Antalya → Olimpos Transfer

Antalya to Olimpos private transfer

Nobody ends up in Olimpos by accident. The people who book this leg have chosen a valley over a resort: the ancient city lying in pieces through the undergrowth between the road and the sea, the pebble bay at the bottom of it where loggerheads come ashore to nest, and the gas flames on Yanartaş above Çıralı, which burn all night and only repay the climb once the sky has gone properly dark. Some are city guests making a day of it; others are moving out of Antalya for two or three nights in a wooden lodge, which is a different holiday altogether from a hotel with a buffet.

Sixty-five of the 80 km are main road and the last fifteen are not. The D400 goes south-west out of the city past Konyaaltı, up on to the shelf cut into the Beydağları, through the tunnels above Beldibi and along the front at Kemer, Çamyuva and Tekirova, with the Phaselis sign going by on the left. At Ulupınar the turning comes, and after it the road is a different animal: it falls into the valley in tight curves, narrow enough that two cars pass each other carefully, pine branches closing overhead. That descent holds almost all the character of the 70 minutes and hardly any of the distance.

• Leaving Antalya after four in the afternoon puts the valley descent in the dark, which is slower — but it does mean reaching Yanartaş at the right hour.
• A minibus fits the valley lane but takes it gently, so a larger party should allow more than the 70 minutes for the last stretch.
• The valley has pensions and a couple of small shops rather than a supermarket, so a particular medicine, nappies or a beach toy are easier bought in the city before you set off.
• Olimpos and Çıralı share a beach but not an access road, so the booking needs the name of the village and not only the name of the lodge.