Honeymoon in Antalya: Where to Stay, What to Do and When to Plan

A honeymoon in Antalya gives you an old town above a Roman harbour, long sandy beaches, mountains and ancient cities, all within an hour of one airport on the Turkish coast.

This guide covers when to start planning a honeymoon after a destination wedding, the best months, where to stay, romantic things to do, day trips and how to extend your trip across Turkey.

Why Couples Choose Antalya for Their Honeymoon

You can spend a morning in a Roman theatre, an afternoon on a sunbed and an evening at a harbour table, without long transfers in between. Antalya Airport is about 13 km from Kaleiçi, the old town. For couples who marry on the coast, the honeymoon can begin the day after the wedding, with no second flight and no time lost travelling.

The city also works for different kinds of honeymoon. Some couples want quiet days at a resort with a spa and a private beach area. Others want to walk, explore and eat out every night. You can also combine the two: a few nights in the old town of Kaleiçi, then a resort on the coast. The sections below help you plan both halves.

When to Start Planning a Honeymoon After a Destination Wedding

The simple answer: start planning the honeymoon when you book the wedding. The two trips share the same dates, the same flights and, for a honeymoon in Turkey, the same coast, so deciding them together saves time and gives you the widest choice of rooms. In July and August, coastal hotels fill early, so booking both stays together keeps your first choices open.

Three things decide your timing:

• The season. Summer and school holidays fill coastal hotels early, while spring and autumn leave more choice closer to the date.
• Your leave from work. Count the wedding days, a rest day and the honeymoon nights together, and agree the total with both employers early.
• Your budget. Decide the honeymoon budget alongside the wedding budget, so one does not take from the other at the last minute.

Moving from the Wedding to the Honeymoon

Plan a gentle handover from your wedding to your honeymoon. Leave the morning after the wedding for a farewell brunch or simply for rest, then move to the honeymoon hotel in the afternoon. If you stay in the same resort, ask for a different room for the honeymoon nights, away from the guests’ room block. Agree before the wedding who takes the dress, the suit, the gifts and the cards home, so you travel light. Our guide to guest accommodation in Antalya explains how room blocks work if you are planning both stays at once.

Best Time for a Honeymoon in Antalya

Antalya has hot, dry summers and mild, wetter winters. Each season suits a different kind of honeymoon:

For month-by-month temperatures and rain, see our guide to the best time to get married in Antalya, which uses the same weather data for weddings and honeymoons.

Where to Stay: Antalya Honeymoon Areas

Antalya’s areas feel different from each other. Choose the area first, then the hotel.

A split stay gives you both: two or three nights in Kaleiçi for the old town and its restaurants, then the rest of the honeymoon at a resort on the coast. Ask any hotel about a honeymoon room with a view or a private terrace, a late check-out on the last day, and dinner on the beach or a terrace on one of your nights. For hotels that also host weddings, see our wedding hotels in Antalya.

Romantic Things to Do in Antalya

Walk Kaleiçi and the Old Harbour

Kaleiçi is Antalya’s historic centre, a maze of narrow streets inside the old city walls. Enter through Hadrian’s Gate, one of the gates of the ancient walls, and wander down through the lanes to the marina, an ancient Roman port now full of boats. A lift links the old town with the harbour if you would rather not take the steps. Go in the late afternoon, stay for sunset over the bay and then choose a courtyard restaurant for dinner. The official Turkish Riviera guide has more on the old town.

Take a Sunset Boat Trip

Boats leave the old harbour for trips along the cliffs, and a private boat at sunset makes a memorable evening for two. From the water you see the old town on its cliff, the mountains across the bay and the Lower Düden Waterfalls falling into the sea.

Visit the Düden Waterfalls

Antalya has two Düden waterfalls: the Upper falls about 12 km north-east of the centre, and the Lower falls about 8 km east, in Lara. The Upper Düden Waterfalls sit in a shaded park, with a path that runs behind the falling water. The Lower Düden Waterfalls drop straight off the cliffs into the Mediterranean, with a clifftop park and wide views over the sea. Kurşunlu Waterfall, in a green valley east of the city, is another waterfall worth a visit.

Ride the Tünektepe Cable Car

The Tünektepe cable car runs from the edge of Konyaaltı up to the top of Tünek Tepe, a hill 618 metres high, in around 15 minutes. At the top there is an observation terrace and a revolving restaurant, with views over the Gulf of Antalya, the city and the mountains. Time your ride for the late afternoon and stay for sunset.

See the Antalya Museum

The Antalya Museum, near Kaleiçi, covers the region from the Palaeolithic Age to the Ottoman period. Its highlights include the Heracles Sarcophagus and the Weary Herakles statue, and its galleries help you understand the ancient sites you will see on your day trips.

Beach Days, Hammam and Spa

Spend slow days on the sand at Lara or Belek, or on the pebbles of Konyaaltı with the mountains behind you. Keep a day for a traditional Turkish bath, a hammam, where you are washed, scrubbed and massaged, or book a couples’ treatment at your hotel spa.

Day Trips for Honeymooners

Perge. The ancient city of Perge lies in the Aksu district, about 17 km east of the city centre. Walk the long colonnaded street, the stadium, the theatre and the city gates, and go early in summer, before the heat.

Aspendos. About 48 km east of Antalya, Aspendos has a Roman theatre that Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism describes as the best preserved in Anatolia, built in the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius by the architect Zenon, with seats for about 15,000 people. Perge and Aspendos fit together in one day.

West of Antalya. The ancient cities of Phaselis, Olympos and Termessos lie to the west and make good day trips for couples who enjoy history.

The mountains. The Taurus Mountains rise behind the city, with jeep safaris, rafting, horse riding and walks through villages and valleys. A mountain day is a good change of scene after several beach days.

Kemer and the coves. West of the city, the coast road runs under the mountains to Kemer. A day on a boat from Kemer reaches coves with clear water that are hard to reach by road.

Book day trips as a private tour if you can, so you set the pace, start before the crowds and stop where you like.

Extend Your Honeymoon Beyond Antalya

A week in Antalya can become two weeks in Turkey. These places pair well with a honeymoon in Antalya:

• Kaş and Kalkan. Small harbour towns on the Turquoise Coast, with private villas, sea-view hotels and Kaputaş beach between them. See our guides to Kalkan and Kaş.
• Cappadocia. Cave hotels, valleys and sunrise balloon flights in central Turkey, reached by an internal flight. Our Cappadocia guide covers the area and its hotels.
• Istanbul. A few nights in the city for the Bosphorus, the palaces and the food, before your flight home. See our Istanbul page.

Plan the order around your flights: start or finish in the city you fly into, and keep the slow, relaxing part of the trip for the end.

Dining Together in Antalya

Antalya is a good city for long dinners. Start with meze, small dishes to share: cacık with yoghurt and cucumber, stuffed vine leaves, smoked aubergine, grilled octopus and fresh cheese with herbs. A meyhane, a traditional Turkish tavern, serves meze slowly through the evening, with fish and grilled dishes to follow.

For a special night, book a terrace in Kaleiçi with a view over the old harbour, or a table on the sand at your resort. Try the local piyaz, a white bean salad with tahini, and finish with Turkish coffee or baklava.

Making Your Honeymoon Budget Go Further

A honeymoon in Antalya can be as simple or as indulgent as you like. A few choices make your budget go further:

• Choose your season. April, May, late September and October give pleasant weather with more choice of rooms than the peak weeks of summer.
• Book with the wedding. Reserving honeymoon rooms soon after you set the wedding date gives you a wide choice.
• Pick the right board. All-inclusive suits slow resort days; bed and breakfast suits couples who want to eat out every night.
• Spend on moments. Save on the room type and spend on the experiences you will remember, such as a private boat at sunset or a special dinner.
• Mix your dinners. Alternate special dinners with simple local restaurants, where you taste the everyday food of the city.

If you are still planning the wedding itself, our wedding planner in Antalya page shows what a wedding on this coast can look like, so you can plan the wedding and the honeymoon as one trip.

Frequently Asked Questions