Olympos ancient city near Kemer

Olympos entrance fee and opening hours

Foreign visitors pay €10 from age 8; younger children are free. The price is set in euros, but you can pay in lira at the booth's rate. One ticket covers the ruins and the walk out to the sea from Olympos village — the path to the beach runs straight through the site.

The site is open every day: 8:00–19:00 in summer and 8:00–17:00 from 1 November to 30 April. The ticket booth shuts 30 minutes before closing.

Planning Phaselis, the Antalya Museum, Perge or Aspendos as well? The Museum Pass The Mediterranean — €90 for 7 days, over 40 museums and sites — is valid here. For Olympos alone it doesn't pay off; for three or four sites in a week it does.

Is Olympos worth visiting?

Yes, if you like ruins in wild surroundings. There are no neat paths or ropes around every stone; the city seems to grow out of the forest, and the trail ends at the sea, where you can swim straight away. Neither Perge nor Aspendos offers that.

If you want a textbook ancient city — paved streets, a big theatre, a clear layout — Olympos will disappoint: everything is scattered and overgrown. As a half-day from Kemer for the ruins alone it's a long trip, so combine it with the beach and the Chimaera flames after dark. That makes a full day, or an afternoon on a tour.

What to see at Olympos

• The temple gate — a tall stone doorway from the 2nd century with an inscription to Marcus Aurelius. The temple itself is gone; the gate stands alone in the greenery and is the classic Olympos photo.
• The sarcophagus of Captain Eudemos near the stream mouth, carved with his ship and an inscription naming him.
• Hillside tombs — a necropolis above the south bank of the stream, reached by steep paths.
• Roman bridge piers across the stream and the remains of baths, on the way from the booth to the sea.
• A Byzantine basilica and the bishop's residence on the north bank, with patches of mosaic floor.
• The small theatre — partly cleared, partly overgrown; follow the signs.
• The acropolis above the beach — a 15-minute climb for a view over the stream mouth and the whole bay to Çıralı.
• The beach — long, pebbly and without sunbeds: it is a protected turtle-nesting zone.

Olympos beach and the national park

The ruins sit inside Olympos Beydağları National Park, which runs down the coast south of Kemer. That's why there are no big resorts here — just a village of guesthouses, treehouse camps and campsites.

Olympos beach runs south into Çıralı beach, several kilometres of pebbles in all. Loggerhead turtles nest here, so there are no sunbeds or umbrellas — bring a towel, water and water shoes. In nesting season the nests are fenced off; keep outside the markers and don't shine torches on the sand at night.

A short history

Olympos was one of the leading cities of Lycia. In the 2nd century BC it held three votes in the Lycian League, the most any member had. Its sheltered harbour at the stream mouth drew Cilician pirates in the 1st century BC, until Rome drove them out by 67 BC.

The townspeople worshipped Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge, because of the “eternal” flames on the hillside nearby, linked to the myth of the Chimaera. Under Rome the city grew rich, with baths, a temple and a bridge over the stream. In the late 3rd century its bishop was Methodius, a theologian venerated as a martyr. Several basilicas followed in Byzantine times; after Arab raids the city was abandoned. Excavations continue every summer, so some areas are fenced off.

Olympos vs Phaselis vs the Chimaera

Phaselis is the easy half-day. Olympos is further and wilder, and it works best paired with the Chimaera flames: ruins and a swim by day, the flames after sunset.

Kemer's historic sites compared

Every historic site around Kemer rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

How to do it right

• Come in the morning or after 16:00: the gorge is stuffy at midday and jeep-safari groups arrive around lunchtime.
• Walk the ruins first, in the shade of the trees, then head out to the sea for a swim.
• Wear closed shoes — the stones by the stream are slippery and the paths to the tombs are steep.
• Stay a night in Çıralı or Olympos village and you'll have the ruins almost to yourself first thing.
• After sunset, go up to the Chimaera flames — about 15 minutes by car from Çıralı beach.

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