Where to stay on the Turkish Riviera

Most people start by choosing a resort and then look for a hotel in it. On this coast it is worth doing it the other way round, because the two are linked: the stretch east of Antalya is all-inclusive country, and the Lycian and Turquoise coasts to the west are small hotels, pensions and villas. Book the wrong kind of place for the kind of holiday you want and you end up fighting the town you are in.

Where you find what

This is what is actually common in each place, not a complete list — you can find the odd pension in Belek if you look hard enough. The price level is relative to the rest of the coast, for the same standard of room.

Price level compares like with like across the coast; for actual numbers by month and group size, use the holiday budget calculator, which works from the same data as this table.

What each kind is really like here

4★ and 5★ all-inclusive

This is the default east of Antalya and the reason most people come. Food, local drinks, pools, the beach and evening entertainment are paid for before you arrive, which is restful with children and makes the week easy to budget. The 5★ houses in Belek and Lara are some of the largest hotels on the Mediterranean.

The honest catch is that “all-inclusive” is not a standard. À-la-carte restaurants need booking, imported spirits and fresh juice usually cost extra, and the spa almost always does. Read the hotel’s own concept rather than the label; our all-inclusive guide goes through what is normally included and what is not.

Pensions and 3★ hotels with breakfast

Family-run, usually a dozen rooms or so, breakfast on a terrace and nothing else included. This is how most of the western coast sleeps — Kaş, Çıralı, Dalyan, the old town of Side, Kaleiçi in Antalya.

You eat out every night, which is the point: it costs more in restaurants and far less in room rate, and you see the place rather than the buffet. With small children it is more work.

Boutique hotels

Restored stone or Ottoman houses, a courtyard, ten to twenty rooms, breakfast included. Concentrated in Kaleiçi, Kalkan, Göcek and Kaş. Often adults-only or simply unsuited to toddlers — stairs, pools without shallow ends, quiet.

Worth knowing: in Kaleiçi the buildings are old and the walls are thin, and a courtyard that is lovely at breakfast can carry sound at midnight.

Villas with a private pool

The western coast’s speciality, above all in Kalkan, where whole hillsides are villas with infinity pools, and also in Göcek, Kaş, Fethiye and Dalyan. The eastern exception is Alanya.

For a group of six, a villa is usually cheaper per head than six all-inclusive beds and far more comfortable. Two things to plan for: you will want a car, because villas sit on steep lanes away from the centre, and you are cooking or eating out for every meal.

Apartments and long stays

Not in the table above because they are rented by the month rather than the week, but they matter: Alanya, Mahmutlar and Oba are full of apartment blocks let to winter residents from Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Monthly winter rates are a fraction of summer weekly prices.

If you are thinking of a long stay, read the winter guide first: heating, what closes and the 90-day rule are the three things people underestimate.

How to choose

First trip, or travelling with small children

Take all-inclusive east of Antalya and keep the transfer short: Lara at about 20 minutes, Kadriye at 30, Belek at 35 to 40. Sandy, shallow beaches and everything paid for. More in our guide for families.

You want to eat out and walk somewhere in the evening

Book a town, not a resort strip. Side old town, Kaleiçi, Kaş, Fethiye and Kalkan all have somewhere to walk to after dinner. All-inclusive in these places tends to waste its own advantage: you paid for a buffet you then skip.

A group, or a family of five or more

Price a villa before you price rooms. Six people in two hotel rooms is awkward and often dearer than one villa with a pool, and you get a kitchen and a terrace. Budget a hire car into the comparison.

You are watching the money

Alanya is the cheapest part of this coast for the same standard, and Mahmutlar cheaper again; Göcek, Kalkan and Belek are the dearest. Season moves prices more than place, though: the same room costs roughly a third less in May or October than in August. Run both through the budget calculator before deciding.

Nearby and related guides

All-inclusive

Holiday budget calculator

With kids

Belek

Side

Alanya