the ride is easy.

Konyaaltı sits on the west side of Antalya, so some of the best-known ancient sites are on the far side of the city from your hotel. Plan these as full days. Start early, because the stone ruins hold the heat from late morning.

• Perge lies roughly 15 kilometres east of the centre. It has a long colonnaded street, a stadium and the towers of a Hellenistic gate. It suits a morning visit before the sun gets strong.
• Aspendos is roughly 45 kilometres east. Its Roman theatre is among the best-preserved in the Mediterranean.
• Side is further again, roughly 65 kilometres from the centre. It combines a ruined temple of Apollo beside the sea with a small harbour town and a long sandy beach.

Perge and Aspendos pair well in one day. Side is better as its own outing.

Phaselis is an ancient harbour town roughly 55 kilometres south-west of Antalya. It has three small bays, pine woods running down to the water and an old aqueduct. You can swim off the ruins, which makes it a good choice when the group wants history and a beach in the same day.

In the cooler months the Beydağları behind Konyaaltı carry snow. Saklıkent, the ski area in these mountains, is the usual winter excursion from Antalya. Conditions vary from week to week.

Antalya has its own table, and it differs from Istanbul or the Aegean. Konyaaltı is a good base because ordinary neighbourhood restaurants stand beside the hotels.

• Piyaz. This is the city's signature starter. White beans are dressed with tahini, garlic, vinegar and boiled egg. It comes cold and is often eaten with grilled meat.
• Şiş köfte. Grilled minced-meat skewers are a common lunch in the city. Antalya versions are often served with piyaz on the side.
• Hibeş. This is a tahini-based dip, often found at meze tables.
• Citrus. The orange groves you pass on the way from the airport are not decoration. Fresh orange juice is easy to find in cafés and on the street.

For breakfast, look for places that serve a full Turkish spread: cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs and bread, with tea in small glasses.

Evening is the best time for the Beach Park cafés. For a quieter meal, walk one street back from the shore. Neighbourhood places there often have simpler menus and a more local crowd. Ask reception which kitchens stay open late.

Many holiday flights from Antalya leave in the evening. That gives you a free day after check-out, so plan it from the airport backwards.

• Ask reception whether the hotel can hold your suitcases after check-out. Many hotels will, but ask at the start of the day, not at the door.
• Choose one main activity only. A morning swim, the cable car or Antalya Museum each fill a few hours without a rush.

If you leave from the Liman end, a last walk through Kaleiçi fits easily into the morning. If your hotel is toward Altınkum or Gürsu, keep your plans closer to home, as the coast road adds time on the way back.

Fix your pickup time with the airport run in mind. The drive is short, but the crossing of the city is slower in the afternoon. Check your terminal, T1 or T2, on your ticket and give it to the driver. Leave a margin, and do not plan on arriving at the last minute.

Konyaaltı attracts walkers, cyclists, divers and families with several generations on one booking. These parties need a little more planning than a couple with two suitcases.

• State the number of passengers when you book. A vehicle should match the group, not the other way round.
• Tell Turkey Transfer about anything beyond standard suitcases, such as bicycles in boxes, golf bags, diving equipment or ski bags. Large items change what fits in the car.
• Give the same detail for the return leg. Gear grows on holiday, and so does the shopping.

If your group stays in more than one hotel, say so at booking and give each hotel name. Konyaaltı hotels are spread over some 13 kilometres, so two addresses can be a long way apart.