Lara Beach

Lara is the sand counterpart to Konyaaltı's pebble: a wide golden beach running east from the city past the Düden's cliff fall toward Kundu, and it is where Antalya's mass-tourism industry concentrated. The strip behind it holds the enormous themed hotels the region is known for - replicas of a Kremlin, a Venetian palace, an Egyptian temple - operating almost entirely on all-inclusive packages, mainly for Russian, German and Turkish markets, with their own beach sections, water parks and evening shows. Between the hotels is the Lara public beach park, run by the municipality with showers, loungers and cafés at modest prices, which is where anyone not staying in a resort goes. The sand is fine and the water shallow. It is thirty to forty minutes from the old town depending on traffic, and it is the airport side of the city, which is why package arrivals rarely see Kaleiçi at all.

What you actually see

• The golden sand - the long fine-sand strip east of the city.
• The themed hotels - the replica-landmark resort architecture.
• The public beach park - the municipal section between them.
• The Düden cliff fall - the waterfall at the western end.

When to go

May to June and September to October. July and August are extremely hot and the hotels are full; the public park fills at weekends.

Honest expectations

Hotel beach sections are for guests only - non-residents use the public park. It is a package-holiday coast with little local character. Traffic from the old town is slow in season.

Nearby

The lower Düden waterfall is at the western end; Sandland and the Kundu hotel strip are east.