Side: Where Ancient Ruins Meet Antalya’s Best Nightlife (2026)

Side is one of the few places on the Turkish coast where you don’t visit the ruins and then leave — you eat dinner on top of them. Founded by Aeolian colonists from Cyme around the 7th century BC, this old harbour town on the Pamphylian coast grew into a major Roman port, and today its temples, theatre and colonnades sit shoulder to shoulder with the shops, restaurants and bars of a living resort town.

That overlap is exactly what makes Side worth the detour from Antalya or Alanya: by day it’s a walkable open-air archaeological site, and by night the same streets fill with live music, cocktails and restaurants with glass floors lit up over 2,000-year-old stone. Here’s what to see, what it costs in 2026, and how to plan the visit.

According to the ancient historian Arrian, the settlers who founded Side arrived from Cyme in Aeolis and found local Anatolian-speaking inhabitants already living on the site — and, in a detail that has puzzled historians ever since, the newcomers are said to have forgotten their own Greek and adopted the local language instead. Local tradition holds that the city’s name, Side, meant “pomegranate” in that pre-Greek Anatolian tongue, a fruit that still appears on Side’s ancient coins.

The city’s history isn’t all temples and trade, either. By the 2nd century BC, Side had become a base for Cilician pirates, who ran one of the ancient Mediterranean’s largest slave markets here — a detail recorded directly by the geographer Strabo. Alexander the Great is said to have taken the city without a fight in 333 BC on his march along the Pamphylian coast. It was under Roman rule, from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD, that Side reached its peak, when most of the ruins you can walk through today — the theatre, the temples, the colonnaded street and the harbour baths — were built or rebuilt.

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The single most photographed spot in Side is the Temple of Apollo, right at the tip of the harbour promontory. Built in the 2nd century AD, it fell into ruin over the centuries, and the five columns still standing today were re-erected in the 1980s using the temple’s own original fallen blocks — a restoration technique known as anastylosis, the same method used to rebuild Patara’s lighthouse further along the coast. At sunset, with the columns backlit against the sea, it’s become one of the defining images of the Turkish Riviera.

Right beside it stood the Temple of Athena, Side’s other major sanctuary, currently under ongoing restoration by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Both temples sit in open, unfenced ground on the harbour walk, which means you can view and photograph them from outside completely free, 24 hours a day, with no ticket required.

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Side’s Ancient Theatre is one of the largest in the Pamphylia region, and unlike the classic Greek theatres carved into a hillside, it was built on flat ground and raised on a system of vaulted substructures — a Roman engineering solution that let the city put a full-scale theatre right in the middle of town rather than on a slope outside it. It once hosted plays and, later, gladiator contests during the Roman period.

Just a short walk from the theatre, the Side Museum is housed inside a restored 2nd-century Roman bathhouse near the harbour, its original vaulted rooms now used as exhibition halls for statues, sarcophagi and reliefs excavated from the site — the building itself is as much a part of the visit as what’s inside it.

Side doesn’t really have big nightclubs — its nightlife runs through stylish restaurants with live music and cocktail menus, clustered around the harbour. Themed spots like Elvis Bar pull a crowd in the evening, and a number of restaurants have built glass floor panels straight into their dining rooms, lighting up the ancient ruins directly underneath the tables. It’s an odd, memorable thing to notice halfway through dinner: you’re eating pasta over a Roman street.

The main strip, just behind the town’s mosque, stays lit and busy until close to midnight, after which the crowds thin out gradually rather than shutting down all at once. It’s a relaxed, walkable kind of nightlife rather than a loud one — closer to an evening out than a night out.

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Not everything in Side requires a ticket, but the two main sites do. Foreign-visitor prices for 2026 are:

Ticket	Approx. Price (2026)
Side Ancient Theatre (single entry)	€7
Side Museum (single entry)	€5
Combined ticket (Theatre + Museum)	€10
Night museum hours (1 June – 1 Oct)	19:00–22:00, gates close 21:30

For Turkish citizens, MüzeKart is valid at both the Side Ancient Theatre and the Side Museum — the standard card covers two visits a year, while MüzeKart+ gives unlimited entry. It’s worth knowing that MüzeKart does not cover the summer night sessions: cardholders still need to pay a 200 TL supplement to visit between 19:00 and 22:00.

Plenty of Side is free regardless: the colonnaded main street, the old bazaar, the ruins scattered around the town’s entrance gate, and the harbour promenade with both temples can all be explored without a ticket, at any hour.

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Side Old Town is pedestrian-only, so everyone arrives on foot from the car park at the town entrance — the question is just how far you want to walk to reach the harbour square. Two local options cover that distance:

• Nostalgic train: Runs frequently between the car park/hotel area and the Old Town square. One-way fare is 30 TL per person, card payment only, and children aged 6 and under ride free.
• Golf cart (buggy): Seats up to 5 passengers, one-way fare is 150 TL per vehicle — a good option if you’re travelling as a group or would rather skip the walk in the 35°C summer heat.

In the town centre you’ll also find rental points for e-bikes, regular bikes, electric scooters, motorbikes, ATVs and cars, if you want to explore the wider Side coastline at your own pace.

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Side’s shopping streets are built around souvenirs, clothing, shoes and bags, with prices usually shown in both Turkish Lira and Euro. Bargaining is normal practice here, and it’s worth asking the price before buying anything unlabelled — ice cream included. Rough ranges to expect in 2026:

• Clothing & accessories: sunglasses from around €5, t-shirts €5–10, deals near the beach offering 3 t-shirts for around €40
• Shoes: 100% leather men’s and women’s shoes ranging from €30 to €160
• Turkish delight: handmade pistachio, caramel and peanut varieties — good-quality lokum runs around 2,000 TL per kilo
• Electronics: phone cases, portable speakers and headphones (around €45) are also sold in local supermarkets

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Side sits on sandy beaches on both sides of the peninsula, with sunbed rental averaging around 210 TL. Along the coastline, sea-view restaurants serve a traditional Turkish breakfast spread, and several of the town’s glass-floor restaurants let you combine a beachfront meal with a direct view of the ruins beneath your feet — a pairing that makes daytime and evening dining in Side feel distinct from anywhere else on this stretch of coast.

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• Get an e-SIM before you land: makes navigating the Old Town’s narrow streets and staying in touch much easier from the moment you land in Antalya.
• Bring a card, not just cash: the nostalgic train only accepts card payment.
• Avoid the midday sun: the buggy or train is far more comfortable than walking in the 35°C summer heat.
• Visit the Ancient Theatre on a separate, quieter morning if you want it without the crowds — ticket booths are near the town entrance.
• Confirm current hours before you go: night museum hours and MüzeKart rules can shift with the season, so it’s worth double-checking close to your visit date.

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Is Side Old Town worth visiting?
Yes — it’s one of the only places on the Turkish coast where you can walk through an active ancient city, with temples, a theatre and a museum sitting directly among the shops, restaurants and beaches of a working resort town.

Is the Temple of Apollo free to visit?
Yes — both the Temple of Apollo and the Temple of Athena can be viewed from outside for free, 24 hours a day, with no ticket required.

Is the MüzeKart valid in Side?
Yes, for Turkish citizens — it covers the Side Ancient Theatre and Side Museum, though it doesn’t apply to the summer night museum sessions, which carry a separate 200 TL supplement.

How do I get around Side Old Town?
The Old Town itself is pedestrian-only. A nostalgic train and golf cart (buggy) both connect the car park to the harbour square for a small fare, or you can simply walk.

What is Side known for?
Its ancient ruins built directly into a living resort town — including a large Roman theatre, the harbourside Temple of Apollo, and restaurants with glass floors set over the ruins — alongside its beaches and nightlife.

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Side works because it never asks you to choose between history and holiday — you get both on the same street, often at the same table. Spend the morning with the temples and theatre, the afternoon on the beach, and let the evening happen around the harbour, where the ruins get their lights turned on along with the restaurants.

Page last updated: August 2026.