Antalya City Center→Olympos & Çıralı

The 58-kilometre run southwest from central Antalya to Olympos and Çıralı is one of the most rewarding drives on the Turkish Riviera. It starts among the boulevards and old-town lanes of the city, follows the coast past Konyaaltı and the foot of the Beydağları range, and finishes with a winding descent through pine forest to a pair of bays that have stayed small and green while much of the coast around them filled up with large resorts. Plan on roughly an hour door to door. The scheduled driving time for this route is 61 minutes, and the figure holds on a calm morning with an easy run through the western edge of the city.

This page is written for holidaymakers who are choosing where to stay, deciding how to get there, and wondering what the evenings, the beaches and the return journey will look like. Turkey Transfer meets you at your hotel or apartment in the city centre, drives you the whole way to your pension or guesthouse, and can collect you again for the journey back.

People often say "Olympos and Çıralı" as if they were a single place. They share a valley, a coastline and a history, but they feel different on the ground, and choosing between them is the most important decision you make before you book.

Olympos is the valley of the ancient Lycian city. The ruins are scattered through the trees along a stream, with tombs, a theatre, a ruined bath building and walls half swallowed by roots and vines. The valley is best known for its treehouse pensions, wooden cabins set among orange and pomegranate trees, usually with shared dinners and a relaxed, backpacker-friendly atmosphere. The pebble beach lies at the seaward end of the archaeological site, and you reach it on foot through the ruins. Olympos suits independent travellers, couples who like a simple wooden-cabin stay, and anyone who wants history and swimming within a short stroll of each other.

Çıralı sits about two kilometres up the coast. It is quieter, more spread out and more family-oriented, with small guesthouses and pensions among citrus groves and a long, uncluttered beach that runs for kilometres. The beach is a nesting ground for loggerhead turtles, which is one reason the village has stayed low-rise and lightly lit at night. Çıralı is also the base for the eternal flames of the Chimaera (Yanartaş) on the hillside above. If you want a calm week with a book, a swim and an evening walk, Çıralı is usually the better choice.

The two bays have different approach roads off the D400 coastal highway. The seven-kilometre access road down to the Olympos side is not the same lane that serves Çıralı. A driver who knows which turning belongs to which village saves you a long, frustrating detour. When you book, tell us the name of your pension and which bay it is in. If you are unsure, send us the booking confirmation from your accommodation and we will check the exact drop point with you before the day.

Your pickup is at your address in the city centre. Most guests leave from the Kaleiçi area, the streets around Cumhuriyet Square, or a hotel near Konyaaltı. Depending on where you start, the first ten or fifteen minutes are spent crossing the western part of the city. This is the part of the journey where traffic matters most. Weekday mornings and the late afternoon hours bring the heaviest flow, and the junctions near the busy shopping and seafront areas can be slow.

Once you clear the western edge of Antalya, the route follows the D400 coastal highway southwest. The Mediterranean opens on your left, the Taurus foothills of the Beydağları rise steeply on your right, and the road stays close to the water for long stretches. This is a genuinely scenic leg. It looks nothing like the inland motorway most visitors imagine. Pine forest comes right down to the rocks, headlands drop into small coves, and on a clear day you see the long mountain wall of the coast layered in blue-grey behind the beaches.

The road passes near the resort areas of Kemer and Tekirova, then continues along the foot of Mount Olympos, known locally as Tahtalı. In summer the D400 can be heavy around the Kemer area, where holiday traffic, tour coaches and local deliveries share the same road. Your driver knows where the slow sections are and how to read them. In the quieter months the same stretch is almost empty.

The last part is the one that surprises first-time visitors. You leave the highway, turn toward the sea, and the road drops through forest in a series of curves to sea level. It is narrow in places, and the pace slows. This is the stretch where local knowledge counts most, because the lane to some of the pensions is tighter than the main road and not every taxi is happy to take it. Your driver handles the curves while you watch the view.

• Early morning and mid-morning: the easiest driving. The run from the city centre sits close to the 61-minute scheduled time.
• Midday in July and August: busier on the coast road near the resort areas. Allow some extra time.
• Late afternoon: the evening flow of coaches and day-trippers returning toward Antalya adds time on the way back, not on the way out.
• Winter and shoulder season: a quiet road and a fast run, though rain can slow the mountain bends.

Both bays are small and informal. Many pensions have no street-front reception, and some are reached by a lane that is more of a track. Before the transfer, we ask for the pension name, the village (Olympos or Çıralı) and a phone number. When we arrive, the driver will take you as close as the lane allows, help with bags, and tell you where the last stretch needs to be walked if the road is too narrow for a vehicle.

A few practical points help the day go smoothly:

• Treehouse and bungalow pensions in Olympos often have simple, rustic rooms. Reception can be a small wooden hut, and check-in times can be flexible. Arriving mid-afternoon usually works well.
• Some pensions in both bays ask guests to arrive before dark, particularly where the final lane is unlit. If you expect to land late, tell us in advance so we can confirm access.
• Keep your accommodation contact details on your phone. Mobile signal can be patchy in the valley, so a screenshot of the address helps.
• Carry cash for small purchases in the village. Some pensions and cafés in these bays take cards, but small kiosks and dolmuş drivers usually prefer cash.
• Pack a light torch or phone light for evening walks. Lanes in both villages are dark by design.

There is no direct public service to the beaches. The intercity buses on the Antalya to Kumluca line drop you at the highway junction, high above the bays. From there, you find a dolmuş (shared minibus) down the seven-kilometre access road, and those run on their own schedule, sparse out of season and often waiting for enough passengers to leave. With luggage, children, or an arrival after dark, that connection becomes a real ordeal.

A private transfer takes you from your city address to your pension door, including the narrow final lane that some taxis avoid. You do not need to change vehicles, decide whether to wait for a minibus, or carry bags up and down a steep slope. If you are visiting for the Chimaera, an evening drop-off with a pre-arranged return pickup is the easiest way to do it.

Choose Olympos if you want a social, outdoorsy stay with the ruins on your doorstep. Pensions here usually include breakfast and a shared evening meal, and the atmosphere is friendly rather than formal. It suits solo travellers, groups of friends, and couples who enjoy a rustic setting. It is less suited to travellers who need smooth paths, air-conditioned rooms with hotel-style services, or a very quiet night.

Choose Çıralı for a slower week. The lanes are flat, the beach is long and uncrowded, and many guesthouses sit in gardens of orange and lemon trees. It is a good fit for families, couples, walkers and anyone who prefers a peaceful village to a lively valley. Evening activity is mostly dinner, a stroll and a visit to the flames.

Because the bays are only about two kilometres apart, some guests spend a night or two in each. A short taxi ride or a flat walk along the coast separates them, so you can enjoy the ruins and the treehouse scene first, then move to the quieter beach.

Olympos beach is a pebble cove tucked between rocky headlands, with the ruins of the old harbour behind it. Water is clear, and the setting is among the most photographed on the coast. Çıralı beach is longer, with dark pebbles and coarse sand, and a stretch that is reserved for turtle nesting in summer. Both beaches are lightly developed. Expect simple beach cafés and wooden loungers rather than large clubs and loud music. Pack water shoes, because pebbles are hot in midsummer and the entry into the water is steep in places.

The ancient city of Olympos was one of the cities of the Lycian League, and the site is spread along the valley floor and up the hillsides. You can walk through it slowly in an hour or two. Look for the remains of the theatre, the bath complex, the necropolis with its carved tombs, and the harbour area near the beach. Bring comfortable shoes, a hat and water. The site is shaded in places, but the walk to the beach is mostly in the open.

The Chimaera, known in Turkish as Yanartaş, is a group of natural gas vents on the mountain slope above Çıralı, where small flames burn steadily from cracks in the rock. People have visited them since antiquity, and the flames are most striking after dark. The walk from the car park up to the vents is a climb on steps and stony path that takes some effort, so wear closed shoes and bring a torch. Many guests prefer the evening visit, which is exactly why a pre-arranged evening pickup is helpful. Tell us your plan and we can set a return time that suits you.

The long-distance Lycian Way passes through this area, and you can walk sections of it on a half-day outing. Even a short stretch of the coastal path gives views of the bays, the forest and the open sea. If you plan to walk, start early in summer, because the pine forest holds heat in the middle of the day.

Evenings in Olympos and Çıralı are slow and simple, and that is part of the appeal. Pension restaurants serve home-style Turkish cooking: grilled fish, vegetable dishes, fresh salads, lentil soup, and breakfast spreads with local honey, olives, tomatoes and cheese. In Çıralı, small restaurants sit among the orange groves, and gözleme (a thin, filled flatbread) is a regular at village cafés. Many places close earlier than they do in the city, particularly out of season, so check dinner times with your pension.

After dinner there is little formal nightlife. Instead, you have the sound of the sea, a night sky with fewer lights than the resort coast, and, in Çıralı, a walk to the flames. If you plan an evening out, tell your driver when you want to be picked up, and we will plan around it.

Çıralı is the easier base for families with young children. The lanes are flat, there is little traffic in the village, and the beach is long enough that it rarely feels crowded. Many guesthouses have shaded gardens, which makes midday breaks easier. Olympos suits older children and teenagers who enjoy the ruins, the treehouse adventure and the walk to the beach.

For the transfer itself, let us know how many children are travelling and their ages when you book, so that the right child seats can be prepared. The drive is about an hour, and the last part is winding, so a snack, water and a travel plan for younger children help. Pack a light jacket for the road if the air conditioning is strong, and keep a change of clothes for the end of the winding descent.

If your flight lands late and you are heading straight to the bays, tell us your arrival time and the name of your pension. Some guesthouses lock their gates or switch off lights at night, and a message to the owner in advance avoids a locked door. We track your flight, so a delay does not leave your driver waiting at the wrong time.

The same applies to early starts. If you need to leave the bays before sunrise, the road is quiet and the drive is easy, but the final lane is dark, so a pre-arranged pickup time and a phone number matter. Pack the night before and keep your documents in your hand luggage.

For the return, build in margin. We collect you right at your guesthouse, so there is no climbing back up to the highway with bags, and the driver allows for the slow valley exit and the approach into the city. For a flight from Antalya Airport, plan to leave the bays about three hours before departure. The road is unhurried by nature, and you do not want to race the descent or the final stretch of the city.

A few return-trip tips:

• Morning flights: leave very early. The road is empty, but the dark curves need care and no one should rush them.
• Afternoon and evening flights: the summer coast road gets busier through the middle of the day. Leave extra time if your flight is in the late afternoon.
• City centre drop-off: if you are going back to a hotel in Antalya, the same one-hour estimate applies, with extra time in the late afternoon.
• Flight changes: let us know if your departure time changes, and we will adjust the pickup.

The bays work as a base for several easy day trips.

• Phaselis: an ancient harbour city set among pines, with three small bays, an aqueduct and a colonnaded street. It lies north of Olympos, on the way back toward Kemer, and combines ruins with a swim.
• Tahtalı cable car: the cable car near Kemer rises to the summit of Mount Olympos (Tahtalı) for wide views over the coast, and in clear weather you can see far along the shoreline.
• Adrasan: a calm bay to the south, known for its wide beach and boat trips to nearby coves.
• Gelidonya lighthouse area: a dramatic cape along the coast road, popular with walkers and with divers.
• Kemer: a resort town with a marina, a long promenade and a lively evening scene, handy if you want a break from the quiet of the bays.
• Termessos: an ancient mountain city inland from Antalya, reached by a steep road. It fits well into a day of sightseeing on the way in or out.
• Antalya Old Town: if you are returning to the city for a night, the Kaleiçi quarter with Hadrian's Gate, the Yivli Minaret and the old Roman harbour is worth an evening.

Ask us if you want a driver for part of a day. We can arrange a longer plan once we know your dates.

Many guests spend their first or last night in the city. Kaleiçi, the walled old town, has Ottoman wooden houses, small courtyards and Hadrian's Gate, built for the emperor's visit in AD 130. The Yivli Minaret is the best-known landmark. The old Roman harbour has fish restaurants and boat departures. Konyaaltı Beach, to the west, is a long pebble shoreline with the mountains behind it, and it is right on the road you take when you leave for Olympos. The Antalya Archaeological Museum, close to Konyaaltı, holds statues and mosaics from Perge, Side and Aspendos, and gives context to the ruins you will see at Olympos.

If you need a city stop on the day you leave, tell us the address of your hotel, and we will plan the pickup.

April and May are mild and green. The sea is still cool, but the walking is comfortable, wildflowers cover the hillsides, and the ruins are quiet. This is a good time for the Lycian Way and for the ruins.

Summers on this coast are hot, with temperatures at or above 35 degrees Celsius in the city. The sea is warm, the beaches are at their liveliest, and evenings are long. Coast road traffic is heaviest in July and August. Plan an early or late departure to avoid the hottest hours.

September and October keep the warm sea and thin out the crowds. The light is soft and the evenings are comfortable. This is a favourite season for travellers who want a quiet beach week.

Winters are mild by northern standards, with daytime highs around 15 degrees Celsius in the city. Many pensions close or reduce service, dolmuş services run less often, and some restaurants shut early. If you plan to visit out of season, confirm that your pension is open and tell us your plan before you book. A private transfer is especially useful at this time of year because public services are sparse.

The sea season generally runs from April to November. If swimming is the main aim, choose late spring through early autumn.

• Water shoes for pebble beaches.
• A torch or phone light for evening lanes and the Chimaera path.
• Closed, sturdy shoes for the ruins and the flame trail.
• A hat, sun cream and a refillable water bottle.
• A light layer for evenings, especially in spring and autumn.
• A printed or saved address for your pension.
• Insect repellent for the evenings near the orange groves.

You book your transfer online with your pickup address in Antalya, your pension name and village, your date and time, and the number of passengers and bags. On the day, your driver collects you at the agreed address and takes the coast road to the bay of your choice. If you ask for a stop on the way, for example for a photo at a viewpoint or a quick purchase, tell the driver at the start. When you are ready to return, send us your departure time and we will plan the pickup around your flight.

Whichever bay you choose, the journey itself is part of the holiday: an hour of coast, mountains and forest, ending at a beach with no skyscrapers in sight.