Antalya Airport → Belek Transfer

Belek is the purpose-built resort belt between Antalya and Side, about 35 km from the airport, laid out from the 1980s onwards across a flat coastal plain of pine forest and dune. Golf is what it is known for: a run of championship courses sits behind the beach and many of the hotels were built around them. The sand stretches for kilometres and is unusually wide, the pine woods come almost down to the water. There is no old town here; the village centre is small, and life happens inside the resorts and out on the fairways.

This is the shortest of the common eastbound runs. The car leaves the airport, joins the D400 past Aksu and Serik, then turns south through the pines towards the shore: 35 km in all, roughly 35 minutes door to door in normal conditions. The dual-carriageway part passes without incident; what varies is the long resort access roads, gate after gate, where you can end up crawling behind a coach. Early morning and late at night the whole route is close to empty and the drive is quicker still.