Lara or Side: Which to Choose for an Antalya Beach Holiday

Lara is Antalya's eastern hotel coast: a long sandy beach lined with large, often themed, all-inclusive resorts, with the city, its old town and its shopping just a short ride away.

Side is a small town on a peninsula where Roman ruins stand among the streets, with sandy beaches on both sides and a string of resort villages stretching west and east.

If that already tells you which one sounds like your holiday, the rest of this guide will confirm it. If not, the details below should help.

The drive is the clearest practical difference. Both are served from Antalya Airport (AYT):

• Lara: about 14 km, around 20 minutes. Kundu, at the eastern end of the same coast, is about 16 km, around 26 minutes.
• Side: about 65 km, around 75 minutes, driving east along the coast road.

For a late-night landing, tired children or a very short stay, twenty minutes against an hour and a quarter can matter. On a week or two away, most travellers find the longer run to Side perfectly manageable. Current prices for each are listed on the route pages for Antalya Airport to Lara and Antalya Airport to Side. Our Lara and Kundu transfer guide and Side transfer guide go into each drive in more detail.

Lara is about big hotels on a broad stretch of sand. Many of the resorts here are built around a theme and are designed so you could spend the whole week inside them, which is exactly what plenty of guests want. Because the area is so close to the city, you are never far from more choice, either.

Kaleiçi, Antalya's old town around the historic harbour, is about 16 km from the airport and a short hop from Lara, so an evening stroll through its lanes is easy to fit in. The city's shopping centres are nearby too. At the edge of Lara, the lower Düden waterfall drops straight off the cliffs into the sea, a sight worth seeing from the coast or from a boat.

For a closer look at Lara alongside the other city-side areas, see where to stay: Lara, Kundu, Konyaaltı or Kaleiçi.

Side's appeal is that history is part of the town rather than an excursion. The columns of the Temple of Apollo stand by the sea, and the large ancient theatre rises near the entrance to the old town. Walk from the harbour through the streets and you pass ruins along the way.

Most visitors stay in the resort villages around the town. To the west lie Kumköy, Çolaklı and Evrenseki; to the east, Sorgun and Titreyengöl. All have sandy beaches, and the old town is a short ride or, from some hotels, a walk away. The Manavgat waterfall is nearby for an easy outing. Our Side travel guide covers the town and its sights.

The length of your trip is a useful tie-breaker. For a long weekend or a few nights, Lara's short transfer gives you more hours on the beach and leaves time for an evening in Kaleiçi without much travelling. On a longer stay, the extra hour to Side is a small share of the holiday, and in return you get a base with its own historic centre to wander through at any time of day.

Families who plan to stay inside the resort for most of the week can be happy in either place. The choice then comes down to whether you would rather your occasional outing be a city trip from Lara or a stroll through ruins in Side.

Remember the journey home as well. From Lara, the run back to the terminal is so short that a final swim or a late check-out is easy to fit in before a flight. From Side, plan your departure from the hotel with the longer drive in mind; our guide on when to leave your hotel for the airport helps with the timing.

• Shoppers and city-lovers: Lara, for easy trips into Antalya and its malls.
• History fans: Side, where the temple and theatre are part of the town.
• Families wanting a resort holiday: both have sandy beaches; Lara's big themed resorts and short transfer are a plus with small children, while Side's villages offer more space along a longer coastline.
• Couples: Side's old town at sunset or Kaleiçi's lanes from Lara both make for pleasant evenings.
• Late or early flights: Lara, simply because the drive is so short.

Both journeys run door to door in a vehicle reserved only for your group: no stops at other hotels on the way. You get a fixed price per vehicle, quoted within a minute on WhatsApp or by e-mail, with no prepayment, no night surcharge and no luggage fee, and free cancellation. The driver follows your flight, waits at arrivals holding a name sign and does not charge extra if you are delayed. Choose a minivan for up to six, a VIP Mercedes-Benz Vito for up to seven or a Mercedes Sprinter for 8-16. Start on the Lara transfer page or the Side transfer page.