Yes, Kaş actually belonged to Greece back in the days of Ancient Greece before becoming part of Turkey after World War I. So if you’re craving that laid-back Greek Mediterranean vibe, skip Antalya and head to Kaş instead. It’s the closest resort town on Turkey’s southwest coast — Fethiye, Marmaris and Bodrum are all much farther away.

How to Get There

Several intercity buses leave Antalya Bus Terminal every day. The journey takes around four hours, and here’s one piece of advice: don’t travel with a hangover. The driver won’t show you any mercy on those winding mountain roads. Another option is flying into Dalaman Airport, which is about 2.5 hours from Kaş by car. But flights to Dalaman aren’t exactly cheap, and let’s be honest — this blog isn’t written for rich. Sorry.

Where to Stay and How to Get Around

Kaş has two main areas. The town centre is where you’ll find most hotels, restaurants and little boutiques. The peninsula is quieter and home to luxury hotels, incredible sea views and rocky beach clubs. If you’re staying on the peninsula, I highly recommend renting a scooter, a car or at least a bicycle. Everything is spread out, and walking everywhere quickly becomes exhausting. Even if you’re staying in the town centre, I’d still recommend renting a scooter. It’ll make getting to some of the beaches much easier. One more thing: Kaş is built on steep hills. Before booking your hotel, check whether it’s halfway up a mountain. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself regretting your life choices every evening while climbing back home. We stayed near Küçük Çakıl Beach, which turned out to be the perfect location—within walking distance of both the town centre and the larger beach.

Now let’s get to the important part. The beaches.

Beaches

Küçük Çakıl Beach (Little Pebble Beach). Despite its size, this became my favourite beach in Kaş. It’s only about a five-minute walk from the hotel where we stayed. The beach is a tiny pebled cove surrounded by cliffs. Surprisingly, it’s almost never crowded. Early in the morning we often had the entire place to ourselves. Crystal-clear water. Silence. No crowds. Exactly what I was looking for. It’s a public beach, so because of its tiny size there are no sunbeds, umbrellas, changing rooms or toilets. Luckily, the nearby beach clubs built into the cliffs offer all of those facilities if you need them. We loved this beach so much that we even came back after dark… accidentally interrupting a group of Galatasaray fans with our uncontrollable laughter. Sorry.

Büyük Çakıl Beach (Big Pebble Beach). The bigger sibling of Little Pebble Beach is located a bit farther from the centre. Walking there in the summer heat isn’t exactly fun, so I’d recommend taking a taxi or riding a scooter. This beach has everything you’d expect: a beach bar, sunbed rentals, umbrellas, showers and toilets. It’s large enough that it never felt overcrowded, and there are plenty of spots where you can jump into the water from the rocks. Thanks to the white pebbles, the water near the shore is an incredible shade of turquoise. This easily takes second place in my ranking.

Kaputaş Beach. You’ve probably seen this beach before. It’s one of Turkey’s most photographed beaches and appears on countless postcards and tourism advertisements. Located just outside Kaş, right off the coastal highway, Kaputaş is a wild beach with unbelievably turquoise water. Unfortunately, even though we visited on a weekday, it was absolutely packed. Despite being considered a wild beach, you can still rent sunbeds and umbrellas, buy food and drinks, and use the showers and toilets. You can get there by minibus from Kaş Bus Station, and on the way back simply wave down any passing minibus heading towards Kaş.

İnceboğaz Beaches. These two beaches are located on the peninsula, so getting there on foot isn’t particularly convenient. They’re separated by nothing more than a road and both face sheltered bays. The infrastructure is fairly basic, and for some reason these were the busiest beaches we visited, especially with families and children. They’re perfectly nice, but personally I preferred the beaches I mentioned above.

What to See in Kaş

The historic centre is small enough to walk across in about twenty minutes. That doesn’t mean you should. Slow down. Stop for a coffee. Browse the little shops. Have a drink. There are plenty of cosy cafés, bars and boutiques hidden around every corner. The streets are full of flowers and greenery, with whitewashed houses and cobbled lanes that make the town feel almost storybook-like, very instagrammable and picturesque. It’s easy to forget you’re even in Turkey—until another Turkish flag or portrait of Atatürk reminds you.

Once you’ve explored the old town, grab a bottle of wine and head to Antiphellos, the ancient Greek amphitheatre, for sunset. Built by the Lycians in the 1st century BC, it once seated around 4,000 spectators and overlooks the Mediterranean. The Lycians clearly knew how to pick a view.

Kaş is also a harbour town, so another great place to watch the sunset is from the breakwater overlooking the marina.

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