Düden Waterfalls

The Düden river rises from springs north of Antalya, disappears underground, resurfaces, and reaches the sea in two dramatic stages. The Upper Düden - Düden Başı - is about ten kilometres north-east of the centre, where the river comes back up from a karst spring eighteen kilometres after vanishing into the Bıyıklı sinkhole, and water brought by canal from the Kepez hydroelectric plant falls into the spring's pool in a wooded park, and the interest is that a path leads behind the fall through a cave so you look out through the water; the park has tea gardens and picnic areas and is a standard local outing. The Lower Düden is at Lara on the eastern edge of the city, where the same river reaches the coast and falls forty metres straight off a cliff into the Mediterranean - one of the few waterfalls anywhere that discharges directly into the sea. It is viewed from a clifftop park or, better, from the tourist boats that run out from the old harbour and sit under it. Flow is much reduced in late summer when the river is drawn off for irrigation.

What you'll find

• The upper fall - the drop into a wooded park pool.
• The cave path - the walk behind the falling water.
• The lower fall - water dropping off the cliff into the sea.
• The boat view - the cliff fall seen from the water.

When to go

April to June and September to November, when flow is strongest. Late summer sees the river drawn down for irrigation and both falls thin considerably.

Practical notes

They are two separate sites at opposite ends of the city - the upper park is fenced and ticketed, the lower park open and free around the clock - and a taxi between them is the practical option. Flow varies a lot and can disappoint in August. Both parks are crowded at weekends.

Nearby

Lara beach is beside the lower fall; Kaleiçi and the old harbour are in the centre.

Key facts