Transfers across the Belek area

Belek is not an old town that slowly turned into a resort; it is a holiday belt built from scratch since the late 1980s on the coast east of Antalya Airport, between the Aksu and Köprüçay rivers. Behind the sand lie planted pine forests, and inside them sit the large resorts and the golf courses the area is known for. Kadriye, on the western side, has a walkable centre, a bazaar and the Land of Legends theme park. Belek itself has a compact shopping street. Boğazkent, further east, is quieter and lower-rise, while Serik, set back from the coast, is the district's working town rather than a holiday base.

Transfers run east on the D400, the dual carriageway that passes the airport itself: Aksu first, then the turnings for Kadriye and Belek, then Serik and the road down to Boğazkent. Depending on which resort you are booked into, the leg is 30 to 45 km and takes roughly 35 to 45 minutes. The road is flat and fast, with no mountain sections, and the last few kilometres run through pine plantation on quiet hotel roads. Summer afternoons slow the stretch around Aksu and the Belek junction. On late-night arrivals the same highway is nearly empty, and in winter the drive is shorter still.

Resorts in this region differ more than the shared address suggests. From Kadriye or Belek centre you can reach shops, the bazaar and the theme park on foot or in a few minutes by car; Boğazkent suits people who want the beach and little else; hotels set deep in the pines are self-contained, so any trip out means arranging a car. The beach is sand along the whole stretch and shelves gently, which is a large part of why families choose it. For the trip back, allow for the morning traffic heading west into Antalya: most guests leave Belek around three hours before departure, and Boğazkent addresses want a few minutes more.