What should I avoid in Antalya?

The taxi line at Antalya Airport sits outside the arrivals hall on the ground floor. Licensed cabs with meters should read 700-900 TRY to Kaleiçi, depending on traffic. Freelance drivers inside the terminal will approach you with 'fixed price' offers of 1,500-2,000 TRY and a story about the meter being broken or a nonexistent night surcharge. Walk past them. The Havaş shuttle runs every 30 minutes to the Otogar bus terminal for about 150 TRY, and from there the AntRay tram takes you to İsmetpaşa, the closest stop to the old quarter. Total trip costs under 200 TRY. If you'd rather have door-to-door, book through your hotel the day before. That typically runs 800-1,000 TRY and removes the negotiation entirely.

The harbor-front restaurants in Kaleiçi are the predictable first-timer trap. The ones directly lining the old marina, with staff standing outside waving laminated menus in four languages, charge 800-1,200 TRY for a grilled sea bass. Walk 10-15 minutes east along the coast toward the fishing port area, and the same fish drops to 300-400 TRY. The pattern repeats on Atatürk Caddesi near Hadrian's Gate. If someone is physically pulling you toward a table, the food is not the draw. Two blocks off the harbor, the lokantası places serve lunch plates of İskender kebab with warm yogurt and tomato sauce for 180-250 TRY. The bread arrives in a hot metal basket. The ayran is cold and salty and costs 30 TRY. That's the meal.

The leather-factory detour has been running since at least the 1990s. A friendly taxi driver offers a cheap or free ride from Kaleiçi to Düden Waterfalls or Perge, then stops 'quickly' at a leather workshop where you'll sit through 45 minutes of high-pressure sales for jackets at 3,000-8,000 TRY. The 'discount' is the real price, and declining takes persistence. Boat tours along the coast are mostly legitimate, but confirm the route before paying. Some boats sold as 'waterfall and cave tours' for 400-600 TRY per person are party boats with ear-splitting Turkish pop at full volume and tepid beer from a cooler. The quieter operators at the eastern end of the old marina tend to run the actual sightseeing routes. Ask to see the boat first.

July and August hit 38-42°C with humidity that makes Kaleiçi's stone streets feel like a slow oven by 1pm. The flagstones radiate stored heat upward even after dark. If you visit in peak summer, schedule Perge and Termessos for before 10am. Both are open archaeological sites with almost no shade, and the walk at Termessos involves a steep 30-minute climb to the theater at 1,050 meters elevation. Carry at least 2 litres of water. The sea stays warm enough to swim from May through October, but late August and September bring periodic jellyfish blooms to Konyaaltı and Lara beaches. Locals watch for them. The sting is painful but not medically serious. Pharmacies along Konyaaltı Caddesi carry vinegar-based treatments for around 50 TRY.

Skip the all-day Pamukkale bus tour that every hotel desk sells. It's a 5-hour drive each way for about 90 minutes at the travertines, and the bus stops at 2 carpet shops along the route. Pamukkale deserves an overnight stay, not a 14-hour endurance run. The Sunday market at the Antalya Expo Center looks interesting from the outside but it's mostly cheap electronics and counterfeit sportswear. The Çarşamba Pazarı in Muratpaşa district on Wednesdays is where residents buy their olives, sun-dried peppers, and fresh beyaz peynir. A kilo of that white cheese runs 120-180 TRY there, versus 250 TRY or more in the tourist shops near the Saat Kulesi clock tower.