Antalya Area

Whats it like?

I'm biased as I have lived and worked in different places along the south west coast of Turkey and now live and work in Antalya and I love it! Once described by Ataturk as the best city in the world, I have to agree with him.

Antalya is a place where "old" Turkey meets the modern world, you can still experience the renowned hospitality and the traditional Turkish cafes, bars, hamam (baths) and culture in a developing and popular city.

Antalya is a progressive modern place with a population approaching 900,000 is a perfect "city", small enough to have a good community feel yet big enough to provide all the facilities westerners expect, great dining (and a fabulous mountaintop rotating restaurant), plenty of shopping malls with all your favourite shops (and fast food joints :-). Apart from the luxuries of the town you are never more than 10 minutes from two huge beaches (Lara beach and Konyaalti beach), the wonderful walled old town (Kale Ici) where you can see the ancient roman walls, gates and buildings in the heart of the city and have lunch in the harbour used by the romans and ottomans in this bustling ancient city.
Not convinced? Then how about the numerous attractions and cultural centers just outside the city:-

• Aspendos Theatre - The best preserved Roman amphiteatre in the modern world
• Olympos - A wonderful bohemian paradise of beaches, bars and tree houses not to mention the stunning ruins
• Yanartas - Fire mountain, where pockets of gas burst through the mountain and have been burning for thousands of years
• The Tahtali cable car - Take a ride up to the top of one of our biggest mountains in Europes longest cable car.
• Belek & Side - Geared specifically for tourism, Belek and Side host fine hotels and better golf courses.
• Phaselis - Yet more beautiful beaches and ruins!

Property in Antalya

Antalya town is an area of mainly apartments and apartment blocks, the blocks in the center can be up to 12 storeys tall but the main residential areas have smaller blocks that are height limited by the council to ensure good views and aesthetics for the area, these are limited to usually 4 storeys.

There are villas and town houses in the suburbs but few come to the market often.

the main types of property you'll find in Antalya are :-

• Garden Duplex Apartments - 2 storey ground floor apartments. Usually entry is on the "top"floor which is the living area and garden with the bedrooms downstairs.
• Duplex Apartments - 2 storey top floor apartments. Occupying the top 2 floors of a block, these duplex apartments are of the usual layout with bedrooms upstairs or spread between floors, you usually find a large terrace and barbeque area on the upper floor and if youre in the right area these apartments can provide stunning views.
• Apartments - Standard single floor apartments of varying size.
• Town Houses - There are some suburb areas that offer some lovely traditional and modern town houses.
• Villas - Again, usually confined to the outskirts and small complexes specifically built for this purpose, although the quality of the villas in Antalya are the best Ive seen in Turkey (and in some areas thats reflected in the price too!)
  

Holidaying in Antalya

Its a great place to holiday for all the above reasons, you have all the benefits of most other resorts, beautiful beaches, fantastic mountains, cultural attractions but with all the added benefits of great dining and great shopping.

Antalya has a modern international airport on the edge of the city and has a wide range of hotels to cater for every budget in every area in town.

Antalya is an ideal destination for your holiday, kids are particularly well catered for with theme parks, plenty of play areas, go karts and even an ice rink.

If you want a holiday with variety and plenty to do then Antalya is perfect.

If you prefer to be with lots of Brits and the British bar culture then Calis is a good choice. If you would like to mellow out in a relaxing fishing village then why not take a look at Kas? If you're a keen golfer and enjoy your saunas n luxury then Belek & Side are ideal.

Living in Antalya

Its a lot easier to live in Antalya than some other places on the coast, being so multicultural a variety of languages are understood, including English, German, Dutch and Russian (and Turkish, obviously).

Paperwork and legalities tend to get arranged and finished quicker in Antalya due to a "relatively" efficient and forward thinking council.

Being a city and not just a resort town there are many options for work and different lifestyles and you can enjoy a year round city rather than a place thats heaving in the summer and a ghost town in the winter.