Turkey · Mediterranean · Travel guide
What a week in Alanya really costs, why the castle and the Dim River are more than a resort add-on and how to combine all-inclusive and city cleverly.
Photo: Atlantic Ambience / Pexels
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Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Flights and hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in Turkish lira (TRY). The exchange rate moves a lot, which is why all prices here are given in francs and euros. Cards are accepted almost everywhere; you need cash for the dolmuş, markets and tips. Flight time: 3 to 4 hours.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
Small three-star hotel right on the beach promenade, with Kleopatra beach a few steps from the door. Seasonal pool, terrace and a breakfast guests describe as excellent. Rooms are simple but clean, the WiFi rather weak. Reviews single out the location and value for money; the centre is about a 15-minute walk.
Modern hotel right at the harbour with views of the bay and the castle, one of the best-rated addresses in Alanya. Small pool, two bars overlooking the harbour, parking in front of the house and a breakfast praised in almost every review. Rooms are modern and quiet, though the lane outside is narrow. Red Tower, restaurants and excursion boats are five minutes away.
A classic at the harbour opposite the Red Tower, with a rooftop pool and a view of the castle. The rooms are a little older but well kept, and breakfast is served with a castle view. All the restaurants, the excursion boats and the old-town lanes are a few minutes' walk away. For anyone who wants to explore Alanya as a city, the most practical location.
Mid-range
Four-star hotel right at Cleopatra Beach with all-inclusive, pool, restaurant and its own stretch of beach with sunbeds. The rare combination of city location and full board: on the beach by day, on foot to the old town or the harbour in the evening. Well rated for food and cleanliness, the rooms are functional with balconies.
Large beach hotel in Oba, two kilometres east of the centre, with a pool, spa, beach access and an all-inclusive option. The rooms have sea views or castle views, and the dolmuş to the centre stops right outside the door. Popular with families and with guests who want resort comfort close to the city without taking a bus every day.
Adults-only hotel in Oba, modern in style, with a pool, its own beach, a fitness area and a kitchen that scores consistently well in reviews. Much quieter than the family resorts, and the centre is ten minutes away by dolmuş. A good choice for couples looking for comfort without entertainment programmes and screaming children.
Luxury
Small boutique hotel right on the sea in Konaklı, around 13 kilometres west of the castle. Every room is furnished differently, and there is a saltwater pool in the garden, an indoor pool, a spa with hamam and a private stretch of beach. On Booking it is among the best-rated places in the region. For couples looking for peace and style who visit the city by dolmuş or taxi.
Restored Ottoman house in the castle quarter with individually furnished rooms, a pool in the garden and sea views from the terrace. Quiet, stylish and regularly among the best-rated hotels in Alanya. You walk to the Red Tower and the inner castle, and take the cable car to the beach. For travellers who want to experience Alanya without a resort.
Five-star ultra-all-inclusive resort in Avsallar, around 25 kilometres west of the centre, with several pools, a water park, a large spa and its own beach in a sheltered bay. For families and anyone who does not want to organise anything for a week. Trips into the city are possible by dolmuş or hotel bus, but allow around 40 minutes each way.
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Six kilometres of Seljuk walls, the inner castle with the best view in the city and the old quarter of Tophane with its wooden houses. Up by cable car from Cleopatra Beach, down on foot through the old-town lanes to the Red Tower.
By pirate ship or small wooden boat to the Phosphorus Cave, the Lovers' Cave and Cleopatra Beach from the sea, including swimming stops and lunch on board. A relaxed day on the water, on the pirate ships with music and a foam party.
Eat on wooden platforms in the ice-cold mountain river, trout and gözleme with your feet in the water, then the illuminated stalactite cave with its underground lake. The locals' Sunday programme, and during the week you have it almost to yourself.
A wooden walkway through the gorge in the Taurus mountains to a waterfall with a natural pool where you can swim. Guided tours combine the canyon with a village visit, a silk house and lunch. With a rental car you are almost alone there in the morning. Bring swimwear.
Open jeeps over gravel tracks to mountain villages, with a swimming stop at the river, water fights and lunch. Dusty, loud and fun, one of the most popular excursions from Alanya. Pack sunscreen and a scarf for your mouth and nose.
Day trip to the national park near Antalya: 14 kilometres of white water through the gorge, rapids suitable for beginners, a guide in every boat, lunch by the river. The drive takes around two hours each way, but the day is one of the highlights of the region.
The stalactite cave that turned Alanya into a holiday resort sits right next to the best city beach on the coast. The visit takes a quarter of an hour, then fine sand and shallow water. The cable car to the castle starts right next door.
The ancient theatre and the Temple of Apollo right on the sea in Side, then the waterfall and a boat trip on the river in Manavgat. Around an hour's drive from Alanya, easy to do as a day tour or independently by bus.
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Alanya eats on two tracks: international with picture menus in the pedestrian zone, Turkish and cheap two streets inland. In between lies a strong bakery culture with poğaça, börek and simit for breakfast, fish restaurants below the castle, and the bananas and avocados that grow on the slopes around town.
Alanya has a fırın on every corner, baking poğaça with cheese or olives, su böreği and sesame rings from six in the morning. One piece CHF 0.50 to 1.50 (about EUR 0.55 to 1.60), with tea you breakfast for under CHF 4.
Tip:Go early, everything is fresh between seven and nine when the regulars collect their bread.
Sea bream, sea bass or red mullet grilled, with salad and bread, below the castle with a view of the boats. CHF 18 to 28 (about EUR 19 to 30) per person, as a set with meze and a drink CHF 30 to 40.
Tip:Come in the early evening before the main wave at eight, and ask for the day's catch rather than the set menu.
The small, sweet Alanya bananas and creamy avocados grow on the slopes of the town. A kilo of bananas CHF 1.50 to 2.50 (about EUR 1.60 to 2.70), an avocado CHF 0.80 to 1.50, freshly squeezed orange juice CHF 2.
Tip:Buy directly from the farmers at the market, not at the first stall by the entrance, prices drop further in.
Grilled minced-meat patties with piyaz, rice, onions and grilled pepper, the locals' lunch. A plate CHF 7 to 10 (about EUR 7.50 to 11), with ayran CHF 9 to 12.
Tip:Lunchtime between twelve and two, when the places are full, which is the sign of fresh food.
Grilled trout on wooden platforms right over the water, with salad, bread and ice-cold feet. A trout with sides CHF 10 to 15 (about EUR 11 to 16), the platform is free if you eat.
Tip:Go on a weekday, on Sundays every platform is taken; gözleme and tea are the cheap option there.
The bean salad of Antalya province, dressed with tahini, lemon, egg and parsley, creamy and tangy. CHF 2 to 3 (about EUR 2 to 3.20) as a side, CHF 8 to 10 as a main with köfte.
Tip:Piyaz belongs with köfte, order both together and check that the tahini version is on offer, not just beans with onions.
Shredded pastry with melted cheese, soaked in sugar syrup and served hot, crisp on top, stringy inside. CHF 4 to 6 (about EUR 4.30 to 6.50), a little more with pistachios.
Tip:Only order where the pans sit on the fire in front of you, microwaved künefe tastes of nothing.
Black tea in a tulip glass, CHF 0.40 to 1 (about EUR 0.45 to 1.10), in the tea gardens by the sea or up on the castle with a view over the bay. Turkish coffee CHF 2 to 3.
Tip:Tea is the cheapest box seat in town, take it at sunset on the castle side.
In antiquity Alanya was called Korakesion and was a pirate stronghold: from the rocky peninsula, sea raiders controlled the coast in the 2nd century BC until the Roman general Pompey crushed them in 67 BC. Later, Mark Antony supposedly gave the region to Cleopatra, hence the name of the famous beach. The real golden age began in 1221, when the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad conquered the city and made it his winter residence. He had the castle walls built over six kilometres around the peninsula, the octagonal Red Tower raised at the harbour and a shipyard carved into the rock that still stands today. The name Alaiye, later Alanya, goes back to him. After the Seljuks came the Karamanids, the Mamluks and in 1471 the Ottomans; the city lost its importance and became a small trading town. The turning point came in the 1950s, when the Damlataş cave was discovered and promoted for its healing effect on asthma. The first guests came for the cure, then for the swimming. Today Alanya, with more than 300,000 inhabitants and hundreds of hotels, is one of the biggest holiday resorts in Turkey, with a strong German, Scandinavian and Russian community.
Most visitors from Western Europe book Alanya as a package holiday with all-inclusive, and that is not wrong as such: a week with flight, four-star hotel and full board starts at CHF 700 to 900 (about EUR 750 to 965) in the low season, which is hard to beat. The catch: the big resorts are in Okurcalar, Avsallar, Konaklı or Kargıcak, 10 to 35 kilometres from the centre. You then only see Alanya on a bus excursion. The alternative is a city hotel at Cleopatra Beach for CHF 50 to 90 per night with breakfast. You eat in town in the evening for CHF 10 to 15 and are on foot in the old town and at the harbour. Our recommendation: if you only want to lie on a sunbed, take the resort. If you want to see Alanya, take the city and book flight and hotel separately. A combination of three days in the city and four days in a resort works well too.
The castle on the peninsula is the landmark, and many people only see it as a photo stop on the city tour. Better: take the cable car up from Cleopatra Beach (around CHF 8 return, about EUR 9) and carry on on foot. Inside the walls lies the old quarter of Tophane with Ottoman wooden houses, gardens and a few cafés with views of both bays. The inner castle (İç Kale) costs around CHF 10 to enter and has the best view in the city, including the spot from which prisoners were supposedly thrown into the sea. Plan two to three hours, go in the morning or from four in the afternoon, at midday the rock is brutally hot. The walk down through the old-town lanes to the Red Tower takes three quarters of an hour and is the nicer route. The Red Tower itself (Kızıl Kule) is less spectacular inside, but the view from the top is good.
Cleopatra Beach west of the peninsula is the best city beach on the coast: two kilometres of fine sand that does not stick to your skin, clear water and a gentle entry. It is free, sunbeds and umbrellas cost around CHF 5 to 8 (about EUR 5 to 9) for the day. In July and August the stretch near the Damlataş cave is full, further west it gets quieter. East of the peninsula lies Keykubat Beach, coarser in sand but with more space. The insider picks: Ulaş bay around six kilometres to the west with a picnic area and rocks, reachable by dolmuş, and the beach at İncekum near Avsallar with very shallow, child-friendly water. If you like beach clubs, you will find them at Cleopatra Beach, but with music and prices to match the clientele. Showers on the beach are often free, toilets cost a few lira.
The Dim Çayı is a mountain river around ten kilometres east of the city, and it is what locals do on Sundays: they drive up into the valley and sit down in one of the restaurants whose wooden platforms stand directly above or in the river. The water is ice-cold, a relief in high summer. You eat trout, gözleme or grilled meat for CHF 10 to 18 (about EUR 11 to 19) per person with your feet in the water. A taxi from the centre costs around CHF 15 to 20, the dolmuş runs up into the valley for very little. Further up lies the Dim reservoir, with pedalos and small excursion boats, and the Dim cave, an illuminated stalactite cave with a small lake, entry around CHF 8. Both can be combined in one afternoon. Avoid weekends, when the platforms are full of families from Alanya and Antalya; during the week you have peace.
The Damlataş cave sits right at Cleopatra Beach and is the reason Alanya got tourists in the first place: discovered in 1948 during harbour construction, with a constant 22 degrees and high humidity, and asthma patients still sit here in the mornings for treatments. The visit takes 15 minutes, entry around CHF 5 (about EUR 5). Nice as a stop along the way, but not worth a journey. The Sapadere canyon, around 45 kilometres inland, is a different story: a wooden walkway leads 750 metres through the gorge to a waterfall with a natural pool where you can swim. Entry around CHF 5. The organised tours from Alanya cost CHF 30 to 40 and combine the canyon with a village, a silk house and lunch, but travel in large groups. With a rental car you are there in an hour and have the canyon almost to yourself in the morning. In high summer the water is pleasantly cold, bring swimwear.
At the harbour and in the pedestrian zone you find restaurants with picture menus in five languages and schnitzel on the menu. There you pay CHF 15 to 25 (about EUR 16 to 27) for mediocre food. Two streets inland, towards Kuyularönü, Turks eat pide, lahmacun and kebab for CHF 5 to 10. The Friday market on the edge of town is huge, with fruit, cheese, textiles and very fair prices. Alanya is known for its bananas and avocados, which grow on the slopes here and are sold on every corner. For the evening: the harbour district has bars with live music, and beer costs CHF 3 to 5. Be careful with nightclubs with promoters trying to pull you in, drink prices there are a matter of negotiation. If you buy leather jackets or jewellery in the bazaar, always haggle, the first price is never the real one.
A week is the standard and it fits: two to three beach days, one day for the castle and old town, half a day at the Dim River, one excursion to Sapadere or Side. If you only have three to four days, take a city hotel and skip the excursions. For two weeks, combining it with Antalya or Cappadocia is worthwhile.
May, June, September and October: 25 to 32 degrees, water above 22 degrees, prices well below high season. July and August are very hot at up to 40 degrees and crowded. Alanya has a mild winter; in November and March it is a pleasant 18 to 22 degrees for excursions, but swimming is only for the hardy then.
Direct to Antalya (AYT) from Zurich and most major European cities with Edelweiss, Turkish Airlines, SunExpress or Pegasus, flight time around three hours from Central Europe. From Antalya it is 130 kilometres, transfer around two hours, and the Havaş bus costs around CHF 10 (about EUR 11). Gazipaşa airport (GZP) is only 40 kilometres to the east but has few direct flights.
Very much so. Cleopatra Beach is shallow and sandy, the resorts have kids' clubs and slides, and in the city there is a water park and Sealanya with dolphins, although the latter is controversial. For children the Dim River with its platforms in the water and the pirate ship boat trip are worth it.
For one day, yes, if you know what to expect: party music, foam party and entertainers, but also stops at the Phosphorus Cave, the Lovers' Cave and Cleopatra Beach from the sea, with swimming breaks. Around CHF 25 to 35 (about EUR 27 to 37) with lunch. If you want peace, take a small wooden boat from the harbour for a little more money.
The centre and the harbour are heavily geared to tourism, with German-language signs and schnitzel. Still, a real city of 300,000 people lives here, with a university and a market. If you leave the harbour, ride the dolmuş and eat at the Dim River, you get a different Alanya. For a quiet small-town atmosphere, Kaş is the better choice.
Alanya has been a triathlon town since the 1990s and hosts international races over Olympic and sprint distances in autumn, often as part of European series. Swimming at Cleopatra Beach, cycling on the closed coast road, running on the promenade. Registration through the organisers, entry fees around CHF 40 to 80 (about EUR 43 to 86), age-group categories open to amateurs.
For travellers: On race day the coast road is closed for hours; otherwise October in Alanya is ideal, with warm water and empty beaches.
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