Antalya City Center→Belek

Antalya city centre and Belek are only about 31 km apart, and the drive usually takes around 33 minutes. Yet the two places feel like separate holidays. The city has the walled old town of Kaleiçi, the harbour, the Konyaaltı seafront and the busy shopping streets. Belek has pine forest, championship golf courses, long beaches and large resort hotels set in their own grounds. This page is about the private transfer that takes you from one to the other, from your hotel or address in the city to the entrance of your Belek resort.

The transfer is made for one party only. The car is yours alone, so there is no shared shuttle that calls at five hotels before yours. Your driver meets you at the agreed pickup time, helps with your bags and drives you straight to the correct hotel entrance. You do not need to find a bus stop, change vehicles or negotiate with a taxi at the kerb.

Many guests spend a night or two in the city after landing, then move on to a Belek resort. Others stay in Belek and come to the city for a day or an evening.

You leave the centre of Antalya and head east on the D400 coastal highway. This is a smooth main road, and most of the 33 minutes is spent on it. After a while you pass the turn-off for Antalya Airport. This landmark tells you that you have left the city behind. From there the road continues through the flat coastal plain toward the Belek resort area.

The scenery changes as you go. The first part of the trip has apartment blocks, shops and the traffic of a working city. Further east the buildings become fewer. You see more green, and then the umbrella pines that give Belek its look. The mountains of the Taurus range are often visible inland, and on a clear day they make a fine backdrop.

You do not need to do anything on the road. The driver chooses the lane and knows where the turn for your resort is. This matters in Belek, because the hotels sit on side roads leading off the main road toward the sea.

In normal traffic, plan for about 33 minutes from the city centre to Belek. Guests starting on the Konyaaltı side, in the west of the city, should expect a longer trip. They have to cross more of the city before they reach the D400. Guests in the Lara area start closer to the eastbound road and lose less time.

The road is busier in some periods:

• In the summer high season, when the whole coast is full of visitors.
• On Friday and Saturday, when many hotels change their guests.
• In the evening rush, when people leave the city for the resort belt.

If you have a fixed commitment, such as a tee time or a dinner reservation, leave a margin of 20 to 30 minutes. Tell us the time you need to arrive and we plan the pickup around it.

Belek is not a town with one main square where you step out of the car. It is a resort belt, and the hotels are spread along a long coastal strip. Many of them are set back from the main road behind gates and forest. This means the last few minutes of the journey are not on the highway. You leave the D400, drive along a resort road and arrive at the hotel entrance.

Your driver takes you to the lobby or the main entrance of your hotel. Several Belek hotels have similar names and sit close to each other, so please give us the full hotel name when you book.

A few practical points for the arrival:

• Hotel check-in is often in the afternoon. If you arrive in the morning, your room may not be ready. Ask the reception to store your bags, and use the beach, pool or restaurant while you wait.
• Resorts in Belek are often large. A short walk or buggy ride from the entrance to your room is normal. Ask the reception for help with the bags.

Belek is Turkey's best-known golf destination. The area has a cluster of internationally designed championship courses set among umbrella pines, and golfers from across Europe come here during the season. If golf is the reason for your trip, choose a resort near the course you want to play. Tell us how many bags you have and how many people are in your group, so that we send a vehicle with enough room. If you give us your tee time at booking, we set the pickup so you arrive at the course with time to spare.

Belek is also a belt of large all-inclusive resorts. They have the pine forest at their back and a long Blue Flag beach at the front. For families, this is the main attraction: pools, water parks, kids' clubs, spas and a beach that is a short walk from the room. For couples, the quieter and greener setting is a good change from busier resort towns.

These areas have more of the feel of a normal settlement, with small shops, restaurants and local life. They are a good choice if you want to walk out of the hotel in the evening. Our transfers cover these areas as well as the resort strip.

Most guests stay close to their hotel for the first day or two, because the beach, the pool and the food are all there. When you want to leave, there are several good options near Belek.

• Land of Legends theme park. This is the place families choose when the children want rides, shows and shopping. It is a big attraction on the Belek coast and fills a full day.
• Perge. This ancient city is a short distance inland. It has columns, streets and an amphitheatre, and it is a good half-day trip for guests who want some history with their sun loungers.
• Aspendos. The nearby ancient site of Aspendos has a remarkably preserved Roman theatre. It is one of the most popular half-day trips from Belek.
• The beach itself. The Blue Flag sands are long, and a walk along the water at the end of the day is a pleasure in itself.

If you are staying in the city instead and visiting Belek for the day, the transfer works in both directions. You can go out in the morning and come back in the evening with the same driver, if you plan it at booking.

Many guests combine the two places. Start with Kaleiçi, the old walled town, with its Ottoman-era wooden houses and narrow cobbled lanes. Hadrian's Gate, a triple-arched marble gate built for the Emperor Hadrian's visit in AD 130, still stands almost intact. The fluted brick Yivli Minaret is the unofficial symbol of Antalya. At the old Roman harbour, the marina has fish restaurants and boat tours around the bay.

Karaalioğlu Park sits on the cliff edge above Kaleiçi, with palm-lined paths and a view onto the harbour. Konyaaltı Beach, to the west, is a long pebble shoreline. Lara Beach, to the east, is sandier. The Antalya Archaeological Museum holds statues and mosaics from Perge, Side and Aspendos. This gives it a natural link with a day trip from Belek: you see the finds in the museum, then the sites themselves.

A good plan for a long stay is two or three nights in the city, followed by the rest of the holiday on the Belek coast. The move takes about half an hour.

In Belek, most guests eat at the hotel. All-inclusive resorts offer a main buffet restaurant and often several à la carte restaurants, and the evening usually includes entertainment. If you want a change, ask the reception about places outside the hotel in the areas near Belek centre.

The city gives a very different evening. In Kaleiçi you eat in a restaurant in a restored Ottoman house or on a terrace over the harbour. In the new part of the city, the streets around Cumhuriyet Square and the shopping malls TerraCity and Mark Antalya give a more modern night out. If you are staying in Belek and want one evening in the city, book the transfer in both directions and agree on the pickup time for the return. This way you do not need to find a taxi late at night, and you can enjoy your dinner without watching the clock.

Belek is a family destination, so this transfer is common for parents with children. Child seats and booster seats are available on request. Tell us the age of each child when you book, so we can fit the correct seat. Please do this at the time of booking, not on the day.

The journey is short, and the road is smooth. For most children, 33 minutes is easy, and the car is air-conditioned. A few tips for parents:

• Keep a drink and a small snack in your hand luggage.
• For babies and toddlers, plan the trip around nap time if you can.
• If you have a pushchair, tell us at booking, so we can plan the luggage space.

Tell us the group size and the luggage when you book, and we match the vehicle to your needs.

Every transfer on this route is private and priced for the whole vehicle, not for each person.

• Economy van. Suits couples, small families and groups of up to about four to six travellers with standard luggage.
• Business van. More comfort and space, with leather seating. A popular choice for golf trips.
• 13-seat minibus. For larger families, groups of friends and small tour parties with many suitcases and golf bags.

If your group is larger than one minibus can carry, we arrange more than one vehicle so that everyone arrives together. Flight tracking is included when your transfer connects with a flight. A meet and greet with a name sign is available at the airport or at a public meeting point. Tolls and taxes are part of the price you see at booking.

Not every guest travels in the middle of the day. Some guests leave the city early to be on the first tee. Others return late after a dinner in Kaleiçi. Our service is ready for both, and an early departure or a late return is not a problem if you tell us the time at booking.

For an early start, the roads are quiet and the drive is usually at the short end of the range. Be ready in the lobby at the agreed time. The driver waits for you at the entrance and loads the bags.

For a late return, there is little public transport to the Belek hotels, and a taxi is not always available. A pre-booked car solves this. Tell us the pickup time and the place, for example the restaurant in the old town, and the driver is there. If your plans change, send us a message and we change the time.

If your journey follows a late flight, give us the flight number. We track it, and the driver adjusts to the real arrival time. You do not need to call anyone from the baggage hall.

At the end of your holiday, you need to get from Belek to Antalya Airport, or back to the city. The airport lies on the same D400 corridor between Belek and the city centre, so the trip to the airport is a direct run in the other direction. The airport is about 13 km from the city centre.

• Work backward from your flight. Think about when you need to be at the terminal for check-in, then add a margin for the road, then add time for hotel checkout and luggage.
• Leave more time in the high season and on Fridays and Saturdays, when the road and the airport are busier.
• Tell your driver the terminal and the airline when you book, so that you are dropped at the correct door.
• Book the return transfer when you book the outbound one.

You can also book the full journey with one driver: city to Belek at the start, and Belek to the airport at the end. A single driver for the whole stay makes it easier to change a time in the middle of the holiday. If you go from Belek back to the city centre, the transfer is the same route in reverse.

Belek is a place for the warm months, and the resorts are busiest in summer. At this time the beach, the pools and the water parks are the main reason to come, and the transfer road is at its busiest. In spring and autumn the area is quieter, and the city is comfortable for walking in Kaleiçi and visiting Perge and Aspendos. The old town, the museum and the harbour do not depend on beach weather, so the city is a good place to start or end a Belek holiday in any season.

Go to antalyatransfer.taxi and enter your city pickup point, your Belek hotel, and the date and time. Choose your vehicle, add any child seats and confirm. Have these details ready:

• The full name and address of your pickup place in the city.
• The full name of your Belek hotel.
• The number of passengers, suitcases and golf bags.
• The age of each child, if you need child seats.
• Your flight number, if the transfer connects with a flight.

With these details, the driver knows where to meet you and which entrance to use in Belek.

Perge and Aspendos are the best-known excursions, but the coast offers more. A transfer from Turkey Transfer can take you out and bring you back, so you do not need a rental car or a crowded tour bus.

• Düden waterfalls. Lower Düden Waterfall drops straight into the Mediterranean near Lara. A boat trip shows it from the water. Upper Düden is further inland, in a forested picnic area.
• Tünektepe cable car. It climbs above Konyaaltı and gives a wide view over the bay, with the Taurus mountains behind. It suits a clear afternoon before your move to the resort belt.
• Termessos. This ancient mountain city lies inland, northwest of Antalya. The setting is wild and steep, so wear proper shoes. It feels very different from the flat site at Aspendos.

• Side. This old port town lies further east along the same coast. It has a Roman theatre and a temple of Apollo beside the sea.
• Manavgat. The river town near Side is known for its waterfall and its riverside restaurants.
• The Taurus foothills. Inland from Belek, the plain rises quickly toward the mountains. The air is cooler there in summer.

Plan one major excursion for every three or four days of holiday. Big sites such as Aspendos and Termessos are best in the morning, before the heat builds.

Belek often receives groups rather than couples: a golf society of eight, three families who travel together, or a wedding party in one resort. Groups need a little more planning.

• Count everything. Give us the number of passengers, suitcases, cabin bags and golf bags. A golf travel bag is long and heavy, and it takes more space than a suitcase.
• Name one contact. Choose a single person who has the booking details and a phone. If plans change, one message from that person is enough.
• Arrivals in waves. If friends reach the city on different flights, tell us the flight numbers. Where the timing allows, we can collect people together so the whole group arrives in Belek at once.
• Split stops. If part of your party stays at a different Belek resort, say so when you book. The hotels sit on separate side roads, so the driver needs the order of the stops.
• Keep your shoes close. Put your golf shoes and rain jacket in a hand bag, not in the boot. Then you can go straight from the car to the first tee if the schedule is tight.

When the group is larger than one vehicle can carry, we send two or more vehicles that leave together. Give the exact hotel name so that all vehicles go to the same entrance.

Belek's golf season is not the same as its beach season. Spring and autumn are favourite months for golfers, because the days are warm but not extreme. In midsummer the heat is strong at midday, and many players ask for early tee times. For the transfer, this has one result: an early pickup from the city is quiet and cool, while an afternoon drive east in July or August is the busiest. In winter the coast is mild compared with northern Europe, and the resorts are quiet.

Antalya has its own table. Look for piyaz, a salad of white beans with a rich tahini dressing that is typical of the region. Antalya is citrus country, so fresh orange juice and local fruit are easy to find. In Kaleiçi, small shops sell spices, ceramics and leather goods, and an hour passes quickly there. A lunch of grilled fish at the old harbour gives you a taste of the city that a resort buffet cannot copy.

If you leave Belek on an evening flight, you have a full day to use well.

• Ask the reception about late checkout, or about a room to store luggage, so that you can take a last swim without carrying bags.
• Spend the morning at the beach or on the course, and have an early lunch at the hotel.
• Allow extra margin on Friday and Saturday, when the transfer road is slower.
• If you want a last walk through Kaleiçi or Karaalioğlu Park, go before the airport run, not after it. The city lies on the same D400 corridor, so the detour is short.

Put passports and flight documents in your hand luggage before the driver arrives. A calm last day makes the flight home feel like the end of a good holiday.