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Antalya with Kids

What a family books as "Antalya" is usually not the city at all: it is a resort strip running along the coast either side of it, where large all-inclusive hotels with waterparks and kids' clubs sit in a line behind the beach. That product is the reason to come, and it is done here at a scale and a price the northern Mediterranean does not match. The city itself is a separate proposition — a Roman gate, an Ottoman quarter above an old harbour, and two waterfalls inside the municipal boundary. Two decisions carry the trip: which stretch of strip, because the airport transfer ranges from twenty minutes to well over an hour, and when, because July and August regularly pass 35°C and the beach is unusable in the middle of the day.

Best for ages
0+
Suggested stay
7–10 days
Best months
May–Jun, Sep–Oct
Daily budget
€180

Mid-range, family of four

Why Antalya works with children

  • Resorts that run the day for you

    Waterparks, kids' clubs, evening entertainment and buffet food remove almost every decision from a beach week.

  • A long, warm swimming season

    The sea here is warm enough for children from May into October, a longer window than the Aegean.

  • All-inclusive at a lower price point

    A week of full board with a waterpark costs well under the equivalent in Spain or Greece.

  • Roman sites within an hour

    Aspendos, Perge and Side are all close enough to be a morning out from the strip rather than a day trip.

Where to stay

Best areas in Antalya for families

4 areas cover most trips here; the difference is mainly shortest transfer, big themed resorts versus mountains and clearer water.

  • Lara / Kundu

    Best for shortest transfer, big themed resorts

    Twenty to thirty minutes from the airport on a sandy strip of very large hotels, several of them themed. Closest to the city, so the old town, the aquarium and the waterfalls are a short drive rather than an excursion.

  • Belek / Kadriye

    Best for the biggest on-site waterparks

    Around forty minutes from the airport, backed by pine forest and golf courses, with the densest concentration of large family resorts and their own water parks. There is very little outside the hotel gates.

  • Side / Çolaklı

    Best for ruins next to the beach

    An hour or more east of the airport, where a small ancient town with a temple on the headland sits within walking distance of resort beaches — the one part of the strip with somewhere to walk in the evening.

  • Kemer / Beldibi

    Best for mountains and clearer water

    About forty-five minutes west, where the Taurus mountains drop to the sea. Beaches are pebble rather than sand, and the water is clearer and cooler for it.

Family hotel picks in Antalya

  • Antalya — large all-inclusive resorts at Belek
    Belek / KadriyeHigher-end

    Antalya — large all-inclusive resorts at Belek

    This stretch holds the densest concentration of very large family resorts on the coast, most with their own waterpark, a kids' club running to a timetable and several restaurants inside the gate — which is the entire point when the plan is a week that needs no decisions made.

    • On-site waterparks and separate children's pools
    • Kids' clubs with organised daily programmes
    • Sandy beach backed by pine forest
    • All-inclusive board covering meals and most drinks
    • Around 40 minutes from Antalya airport

    Fitting a family in

    Family rooms sleeping four are standard and two-room family suites are widely available; interconnecting rooms are common at the larger properties.

    Watch out. There is essentially nothing outside the hotel gates, so a week here is a week inside one resort. Waterslides carry height minimums that can exclude younger children from the headline attraction, and the properties are large enough that the walk from a far room to the beach is a real one.

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  • Antalya — all-inclusive resorts on the Lara strip
    Lara / KunduMid-range

    Antalya — all-inclusive resorts on the Lara strip

    The shortest transfer on the coast, at twenty to thirty minutes, on a long sandy beach — which with small children after an early flight is worth more than any single facility. The city, the aquarium and the waterfalls are a short drive rather than an excursion.

    • 20–30 minutes from Antalya airport
    • Long sandy beach with resort sun-bed sections
    • Waterparks and kids' clubs at the larger hotels
    • Close enough to the city for a half-day out

    Fitting a family in

    Family rooms sleeping four are the norm, and several of the larger themed hotels also offer two-bedroom suites.

    Watch out. The strip lies under the approach to Antalya airport, so aircraft noise is part of the deal, and the beach shelves more steeply here than at Belek. Some of the themed properties are enormous, with long internal walks to the sea.

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  • Antalya — family hotels and apartments around Side
    Side / Çolaklı / KızılağaçMid-range

    Antalya — family hotels and apartments around Side

    The one part of the coast where a resort beach and a small ancient town sit side by side, so the evening can be a walk through a Roman gate to a harbour instead of another night inside the hotel.

    • Ancient site, temple and harbour walkable from the old town
    • Resort beaches with shallow entry east of the ruins
    • All-inclusive hotels and self-catering apartments side by side
    • Restaurants and shops outside the hotel gate

    Fitting a family in

    Family rooms sleeping four at the resorts, and two-bedroom apartments around a shared pool in the villages behind the beach.

    Watch out. It is an hour or more from Antalya airport, which is a long transfer with tired children, and Side's old town is dense with day-trippers and market stalls in the evening. Much of the strip closes down outside the summer season.

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Things to do in Antalya with kids

  • Antalya Aquarium
    Animals

    Antalya Aquarium

    Antalya

    A large aquarium on the western edge of the city built around a long acrylic tunnel, with themed galleries either side of it and a separate snow room and wax-museum wing sold as add-ons.

    Ages
    2–14
    Time
    2h
    Adult, from
    €25

    Good to know. Fully indoor and air-conditioned, which makes it the obvious middle of a hot day — and means it is at its most crowded between noon and 16:00 in high season. The extra attractions on the same site are separate tickets, and the desk sells combinations that are easy to buy by accident.

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  • Düden Waterfalls
    Nature

    Düden Waterfalls

    Antalya

    Two separate falls on the same river: the upper one drops into a pool inside a shaded park, with a path running behind the curtain of water, and the lower one falls straight off a cliff into the sea at the edge of the Lara strip.

    Ages
    3–16
    Time
    1h 30m
    Adult, from
    €3

    Good to know. The path behind the upper fall is permanently wet, low-ceilinged and slippery, and the spray soaks anyone who walks it. The lower falls are viewed from a cliff-top park where the railings are the only thing between a child and a long drop.

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  • Kaleiçi old town & Hadrian's Gate
    City

    Kaleiçi old town & Hadrian's Gate

    Antalya

    The walled Ottoman quarter above the old harbour, entered through a Roman triple gate built for the emperor Hadrian, with a fluted minaret, restored timber houses and lanes of workshops and cafés.

    Ages
    4–16
    Time
    2h 30m
    Adult, from
    Free

    Good to know. The lanes are cobbled, narrow and stepped in places, and the descent to the harbour is steep enough that a lift and a funicular exist for the way back up. There is almost no shade at midday.

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  • Aspendos Roman theatre
    Culture

    Aspendos Roman theatre

    Antalya

    A second-century Roman theatre about 45 kilometres east of the city whose stage building and seating survive almost intact, still used for performances in summer.

    Ages
    5–16
    Time
    1h 30m
    Adult, from
    €15

    Good to know. The seating is bare stone in full sun, with steep tiers and no handrails, so this is a visit at opening or not at all. Once the theatre has been seen there is little else on the site, which makes it a stop rather than a day.

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Getting around Antalya

Almost every resort arrival is a pre-booked private transfer or a hotel shuttle, so the transfer time is worth knowing before the area is chosen. In the city, a tram line runs from the centre past the museum and the old town, and dolmuş minibuses cover the coast road cheaply — flag one down and pay the driver in cash. Taxis are metered and plentiful. A hire car only pays for itself if the plan includes the Roman sites or a drive up the Lycian coast; at a single resort it sits in the car park all week.

Antalya tips for families

  • Getting around

    Choose the area by transfer time, not the photographs

    The strip runs from twenty minutes east of the airport to well over an hour west and east of it. With young children arriving on a morning flight, that difference decides how the first day goes.

  • When to go

    The middle of the day is the pool, not the beach

    From June to September the sand is too hot to cross barefoot by noon and there is no natural shade. Beach in the morning, shade or an indoor stop after lunch, sea again at five.

  • When to go

    Do the Roman sites at opening

    Aspendos and Perge are open stone with no shade anywhere. Guided half-days from the strip leave early for exactly that reason, and going independently should follow the same logic.

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Antalya with kids: common questions

Where should families stay in Antalya?
Lara for the shortest transfer and the largest themed hotels, Belek for the biggest on-site waterparks, Side if having an ancient town and a promenade to walk to matters, Kemer for mountains and clearer, pebblier water. Only staying in the city itself puts the old town on your doorstep.
How many days do you need in Antalya?
Seven to ten as a resort week. That absorbs a rest day, one Roman site, the aquarium and the old town without anyone having to leave the pool for long.
Is all-inclusive worth it in Antalya?
Usually, because the resort is the product here — the waterpark, the kids' club and the food are all inside the gate. It stops making sense if the plan is to drive out most days, when a smaller hotel in the city or at Side costs less.
Is Antalya too hot in August with children?
It is hard work. Daytime temperatures regularly pass 35°C with strong sun and warm nights. June and September give almost the same sea temperature in far more comfortable air.
Is Antalya walkable with a pushchair?
The resort strips and the seafront promenades are flat and fine. Kaleiçi, the old town, is cobbled and stepped, and the route down to the old harbour is steep.

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