We'd been told by a number of people that you wanted to get to the airport eaaaaarly in Tel Aviv. So despite being near the train station and the train only taking eleven minutes to get to the airport for our 08:25 flight to Antalya.
Everything went super smoothly. The Israeli security system puts more emphasis on screening the passengers themselves rather than what they're carrying (a nice young woman spent about two minutes asking us questions), so we could even bring our two airport beers through security and enjoy them there at a relaxed pace, knowing we had 90 minutes til boarding.
It was raining when we arrived in Antalya on Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast. We planned to walk the Lycian Way, a 450-ish kilometre walking trail that follows the coast along and over the spectacular Tauros mountains between Fethiye to the west and Antalya.
We'd given ourselves two days in Antalya for planning, logistics and to see a bit of the city. We figured we'd it as we were arriving in a new country (we'd both been to Turkey multiple times before, but not for seven years, and never to this region). Plus, we were even sure yet which direction we'd be walking in!
We had a really lovely Airbnb, with a fabulous balcony overlooking the old town and the spectacular coastal mountains in the distance. We also had great hosts in Robin and Feriha. They were helpful in getting us set up with a Turkish SIM card, and getting out walking supplies sorted. And their very kind offer to hold on to some of our excess baggage settled the decision that we'd take a bus to Fethiye and walk back.
Before doing that, we had a lovely time in Antalya. It's a big city that has a small, heavily restored, but still pretty old town. And while tourism is a pretty big part of the economy, it's more focussed on the beach resorts up and down the coast, so even at the tourist restaurants, the touts will take no for a (first) answer, and you can even walk past a carpet shop without being grabbed by the arm and pulled in for a cup of tea.
Antalya has an amazingly pretty harbour and a long stretch of park that stretches down the coast from the old town, beginning with gardens on the clifftops and ending with a long shingle beach backed up by a wide, green shady area with cafes and restaurants.
Oh, and it's absolutely filled with cute kitties! They're less shy than the similarly numerous Tunisian kitties, so Sarah made friends with many of them. We even found a solar powered cat food and water dispenser in a public park!
Antalya is just a really pleasant city. We really enjoyed a bit of a relax there before hitting the trail, and are already looking forward to our return on it's completion.
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