Mount Tahtalı, Kemer

Mount Tahtalı cable car tickets and price

A return ticket for foreign visitors costs about 2,440 TL ($50); children pay about $35. The lira price follows the exchange rate, so it moves more often than the dollar figure. The cheaper local fare is for Turkish citizens only, and passports are checked at the gate.

Buy in the official Olympos Teleferik online shop or at the desk at the lower station; the ticket is valid on the day you choose. One-way tickets exist too, for hikers walking down and paragliders.

Hotel tours cost more but bundle the mountain-road transfer with the ticket. Without a car, a taxi often eats the difference — compare before you book.

Olympos cable car opening hours

The cable car runs every day of the year except announced maintenance days. Hours follow the season: 9:00–15:00 from November to March, 9:00–17:00 in April, May and October, 9:00–18:00 from June to September.

The last ride up leaves 30 minutes before closing, and the 7 km access road closes to cars 15 minutes before the last departure — in winter that means arriving by about 14:00. From June to October the operator also runs early sunrise and evening sunset trips on selected days, published on its schedule page.

Is the Tahtalı cable car worth it?

Yes — on a clear day it is the best view on this stretch of coast: from Finike in the south-west to Side in the north-east, with Kemer and the Gulf of Antalya far below. Few places let you go from beach to snow in ten minutes.

It is not worth it inside a cloud. Summer afternoons often bring cloud to the peak, and you pay the same to stare at white. Go early, check the webcam, and if the summit is socked in, swap the day with Phaselis or the Göynük Canyon.

What to do at the top

• Viewing terraces facing the sea and the bare Beydağları ridges to the west.
• Restaurant and café in the top station — somewhere warm when the wind picks up.
• Tandem paragliding from the summit down to the coast, paid separately and only in the right wind.
• Hiking: a trail runs from the summit to Beycik village in about four hours — for fit, well-equipped walkers in good weather.
• Sunrise or sunset trips on selected days from June to October.
• Prayer room — a small mosque inside the top station building.

Mount Tahtalı height, name and setting

The operator and English Wikipedia give 2,365 m; other references list up to 2,375 m. It is one of the highest peaks this close to the sea, which is why you see it from almost every beach around Kemer.

The Greeks called it Olympus — one of many mountains given the name of the gods' home. It sits in the Olympos-Beydağları Coastal National Park, the ruins of Phaselis lie at its foot, and the Lycian Way crosses its slopes. The cable car itself is an aerial tramway rather than a funicular: two big cabins on four towers, one rising while the other descends.

Mount Tahtalı vs Phaselis vs Göynük Canyon

Tahtalı has the best view around Kemer, but only when the sky is clear. If the peak is in cloud, swap it with Phaselis.

How to do it right

• Go at opening time: the air is clearest in the morning, and cloud tends to build over the summit towards midday.
• Pair it with Phaselis — the ruins are about 15 minutes from the cable car turn-off, and a swim feels good after the cold summit.
• On the way down, stand at the sea-facing window: Kemer and the bay fill the glass.
• Snow at the top is the point in winter and spring — people come in January, when the beaches are too cold.
• If it is grey at your hotel, the peak may be above the cloud: trust the webcam, not the sky outside.
• Finish the day at the Chimaera flames on the same southern side of Kemer.

Questions