Alanya is the easternmost of the Turkish Riviera's large resorts, and the only one where a medieval fortress wraps around an entire rocky peninsula right in the middle of the city. The 13th-century Seljuk castle, with walls running 6.5 km, splits the coastline in 2: the western side, home to the famous Cleopatra Beach, and the eastern side, with the harbour and the Red Tower. Behind the city, the Taurus Mountains rise sharply to 2,000 m, so within half an hour you can go from the beach to pine forests and ice-cold canyons. Alanya has the longest season in Turkey — sheltered in the lee of the mountains, it's warm enough for swimming from April to November. It's also cheaper than Antalya or Belek and has the liveliest nightlife on the whole coast.
The places worth your time in Alanya, and what to expect at each
Alanya Kalesi
Alanya
A 13th-century Seljuk fortress on a rocky headland 250 m high, with walls running 6.5 km that encircle the entire peninsula. Inside stand a Byzantine church, cisterns and a former settlement. From the top there are views of both beaches and the Taurus Mountains at once.
Tip: A cable car runs up from Cleopatra Beach — walking up takes an hour and is brutal in the midday heat.
Kızıl Kule
harbour
An octagonal brick tower built in 1226, 33 m tall, which guarded the entrance to the harbour and shipyard. It's the symbol of the city and appears on its coat of arms. Inside is an ethnographic museum, and the ramparts give views over the harbour.
Tip: The ticket also covers the neighbouring Seljuk shipyard, Tersane, reached along the walkway by the sea.
Damlataş Mağarası
Alanya
A stalactite cave discovered in 1948 during rock blasting for the harbour construction. The air inside holds a constant 22°C and high humidity, and it has traditionally been visited for asthma relief. It sits right by the entrance to Cleopatra Beach.
Tip: The cave is small and takes 10 minutes to walk through — treat it as a stop on the way to the beach rather than an outing in its own right.
Kleopatra Plajı
west coast
A 2-km sandy beach on the western side of the peninsula with a Blue Flag, named after the legend that the Egyptian queen once bathed here. The sand is fine and light-coloured, the entry into the water gentle, and the castle rock rises up behind the beach.
Tip: The eastern end near Damlataş Cave is the busiest — heading west, the beach empties out quickly and loungers get cheaper.
Tersane
harbour
The only surviving Seljuk shipyard in Turkey, carved into the rock beneath the castle in 1228. 5 vaulted bays open to the sea were used to build and repair galleys. Reached along the walkway from the Red Tower, or by boat.
Tip: The best view of it from outside is from a sightseeing cruise around the peninsula, which departs from the harbour several times a day.
Dim Mağarası
15 km east
A 360-metre limestone cave 200 m above the Dim River valley, with stalactites, a pool and a constant temperature of 18°C. The road up winds through hairpin bends with views over the whole coast.
Tip: Below the cave are restaurants with floor seating right above the ice-cold Dim River — the best spot for lunch on a hot day.
40 km northeast
A 700-metre gorge in the Taurus Mountains with a wooden walkway above an ice-cold stream, ending in a waterfall and pool. The water sits around 15°C even in August. The drive there passes through mountain villages and is an experience in itself.
Tip: The walkway is easy going even for children, but the rocks near the waterfall are slippery — sturdy sandals are better than flip-flops.
Alanya
A museum with finds from across the region spanning the Bronze Age to the Ottomans, whose star exhibit is a 2nd-century bronze statue of Heracles. The garden holds sarcophagi, mosaics and Ottoman gravestones in the shade of palm trees.
Tip: The museum is air-conditioned and nearly empty — an ideal way to spend the hottest part of the day, between 1pm and 4pm.
harbour
Sightseeing boats leave the harbour for 2- to 6-hour loops around the castle rock, stopping at the Phosphorous, Lovers' and Pirates' caves, with swimming in coves that aren't reachable from land.
Tip: Cheaper afternoon cruises tend to be party boats with loud music — for a quieter trip, pick a morning departure.
Photos: Alanya Castle — Hydrox (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Red Tower — kallerna (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Damlataş Cave — BillBl (CC BY 2.0) · Cleopatra Beach — Kawon Kez Sel (CC0) · Seljuk Shipyard — Julian Lupyan (CC0) · Dim Cave — Островский Александр, Киев (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Sapadere Canyon — Ekrem Canli (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Alanya Archaeological Museum — Ozgurmulazimoglu (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Phosphorous Cave and peninsula boat tour — kallerna (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Areas and districts, matched to the kind of trip you are taking
Best for: first-time visits and walkable location
The western side of the peninsula, with the city's best beach and shops and restaurants within walking distance. The castle, caves and harbour are all in walking range. It's also the busiest part of Alanya, with noise from bars, so choose a hotel off the main avenue.
Best for: a quieter stay close to the centre
East of the harbour, 3–6 km from the centre. A quieter, residential area with a long pebble-and-sand beach and lower prices. It's a few minutes by dolmuş into the city, which runs all day and into the night.
Best for: large all-inclusive resorts
A strip of large hotels 10–20 km west of Alanya, where most package-holiday visitors head. The beaches are pebbly and the resorts sprawling with water parks. There's practically nowhere to go outside the hotel, though.
Best for: longer stays and the lowest prices
10 km east, popular with long-term visitors and residents. The lowest accommodation and food prices in the area, with ordinary shops and markets. The beach is pebbly and the entry into the water stony, so water shoes are useful.
The nearest airport is Gazipaşa-Alanya, about 40 km to the east, but it receives only a limited number of flights. Most charter flights land in Antalya, 125 km from Alanya, with a transfer that takes 2 hours. That longer transfer is Alanya's main drawback compared with resorts closer to Antalya. From either airport, the transfer is usually included in the package.
Gazipaşa–Alanya (GZP) · 40 km
Antalya Airport (AYT) · 125 km
Shared dolmuş minibuses run along the coast from Konaklı all the way to Mahmutlar practically around the clock, even at night in season. It's the cheapest and simplest way to get around, reaching every beach and the centre. The centre itself and the harbour are best explored on foot, with a cable car up to the castle. For Sapadere Canyon and Dim Cave you'll need either an organised tour or a car — dolmuş minibuses don't go there and the mountain roads are demanding.
Useful apps: BiTaksi, Google Maps
Alanya has the longest swimming season in Turkey — sheltered in the lee of the Taurus Mountains, it's warm enough for a swim from April to November. The sea is warmest in August and September, at 29°C. May, June, and then September and October, are the best combination for both swimming and sightseeing. July and August are hot, over 33°C, and poorly suited to the castle or the canyons. Winter is mild, around 17°C, but it rains and some resorts close.
Best time
May, June, September and October
What to avoid
July and August for excursions and the castle climb
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | 16° | 16° | 18° | 21° | 25° | 30° | 33° | 33° | 30° | 26° | 21° | 17° |
| Night | 8° | 8° | 9° | 12° | 16° | 20° | 24° | 24° | 21° | 16° | 12° | 9° |
| Rainy days | 12 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Sea | 17° | 17° | 17° | 19° | 22° | 25° | 28° | 29° | 28° | 25° | 22° | 19° |
Alanya cooks like the whole Turkish south: plenty of grilled meat, meze and olive oil, with tea in tulip-shaped glasses served all day. A local speciality is the banana grown on the slopes above the city — smaller and sweeter than imported ones, and sold by the roadside. Resorts serve an international buffet, but you'll find real home cooking at lokantas inland and at restaurants above the Dim River, where trout raised right in the stream is grilled to order.
Alabalık
Trout grilled at restaurants above the Dim River, raised in ice-cold water right beneath the tables.
Adana kebab
Minced lamb on a wide skewer, spicy, served with lavash bread and grilled vegetables.
Gözleme
A thin flatbread filled with cheese or spinach, cooked on a griddle in front of you, typically sold near the canyons.
Alanya bananas
Smaller and sweeter than imported ones, grown on the slopes above the city and sold by the roadside.
Künefe
A hot dessert of fine shredded pastry with cheese and syrup, served straight from the baking pan.
Şalgam
Fermented turnip and carrot juice, sour and salty, traditionally drunk with rakı and kebab.
Tea at a tea house
TRY 20–40
Lunch at a lokanta
TRY 200–350
Dinner at a restaurant
TRY 500–900
0.5 l beer
TRY 130–220
Dolmuş along the coast
TRY 40
Sun lounger and umbrella
TRY 150–300
Cable car to the castle
TRY 250
Full-day guided tour
from TRY 1,200
Indicative prices that change over time — treat them as a guide, not a price list.
1 day
2 days
3 days
Side and Aspendos
70 km · 1 h by car
An ancient city with a Temple of Apollo right on the sea, and nearby the best-preserved Roman theatre in the Mediterranean. The most rewarding full-day trip for ancient history from Alanya.
Antalya
125 km · 2 h by car
A proper city, with the historic Kaleiçi quarter, Hadrian's Gate and a first-rate archaeological museum. It's a long way for a day trip, but manageable.
Sapadere Canyon and mountain villages
40 km · 1 h by car
A gorge with a wooden walkway above an ice-cold stream and a waterfall. The road there passes through villages in the Taurus Mountains, where carpets are still woven and goats still grazed.
From Gazipaşa it's 40 km, about 45 minutes. From Antalya, where most charter flights land, it's 125 km and the transfer takes 2 hours. That longer transfer is Alanya's main drawback.
Yes, it's a 2-km beach of fine, light-coloured sand with a Blue Flag and a gently sloping entry into the water. It's the best town beach on the Turkish Riviera. Other beaches around Alanya are mostly pebbly.
Definitely — it's the city's main attraction. Take the cable car up from Cleopatra Beach, though; the walk up takes an hour on a steep slope and is exhausting in the midday summer heat. The walls run for 6.5 km, so allow around 3 hours.
In August and September, when the water reaches 28–29°C. Alanya has the longest swimming season in Turkey — the sea is warm enough from April to November, since the Taurus Mountains shield it from cooler currents.
Yes, it's one of the cheapest large resorts on the Riviera, especially in eastern districts like Mahmutlar. Accommodation, food and excursions all cost less here than in Antalya or Belek. The trade-off is a longer transfer from the airport.
Along the coast, yes — shared dolmuş minibuses run continuously between Konaklı and Mahmutlar and cost a few dozen lira. They don't run into the mountains, though, so for Dim Cave and Sapadere Canyon you'll need an organised tour or a rental car.
Visitors from many countries, including the EU, UK and US, don't need a visa for tourist stays of up to 90 days. Your passport must remain valid for at least 150 days from the date of entry, a stricter requirement than the usual 6 months.
Yes, the liveliest on the entire Turkish Riviera. Bars and clubs cluster around the harbour and the main avenue in the centre. If you want quiet, choose a hotel in Oba, Tosmur or Mahmutlar, where the noise from the centre doesn't reach.
Check the latest visa requirements for entering this country. Some nationalities may need to apply for a visa or e-visa before travel.
Check visa requirementsLanguage
Turkish
Currency
TRY
Timezone
Europe/Istanbul
Dial Code
+90
Population
85.3M
Area
783,562 km²
Voltage
220V / 50Hz
Driving Side
Right
