This is an overall guideline to making sure you can get around the amazing city of Antalya with ease and without confusion. There are loads of great options ranging from the expansive bus system to pay-as-you-go scooters or mopeds! In this blog, we will discuss them all and how they work.
Public Transportation
Like most large cities, there are plenty of transportation options to move from point A to point B. Antalya is no different. In fact, it has some of the cleanest and calmest transportation we’ve experienced across the 15+ countries we’ve explored.
The Antalya Kart - a must have
If you plan to take busses and tram while you are in Antalya (which we recommend), get yourself one of these cards. They cost a small amount of money (35 lira as of Sept ’23) and they will save you in the long run, even if you are staying for a week. Basically, you load money on to this card via the kiosks dotted around the main transportation lines (or at blue markets) and it acts as a debit/ticket card.
Where do I buy and Antalya Kard Card? From the kiosk machines! There are two options: a plastic (on the left) or a disposable (on the right). Unless you know you will only be using the bus/tram for 2 or 4 trips, choose the left option.
Refillable (left option)
Costs money but you save on fare compared to paying via Credit card
Disposable (right option)
There are two options: 2 trips or 4 trips (one way)
Once selected, you can add cash to the machine to increase your cards value. You must use cash at the kiosk. Once you insert the cash, you will see the value increase on the right hand side.
Refilling The Antalya Kart
There are three options for adding more money onto the card. We recommend number 3.
- Kiosk Method: Go to a kiosk again, place the card on the contactless symbol, insert the cash and then take your card back.
- Market Method: Go to a blue market and ask the cashier to fill your Antalya card. Maximum amount is 100 Turkish Lira, Cash Only.
- Online Method: Go online to refill here. Click the Online Dolum button, punch in your card number and go through the steps to use your credit card to add money. You will have to setup an account with your email to do this.
Once you have added money online, the next time you board a bus, hit the “online dolum” button at the top of the screen before tapping your card. These kiosks are contactless, just like at the grocery store. It will make some sounds and then you have to tap it again to actually pay your fare. Bus drivers like it when you let everyone else on before doing this step because it takes a bit of time.
Additionally, you could do this step at a kiosk as well just to refresh your card within the system.
The bUs system
Now that we have an Antalya Kart, let’s talk about the bus system and the app.
There are approximately 130 bus routes through Antalya serving the far reaches all the way to the ocean. It is actually pretty impressive how far they go into the mountain region surrounding Antalya.
The route numbers make no sense, so don’t even try. There are often bus/route numbers that have an A at the end of the same number. Don’t ask me why but the A just runs a slightly different route…very slightly on an opposite timetable.
The mini Busses
The bus system has the large buses and smaller mini-busses. The mini-busses tend to take less popular routes but you might find yourself in one. They still have a card reader and the stop buttons so don’t worry! Our first time was scary too.
The Fare
You can always pay via contactless credit card if you have to! But, it costs 18 Turkish Lira. If you have an Antalya Kart, the fare is 15 Lira (as of 09/23), so you can save a bit every ride. It really adds up if you are making lots of trips.
If you make a bus transfer between 5 mins and 1 hour of tapping in on the first bus, you only pay 5.5 Lira for the second bus. The transfer reduced fare is not applicable to credit card payments. Unfortunately, you would end up paying both bus fares independently.
The Antalya Kart App
Download this app for up to date bus locations, route maps, timetables, and to find the nearest kiosk or refill stations. Without having a turkish number, it is only useful to check routes, timetables, and bus locations.
Unless you are close to the beginning of the bus route, do not trust the timetable. It only indicates the time the bus will leave the terminal and not when it will get to each stop. You can try to estimate but often times, it’s best to watch the GPS location on the map.
The Trams
There are two Tram types: Antray and The Nostalji line. Antray is the stingray looking “high speed” tram way. Nostalji is the Retro Tram route that runs through the old city along the coast.
AntRay
Ant Ray operates three lines, T1A& B, T2 and T3. The T1A goes to the airport, and T1B goes to the expo center. T2 is the nostalji tram. T3 runs from far north of the city center to the main bus terminal, Otogar.
The most useful part of the tram system is the direct connection to the Antalya Airport. And the best part?? It doesn’t cost any more than any other ride. Coming in at a whopping 15Lira ($0.55) per rider, this is the best transportation option to get anywhere within the city.
Nostalji line
The Nostalji line is more for touring the old town than for transporting passengers around the city. But hey, it has free internet…so that’s awesome. It runs along the coast from the east edge of Konyaalti Park to Zerdalik station.
Personal Transportation
Walking
Antalya is extremely walkable with sidewalks everywhere! You will get hit in the face with olive branches, however. There are several pedestrian-only streets that sometimes are combined with tramway tracks.
The main roads have pedestrian crossing lights and signals. The major highways that criss cross the outer city have large overpasses with either escalators/elevators or ramps/stairs.
Kaleici, the ancient old town has narrow winding streets that are cobblestoned and narrow making it perfect for pedestrians Although you will see cars squeezing through to get to their shop or hotel, it is 95% traveled by walking.
Moped & bicycle Rental
You can rent mopeds/scooters but they can be pretty pricey sitting in at $50 a day. I’m sure you could weasel them down if you wanted to rent for a month but that is still a chunk of cash!
The best bet is to make a list of rental locations and start calling to get longer term pricing.
Bicycles are also a great way to get around the city quickly but they are ridden on the road outside of the parks and coast. If you are not comfortable with mopeds, bicycles, cars, buses, and trucks all using the same road, I wouldn’t recommend getting a bicycle. If you are staying near the coast and don’t plan to adventure outside the downtown, you will be just fine. Remember to find a place to lock up your bicycle! This isn’t Utrecht where there is bicycle parking everywhere.
If that sounds exciting to you, the rentals seem to range from $25-50 a day. Since most bicycle rentals are side shops that don’t have a good website, they operate on the “just whatsapp me” principle.
Scooter Companies
There are several pay-as-you ride scooter and moped companies around Antalya. Marti (lime green), Beam (Purple), Bin Bin (Light blue) and Hop (red). There’s probably more but these are the ones we saw walking around town. Some require a turkish phone number to sign up and some don’t.
Hire it done
Taxi Cab
You can always call a taxi. You don’t even have to call, you just push the button on the Taksi box that are hanging everywhere throughout the city. Within 10 minutes, a taxi will show up looking for its riders!
Summary
I hope that gave you a better idea of every way to move about the city without a car. Transportation is extremely affordable and runs consistently. With the help of the app, buses are easy to find and catch to get you anywhere! If you want to ride a moped, there are plenty of them.
Let us know if this helped you with your trip below in the comments! Find us on instagram and say hello!
Lovely trip. Looks like a nice place. Unfortunately not an LGBTQ friendly place.
That is true. Turkey is a pretty conservative country in general. Antalya seems to have quite a few foreigners however!