Istanbul or Antalya?
Two destinations compared on nine measures of openly sourced data. Weight what matters to you and the verdict follows.
Your match
Wins on sights concentration and museums & heritage with your weighting.
Wins on beaches & swimming and nature & day trips with your weighting.
What matters to you?
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders. The match scores above update as you do.
The verdict
Choose Antalya if the point of the trip is swimming: 11 beaches within reach and a sea that stays warm for seven months of the year, plus more protected land and parks around the city.
Choose Istanbul if you want to walk between museums and monuments, eat across a far wider range of kitchens, and have a much larger choice of bars and clubs at night.
Scoreboard
Each measure scored 0 to 100. Open a row for the figures behind the score.
Beaches & swimming. Antalya leads by 29 points.29
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 43 | 72 |
| Swim season months | 3 | 7 |
| Beaches 10 km | 2 | 11 |
| Coast distance | 0 km | 1 km |
| Water distance | 0 km | 1 km |
Places to eat. Istanbul leads by 25 points.25
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70 | 45 |
| Restaurants within 2 km of centre | 2,086 | 638 |
| Effective number of cuisines within 2 km | 20 | 11 |
Museums & heritage. Istanbul leads by 41 points.41
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 66 | 25 |
| Museums within 10 km | 145 | 11 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 71 | 8 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 49 | 73 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
Nightlife. Istanbul leads by 20 points.20
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79 | 59 |
| Drinking venues within 4 km | 2,266 | 917 |
| Drinking venues within 2 km of centre | 1,176 | 516 |
| Share of drinking venues within 2 km % | 52 | 56 |
| Nightclubs within 4 km | 221 | 55 |
Nature & day trips. Antalya leads by 16 points.16
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 25 | 41 |
| Protected land share 50 km % | 1 | 8 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 0 | 0 |
| Land share of disc % | 48 | 69 |
| Park area within 2 km | 60 hectares | 69 hectares |
Good for families. Istanbul leads by 27 points.27
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 67 | 40 |
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 68 | 6 |
| Park area within 2 km | 60 hectares | 69 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 2 | 5 |
Sights concentration. Istanbul leads by 48 points.48
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75 | 27 |
| Notable places within 2 km | 285 | 19 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 | 5 |
Value for money. Istanbul and Antalya are level on 89.
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 89 | 89 |
| Price level global | 35.2 | 35.2 |
| Daily budget | €100 | €100 |
Year-round weather. Antalya leads by 2 points.2
| Istanbul | Antalya | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 69 | 71 |
| Monthly daytime high | 9.2 °C to 29.7 °C | 15.3 °C to 34.8 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 23 mm to 101 mm | 2 mm to 273 mm |
| Dry months | 4 | 4 |
Where they differ
Antalya is the swimming city. It has 11 beaches nearby against Istanbul's 2, and the sea stays at 21°C or above for 7 months of the year rather than 3. There is also more protected land around it and more park space near the centre.
Istanbul is the one to walk. It has many times as many notable places within reach of the centre, many times as many museums, and 1 UNESCO-listed site within day-trip range where Antalya has none.
Where they are alike
Weather is where they sit closest. Both have their warmest month in August, and both get four months with 40mm of rain or less, so the dry stretch of summer looks much the same in each.
They are also close on going out and on green space: roughly half the drinking places in each city sit near the centre, both have park space within reach of it, and neither is chiefly a base for day trips into the countryside.
Which traveller are you?
A family after a beach holiday should take Antalya. It has 11 beaches nearby against Istanbul's 2, 5 theme parks within reach against 2, and more park space near the centre for the days between.
Someone travelling for museums and old streets should choose Istanbul: many times as many museums, far more notable places within walking distance of the centre, and one UNESCO-listed site within day-trip reach.
A traveller who plans the day around meals and evenings also wants Istanbul, with far more restaurants near the centre, a much wider spread of kitchens, and a considerably larger choice of bars and clubs.
What the numbers don't tell you
The value comparison between these two carries no information: it is a national price level, identical for both by construction, and the €100 daily budget beside it is one national estimate rather than a measurement of either city. Neither is the cheaper trip on this evidence.
Antalya's beach strength peaks exactly when the heat does: the sea is warmest in August, alongside daytime highs of 35°C. Its year-round weather standing averages across a very wet winter on the coast, so the annual picture hides months that suit nobody looking for a swim. Istanbul's family appeal, meanwhile, rests on attractions near the centre rather than on sand.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month. Each row is shaded against that destination's own year, so the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest. Shades are not comparable between the two rows.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Istanbul: 1991-2020 normals, Istanbul / Goztepe (9.9 km from centre). Antalya: 1991-2020 normals, Antalya (23.4 km from centre).
Antalya is at its best in May, with highs of 26°C and 41mm of rain, and again in September, when the sea is at its warmest and rain stays light. Midsummer is nearly rainless but hot. December is the wettest month by a distance, 273mm.
Istanbul's window runs June to August, with highs of 27-30°C and rain of 23-29mm, and September stays warm. January is the low point, with highs of 9°C, though its winter rain is far lighter than Antalya's.
Getting there
| Flying from | Istanbul | Antalya |
|---|---|---|
| MoscowVKO, SVO, DME, ZIA | 2 h 40 m €215-235 IST · 36 km | 3 h 10 m €210-255 AYT · 9 km |
| LondonLHR, LGW, STN, LTN +2 | 3 h 35 m €110-186 IST · 36 km | 4 h 5 m €125-143 AYT · 9 km |
| AnkaraESB | 1 h 5 m €42-52 IST · 36 km | 1 h 10 m €52-63 AYT · 9 km |
| IzmirADB | 1 h 5 m €49-61 IST · 36 km | 1 h 5 m €85-92 AYT · 9 km |
| DusseldorfDUS, NRN | 3 h 5 m €124-141 SAW · 30 km | 3 h 35 m €145-183 AYT · 9 km |
| ErcanECN | 1 h 30 m €80-95 SAW · 30 km | 1 h 0 m €76-112 AYT · 9 km |
| CologneCGN | 3 h 5 m €118-142 SAW · 30 km | 3 h 30 m €164-202 AYT · 9 km |
| TehranIKA, THR | 3 h 5 m €261-292 IST · 36 km | 2 h 55 m no fares DNZ · 131 km |
| FrankfurtFRA, HHN | 2 h 50 m €137-196 IST · 36 km | 3 h 20 m €171-231 1 stop AYT · 9 km |
| AlmatyALA | 5 h 15 m no fares IST · 36 km | 5 h 20 m €280-315 1 stop AYT · 9 km |
The busiest departure cities for these two, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop to both. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Where both columns name the same airport it is one flight, and the difference between the two is the distance printed beside it. Typical return fares for 2026-08 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Istanbul | Antalya |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Turkish | Turkish |
| Currency | Turkish Lira (TRY) | Turkish Lira (TRY) |
| Sockets | CF230 V, 50 Hz | CF230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+3 | UTC+3 |
| Emergency number | 112 | 112 |
| Elevation | 100 m | 30 m |
| Main airport | İstanbul Airport (IST)36 km from centre345 non-stop destinations | Antalya International Airport (AYT)9 km from centre33 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 14 days | 14 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Istanbul | Antalya |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 15,655,924 | 2,426,356 |
| People per km² | 2,930 | 1,712 |
| Museums within 10 km | 72 | 5 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 1 | 0 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 62 | 22 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 3 months | 7 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Istanbul or Antalya somewhere new.