Side Museum

Side Museum tickets: entrance fee and Museum Pass

Foreign visitors aged 8 and over pay €5; children under 8 go free. That's the fare on the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism's official portal, which lists it in euros. Bring a card or some lira for the ticket office.

The museum accepts the Museum Pass The Mediterranean, a 7-day card for state museums and sites in Antalya and the neighbouring provinces. It isn't worth buying for Side alone — it pays off only if you're also doing Aspendos, Perge and the Antalya Archaeological Museum. It doesn't cover the summer “night museum” evenings.

Is there a combined ticket for the museum and the ancient city? Some unofficial sources mention one, but the official portal lists them separately: the Side Archaeological Site (Side Ören Yeri) charges foreign visitors aged 8 and over €7. So plan on two ticket offices. The Temple of Apollo by the harbour and the old town streets are free.

Side Museum opening hours

The museum is open every day from 8:30, with no closing day. From 2 October to 30 April it closes at 17:30, last tickets 17:15. From 1 May to 1 October the official Turkish Museums portal gives closing at 21:00, last tickets 20:45.

The ministry's own museum leaflet (2022) uses different seasons: 1 April to 1 November, 8:30–19:00 with last tickets at 18:45, and 1 November to 1 April, 8:30–17:30. So we mark the summer hours as “verifying”. Planning a summer evening visit? Arrive before 19:00 to be safe. In late October and in April the two sources disagree most — the safe rule is to reach the ticket office by 17:15.

Is Side Museum closed? No — it was shut for restoration and reopened in November 2024. Some map listings and older guides still say “temporarily closed”; that dates from the works.

Is Side Museum worth visiting?

Yes, if you've come to Side for the ancient city. For €5 and 45 minutes you find out what actually stood in the ruins you're about to walk through. It's also the only indoor, shaded sight in the old town — the best place to be at midday in summer.

If you've already seen the Antalya Archaeological Museum, Side will feel small: Antalya's collection is many times larger. In that case come for the bathhouse building and the garden — or skip it and spend the time in the agora, the old town lanes and at the sunset columns instead.

How long does Side Museum take? Allow 45 minutes to an hour for the five halls and the garden; some listings suggest one to two hours, but that usually includes the ruins outside.

What is Side Museum?

The museum fills 2nd-century Roman baths beside the commercial agora, across the road from the theatre. The baths were remodelled in the 5th–6th centuries and later fell into ruin. They were restored in 1959–1961 and opened as a museum on 14 October 1962 — according to the ministry, the first museum in Turkey to open in a village, as the peninsula was then the village of Selimiye.

Almost everything inside was found here in Side, much of it in Arif Müfid Mansel's excavations of 1947–1967. That's what makes the museum useful: it's the key to the whole site. After half an hour here, the agora, the theatre and the temples stop being heaps of stone.

The museum reopened in November 2024 after restoration, with rearranged halls and courtyard and new cases of finds from recent digs. It's compact — and that's a plus: an hour covers everything without rushing.

What to see inside

• The baths themselves: tall vaults and thick walls of what were once the cold, warm and hot rooms.
• Roman marble statues — many headless, but with beautifully carved drapery; some came from the gymnasium's Emperor's Hall and the Monumental Fountain.
• Hermes with his purse and short traveller's cloak — one of the finest pieces.
• A late 2nd-century sarcophagus with playing Erotes carved all the way round.
• Inscriptions in Sidetic, the city's own script, now displayed together.
• Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine coins found in Side's own excavations.
• The garden: capitals, column bases, altars and frieze fragments set out on the lawn.

Side Museum vs the theatre and the Temple of Apollo

The museum and the theatre are neighbours — do them back to back in the morning or at midday, and keep the temple for sunset. The ministry's portal lists the theatre as closed for restoration since 29 November 2024 — check before you go.

Ancient Side compared

Historic sites in and around Side rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

Nearby — add to your day

45

Agora of Side

Side, Turkey

30 min · Free — view through the fence · 3 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Agora of Side

39

Roman Theatre of Side

Side, Turkey

45 min · Closed for restoration · 3 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Roman Theatre of Side

54

Side Old Town

Side, Turkey

2 h · Free; theatre and museum extra · 6 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Side Old Town

44

Side Harbour

Side, Turkey

45 min · Free · 10 min walk

Yes — add to my route: Side Harbour

How to do it right

• Visit the museum before the ruins: once you've seen the statues, you'll picture them back in the agora and theatre.
• Spend the hottest hour of a summer day here — it's the only indoor shade in the old town.
• Don't miss the garden courtyard; plenty of visitors walk past it, and it holds some of the best carving.
• Also doing Aspendos and Perge? Check whether the Museum Pass The Mediterranean works out cheaper.
• Afterwards, the Roman theatre is across the road (from outside during the restoration); save the Temple of Apollo for sunset.
• In winter the 17:30 closing comes quickly — plan the museum for the morning.

Questions