If you live in Albania, the Antalya coast is the beach holiday your Albanian friends and colleagues have probably already taken. It is close, reliable in late summer, and the Turkish all-inclusive resort has turned doing nothing into a well-oiled system. What brochures blur is how different the coast is from one end to the other: Kemer and Alanya are a long drive apart and feel like different holidays, and "all inclusive" means something slightly different in every hotel.
When to go: the case for September and early October
July and August are the obvious months, and the least comfortable: daytime temperatures regularly climb past 35°C and resorts run full. September to mid-October is, in our view, the best window. - The sea is at its warmest. After a summer of heating up, the water is usually above 26°C in September and still around 23–25°C through much of October. - Crowds thin out. Once schools go back across Europe and in Albania, pools get quieter and sunbeds stop being a morning contest. - Sightseeing becomes pleasant. Walking around Aspendos or Kaleiçi in August heat is hard work; in autumn it is a pleasure. - It is usually cheaper than peak summer.
The trade-offs: shorter days, the first autumn showers, and from late October some hotels scale down entertainment, shut outdoor bars or cut aquapark hours. Some resorts close entirely for the winter.
Where to stay: five stretches of coast
Antalya city: Lara and Konyaaltı
Lara, east of the centre, is the closest resort area to the airport, with a sandy beach and large resort hotels, some with eye-catching themed architecture. It suits people who want the city within easy reach. Konyaaltı, west of the centre, is a long pebble beach backed by the Taurus Mountains. It works more like an urban seafront, with city hotels and apartments rather than sprawling all-inclusive complexes.
Belek
Golf courses, high-end resorts with huge grounds, and a long sandy shoreline. Belek's beaches are among the most important nesting sites in the Mediterranean for loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), so some stretches are protected at night in summer. There is little outside the hotels, which is exactly the point for many families.
Side
An ancient town on a small peninsula, surrounded by hotel strips such as Kumköy, Kızılağaç, Titreyengöl, Sorgun and Çolaklı. The beaches are sandy with a gentle slope into the sea, very good for small children, and in the evening you can walk among Roman ruins to the harbour for dinner.
Alanya
Further east and a longer transfer, Alanya is a proper town: a castle on its rocky headland, sandy Cleopatra Beach, shops, bars and nightlife. Many hotels are in or near town, and some have the beach across the road. Gazipaşa airport is closer, but it has far fewer connections than Antalya.
Kemer
To the west, Kemer is squeezed between mountains and sea, with pine forest running down to the shore. Beaches are mostly pebble and shingle, with very clear water, better for snorkelling than for sandcastles. The ruins of Phaselis and the cable car up Mount Tahtalı are nearby.
All inclusive vs ultra all inclusive
Standard all inclusive in Turkey typically covers three buffet meals, snacks in between, soft drinks and locally produced alcohol (Turkish beer, local wine, rakı) at the hotel bars during set hours, plus sunbeds, entertainment and a kids' club.
Ultra all inclusive has no single official definition. It usually adds imported spirits, longer bar hours (sometimes into the small hours), a restocked minibar and, often, one or more dinners in the à la carte restaurants.
Common exclusions, even on ultra: - à la carte restaurants beyond your allowance, or slots that book up fast; - premium brands and, in some hotels, fresh juice; - massages and spa treatments (the hammam and sauna are sometimes included, sometimes not); - motorised water sports, excursions, room service and, in some hotels, the in-room safe.
Always ask for the hotel's "concept" sheet: it lists exactly what is included and when.
How to choose: a short checklist
- Sand or pebbles. Lara, Belek and Side are sandy and shallow; Kemer and Konyaaltı are pebbly, so pack water shoes.
- Family or adults-only. Adults-only resorts exist and are noticeably calmer; family resorts add kids' clubs, mini-discos and family rooms.
- Aquapark. Many large resorts have slides; ask about opening hours and age or height limits, which can shrink late in the season.
- Transfer time from Antalya airport, roughly and traffic permitting: Lara around 20–30 minutes, Belek around 40 minutes, Kemer about an hour, Side an hour to an hour and a quarter, Alanya two hours or more. Shared transfers that stop at several hotels take longer.
- Beachfront or across the road. Particularly in Alanya, check whether you cross a road or use an underpass to reach the sand.
Getting there from Tirana, and entry rules
In the summer season there are usually direct flights from Tirana to Antalya, often charters linked to holiday packages and sometimes scheduled services; many leave at night or in the early hours. Flight time is around two hours. The year-round fallback is a connection through Istanbul, with Turkish Airlines into Istanbul Airport or Pegasus into Sabiha Gökçen, then a domestic flight to Antalya.
Turkey keeps the same time all year, one hour ahead of Albania in summer and two in winter.
Entry rules depend on your passport. Albanian citizens can visit Turkey visa-free for tourism, for up to 90 days in any 180; they need a passport, as the Albanian ID card does not appear to be accepted, and the passport should have plenty of validity left (150 days from entry is the figure usually quoted). Many European passport holders are also visa-exempt, and some EU nationals can travel on an ID card, but other nationalities need an e-Visa. Check Turkey's official e-Visa portal or your embassy before you book.
Worth leaving the sun lounger for
- Ancient Side: a 2nd-century AD Roman theatre and the columns of the Temple of Apollo at the tip of the peninsula, best at sunset.
- Aspendos: near Serik, between Belek and Side, one of the best-preserved Roman theatres anywhere, stage building still standing.
- Manavgat: a broad, low waterfall set in greenery a short drive from Side, and boat trips down the river to where it meets the sea.
- Kaleiçi: Antalya's old town, with Hadrian's Gate, lanes of wooden Ottoman houses and the old harbour below the walls.
- The Düden waterfalls: the upper falls sit in a park north of the city; the lower falls drop straight off the cliffs at Lara into the sea and look best from a boat.
Money, tips and other practicalities
- Currency: the Turkish lira. Cards are widely accepted; euros are taken in many tourist spots, but the rate you get is rarely a good one.
- Tipping: not compulsory, but appreciated by housekeeping, waiters and bar staff. Keep some small lira notes handy.
- Transfers: arrange them in advance; after a night flight, hunting for a taxi at dawn is no way to start.
- Sun: still strong at midday in October. Drink bottled water.
- Phone: Turkey is outside both EU roaming and the Western Balkans roaming zone, so check your plan or rely on hotel Wi-Fi.
How OnTravel can help
OnTravel is a travel agency in Kamëz, just north of Tirana, and the Antalya coast is a regular part of what we arrange, particularly in the late season. We can sort out the flight (direct in season where available, or via Istanbul), airport transfers and a hotel matched to what you actually want, whether that is sand for small children, a quiet resort for two or Alanya's nightlife, and we will explain the hotel's concept clearly before you commit.
Visit us on Rruga Stokholm, next to the Albanian Post office in Kamëz, Monday to Saturday 08:30–20:00, or message us on WhatsApp at +355 69 333 0339. Weekly offers go up on Instagram at @ontravel.al. Get in touch to request an offer.
