One of the reasons that Turkey is such a popular holiday destination is that it is a convenient journey for UK travellers. For instance, flights to Antalya with Pegasus from a range of UK airports only take around four hours, which means they don’t even qualify as ‘long haul’.

Whilst Turkey is famous for its wide range of influences in terms of culture and history, it also provides a wonderful choice of coastlines and resorts for anyone looking for a perfect beach side getaway.

Where is Antalya?

Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of south-western Turkey and is famous for being the country’s biggest international sea resort. In fact, in 2012 Antalya became the third most visited city in the world thanks to vast volumes of international arrivals, ranking behind only Paris and London.

Located on the stretch of coastline known as the Turkish Riviera, the area around Antalya has long been famous for its glorious natural beauty and fantastic man made facilities.

What does it have to offer?

Antalya is effectively the tourist capital of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey and the effects of its popularity can be clearly seen in the mix of classically beautiful and stylishly modern buildings.

The city itself is home to one of Turkey’s finest museums, the Antalya Archaeological Museum, but dotted around it are examples of buildings from eras and cultures as diverse as Lycia, Pamphylia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, Seljuks and the Ottoman Empire.

Kaleici is the Old Town filled with narrow and winding streets and today is a centre for older hotels and bars, with newer constructions being located on the beaches of KonyaaltI, Lara and Karpuzkaldiran.

Brimming with natural beauty

The city is situated on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean coastline and is surrounded by mountains. As well as the wonderful beaches, you can find stunning waterfalls which include Duden, Manavgat and Kursunlu.

The beaches themselves are of course one of the main reasons for the enduring popularity of Antalya, with tourists from all over Europe and beyond flocking to its dazzling white sands and sparkling turquoise waters.

Flying to Antalya

Antalya Airport is only 13km outside of Antalya city centre, which means that transfer time from the airport to your hotel hardly adds anything to your overall journey time. The airport is connected to the city centre via the D400 road and the ride takes approximately 20 minutes.

More than 18 million passengers used the airport in 2012, many of whom were visiting Antalya or one of the other popular holiday resorts such as Alanya, Anamur and Manavgat.