Side Antik Kenti

A nice ancient city ruins by the sea. It's big and has many nice sites. However I'm not sure how should I feel about the many cheap shops, restaurants, and hotels that are built on top of the city or in the middle of the city. I think it should be more organized and preserved.

Even if I read about Side, I honestly expect just one monument and couple of stones, maybe small archaelogical place. I was wrong. From place where bus or taxi drop you, or where is "entrance" to old Side, there is fascinating few miles walking through history. I don't know why would anyone drive with train or golf car. It's unique experience, especially for people who admire culture, history, or art. We come back actually one more time, because we really liked it.
Advice is to visit early in the morning or late evening, when the temperature is lower.

Visit Side and put a couple of days aside to view all the ancient ruins around.

Be wary of fake tour guides sharing information then asking for money.

Everything is free apart from the museum and the amphitheater but both are cheap and well worth the money.

Side used to be rich ancient city with beautiful nymphaeum, theatre, hammam, etc but I really lost my sense and feeling of being in really ancient city with no ruins, no blocks scattered, no trees covering some collapse buildings, everything in Side ancient city looks "new" because of extensive restoration. For me Side is second commercialized ancient city in Turkey after Ephesus in Selçuk İzmir. There are many shops, cafe, restaurants in between archaeological works. We walked around Side and saw beautiful mozaic covered by plastic. Not sure many people are aware of the historical value of the mozaic. The Apollon temple is breathtaking and amazing; I saw it was now more for instagram pictures.

Walking through this ancient city is literally stepping back in time.
At every corner there is at least a ruin (many of them in very good condition) that will catch your eye. Not to mention the cozy terraces and coffee shops from which is hard to decide where to stop.
A place totally worth to visit and to spend some good hours to admire it and get relaxed by the sea in the same time.

We visited at night, to avoid the heat of the daytime and it's beautifully lit at night, but would guess you're able to see much more detail during the day.

We caught a bus from our hotel on the outskirts of Side into the bus station and from hopping off, you're literally a short walk from the beginning of the ruins.

Absolutely stunning.

There are other options rather than walking, but I don't know why would anyone choose to board the train or ride in a golf car, they're missing seeing all of the history on offer to explore. There's also a glass floor within the shops, bars and restaurants covering old pieces of history - quite unique.

Would definitely return.

We wandered among the ancient ruins freely and enjoyed the atmosphere of the past. It was a real time travel: back to 2nd century B.C. (It was founded in 7th century B.C!) This ancient city had lots of attractions: theatre, Agora, Byzantine basilica, Bishop's Palace, Roman baths, temples of Apollon and Athene etc. I felt like a time traveller among the ruins, and it was very interesting! Don’t miss it, but wear comfortalbe shoes!

This was the highlight of my trip to the Antalya region. Absolutely amazing place to visit and the ruins are beautiful. There is a beach nearby and a small town with what used to be a port. It is a place enriched with history, having been occupied by the Byzantine and Ottoman empires.

It was an amazing place and a must see I believe. But unfortunately there was no tour guide or anyone or any kind of vocal information about the places. There were no brochures! We had to desperately look for the information maps or panels at each point. We were not even sure if we missed any point or not! Anyway, we enjoyed our visit and hopefully next time it gets better.

What a place to visit. Not only are their many many ruins including under the flooring (glass walkways) the Old Town was so picturesque that I took so many pictures. Perhaps go early in the day or later evening to avoid the sun. The museum and ampitheatre are a must.