Things to Do in Antalya

Kaleiçi harbor at sunset

The stone quay falls straight into water so clear you can count sea bream weaving between moored gulets. Fishermen hawk just-caught red mullet from plastic buckets while cafés string bare bulbs overhead. When the call to prayer drifts down from the cliffs the whole scene glows peach for seven perfect minutes.

Düden Waterfalls kayak

Paddle beneath the Lower Düden's 40-metre cascade, mist salting your arms as the river punches through a limestone arch and drops into the sea. From the water you score the reverse postcard: cliffs up front, Lara's glass hotels backing them like a mirage.

Termessos & Karain double-header

Termessos lounges in a natural rock theatre up in the Taurus foothills - eagles circle where spectators once watched plays, and every footstep on pine-needle paths crunches loud enough to startle tortoises. Twenty minutes downhill Karain Cave exhales cool, damp air smelling of bat guano; inside, 500,000-year-old bear scratches stripe the walls.

Thursday farmers' bazaar in Kepez

Locals haul sacks of translucent Antalya honeydew, still warm from the fields, and vendors slap gözleme so thin you can read headlines through the dough. The air is loud - prices called in sing-song half-Turkish, half-Russian - and fragrant with wild oregano and grilling sucuk.

Sunset scuba at Kirlangiç Reef

The western reef plate drops to 18 m where purple fan corals sway like laundry on a line. Parrotfish nibble and you'll hear your own breath bubbling up through shafts of amber light that fade to indigo once the sun slips behind the Bey Mountains.

Kaleiçi - marble-paved lanes inside old stone houses, roosters at dawn

Konyaaltı - mid-rise hotels behind a pebble beach, free sunrise yoga on the prom

Lara - all-inclusive giants on a sandy strip, airport transfers included

Muratpaşa - local bazaars and bakeries, 15-min walk to the tram

Belek - golf villas and quiet coves, taxi required for nightlife

Kepez - apartment blocks, supermarket culture, cheapest beds in town