Kas: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Kaş is a small white town on a bay facing a Greek island two kilometres away, built over the Lycian port of Antiphellos. It was a quiet fishing village until the 1980s, and its lanes of bougainvillea are still low and walkable. An hour, with the theatre at sunset.
A short history of Kas
Kaş is ancient Antiphellos, a Lycian port town that still has rock-cut tombs and a Greek theatre looking out to sea. For centuries most of its inhabitants were Greeks, until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923. The Greek island of Kastellorizo lies about three kilometres off the town.
The ten best sights in Kas
1Republic SquareThe harbour square, the heart of the town
2Antiphellos TheatreA Hellenistic theatre facing the sea and Meis; sunset
3Büyük ÇakılThe town’s pebble beach, ten minutes’ walk
4Underwater ParkDive sites with a sunken plane; Kaş is Turkey’s diving town
- 5Çukurbağ Peninsula
The long peninsula of hotels and swimming platforms
6Meis (Kastellorizo)Greece, twenty minutes by ferry; take a passport
7PhellosA Lycian mountain town above Kaş, on the Lycian Way
8KaputaşA turquoise beach at the mouth of a gorge, down steps from the road
9KalkanA white former Greek fishing village on a bay
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10Bezirgan
A plateau village of wooden granaries above Kalkan
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Kas →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Kas:
Free walking tours in Kas
Antiphellos
Kaş is a small white town on a bay facing a Greek island two kilometres away, built over the Lycian port of Antiphellos. It was a quiet fishing village until the 1980s, and its lanes of bougainvillea are still low and walkable. An hour, with the theatre at sunset.
- Republic Square · The square on the harbour where the town meets: tea gardens under a great plane tree, the mosque, and the boats that leave every morning for Kekova and the islands. Kaş grew as a port for the timber and charcoal of the mountains behind it.
- Uzun Çarşı · The long market lane climbs from the square under bougainvillea, and at its top stands a Lycian sarcophagus of the fourth century BC on a tall base, its lid carved with four lion heads — the Lion Tomb, which the town grew up around.
- Harbour · From here a small ferry crosses in about twenty minutes to Kastellorizo, called Meis in Turkish, the easternmost inhabited island of Greece, with a few hundred people. For centuries the two shores were one community of Greek-speaking sailors and traders.
- Antiphellos Theatre · A small Hellenistic theatre for about four thousand people, never covered by the town, with its seats facing straight out to sea. At sunset the sun goes down behind the Greek island in front of it, and the town gathers on the stones.
- Underwater Park · The water off Kaş is so clear that the town became the diving centre of Turkey. Among its dive sites is an old Dakota passenger plane sunk on purpose in 2009 to make an artificial reef, and amphorae from ancient wrecks lie on the bottom.
- Büyük Çakıl · There is no long sandy beach in Kaş; the coast is rock, and people swim from wooden platforms built over it. This pebble cove, ten minutes’ walk east of the harbour, is the town’s beach.
The sunken city of Kekova
East of Kaş the coast breaks into islands and inlets where earthquakes sank the edges of Lycian towns into the sea. The best way to see them is a day boat from Kaş or a kayak from Üçağız, gliding over walls and stairs under the water. Swimming over the ruins is not allowed. A full day.
- Apollonia · A small Lycian hill town above the coast, with its walls, a theatre and a field of sarcophagi among the olive trees, reached by the Lycian Way. From it the islands of Kekova are spread below.
- Aperlai · A Lycian town whose lower half slid into the sea; its houses and the vats of a purple-dye industry lie in shallow water along the shore. There is no road — only a footpath on the Lycian Way, or a boat.
- Üçağız · A fishing village on a lagoon protected by Kekova island, built over the ancient town of Teimiussa, whose sarcophagi stand on the rocks at the edge of the village. Kayak tours start here.
- Kekova · Along the northern shore of the island, earthquakes in the second century sank part of an ancient town into the shallows: stairs lead down into the water, foundations of houses lie on the bottom, and a slipway of a boatyard ends in the sea. It is a protected site.
- Kaleköy (Simena) · A village with no road, reached only by boat or on foot, climbing to a medieval castle with a tiny theatre carved inside its walls. A Lycian sarcophagus stands half in the sea at the water’s edge.
- Phellos · On the way back, the ruins of the mountain town that gave Antiphellos its name — anti-Phellos, the one facing Phellos. Its rock tombs and walls are reached on a path through the oaks above Kaş.
Myra and Saint Nicholas
An hour east of Kaş is Demre, ancient Myra, where in the fourth century a bishop named Nicholas became so loved for his secret gifts that he turned, over the centuries, into Santa Claus. The day passes his church, the cliff of tombs, and the ancient port. Half a day to a day by car.
- Kaputaş · Going west first: a small beach of turquoise water at the mouth of a gorge, about a hundred and eighty steps down from the coast road. The colour comes from the white pebbles, and the water is said to be cooled by a spring that enters the sea here.
- Kalkan · A village of white houses climbing from a little harbour, built by Greek traders and emptied in the exchange of populations of 1923. It is now a quiet, rather upscale resort with rooftop restaurants.
- St Nicholas Church · Nicholas was bishop of Myra in the fourth century, and the story says he threw bags of gold through a poor man’s window at night as dowries for his three daughters. In 1087 sailors from Bari in Italy broke into his tomb here and carried his bones home, where they still are. The Russian tsar paid to restore the church in the nineteenth century.
- Myra · Above a Roman theatre a cliff is carved with dozens of Lycian tombs made to look like wooden houses, with beams, doors and windows in stone. Some still have traces of the red and blue paint that once covered them.
- Andriake · The port of Myra, where the apostle Paul changed ships on his way to Rome as a prisoner, according to the Book of Acts. The emperor Hadrian built a huge granary here, which now holds the Museum of Lycian Civilisations.
- Çayağzı · The beach at the river mouth below Andriake, from which small boats cross to the Kekova coast. In summer loggerhead turtles nest on the sand.
Getting to Kas and getting around
- Kaş Harbour · Day boats to Kekova and the ferry to Greek Meis; Dalaman and Antalya airports are about three hours away
Cheap eats in Kas
Kaş eats mezze by the sea: sea beans dressed with garlic and lemon, stuffed courgette flowers, grilled octopus, smoked aubergine with yoghurt, and fish of the day. In the hills the food turns to trout, village bread and gözleme, and from the high plain of Elmalı come apples and beans. A few mezze and a glass of rakı cost a little more than on the mainland but not much.
- Uzun Çarşı · Point at the mezze in the window
- Republic Square · Tea in the tea garden under the plane tree
- İslamlar · Trout from the mountain springs
- Bezirgan · Village breakfast on the plateau
- Kaleköy (Simena) · Fish and homemade ice cream by the water
- Meis (Kastellorizo) · Greek taverns on the harbour across the water
Museums in Kas
The Lycians are everywhere around Kaş — tombs in the town lanes, cities half under the sea — and the museum of their civilisation is in a Roman granary at Andriake.
- Andriake · The Lycian museum in Hadrian’s granary
- Myra · The painted rock tombs
- St Nicholas Church · Byzantine frescoes and the empty tomb
- Antiphellos Theatre · The theatre over the sea
- Aperlai · A purple-dye town under the water
Nature and day trips near Kas
Kaş is a diving and sea-kayaking town on one of the clearest coasts of the Mediterranean, with the Lycian Way passing above and mountains of three thousand metres behind it.
- Kekova · Kayak over the sunken city
- Underwater Park · Dive to the sunken plane
- Yeşil Göl · A lake of snowmelt on the high mountain
- Kaputaş · The turquoise beach in a gorge
- Phellos · The Lycian Way through the oaks
- Çukurbağ Peninsula · Swim from the rocks
Things to do in Kas with kids
With children Kaş is boats and water: a ferry to another country, a boat over a sunken city, a castle on a hill and a turquoise beach.
- Meis (Kastellorizo) · A ferry to Greece
- Kekova · A glass-bottom boat over the ruins
- Kaleköy (Simena) · Climb to the castle
- Kaputaş · A sandy turquoise cove
- St Nicholas Church · The church of Santa Claus
Holy places in Kas
Around Kaş are the Lycian tombs, the church of Saint Nicholas, and on the island across the water the Greek Orthodox churches of Kastellorizo.
- St Nicholas Church · Pilgrims on 6 December
- Uzun Çarşı · The Lion Tomb
- Meis (Kastellorizo) · Greek churches over the harbour
- Andriake · Where Paul changed ships
Nightlife in Kas
Kaş has a lively, relaxed night: bars in the old lanes, live music, sunset at the theatre and late drinks on the harbour.
- Antiphellos Theatre · Sunset on the theatre steps
- Uzun Çarşı · Bars and live music in the lanes
- Harbour · Late drinks by the boats
- Kalkan · Rooftop dinners over the bay
Frequently asked questions about Kas
What is there to see in Kas?
The top sights in Kas are Republic Square, Antiphellos Theatre and Büyük Çakıl. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Kas?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Kas without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Kas?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Kas, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Antiphellos.
How do you get to Kas and get around?
The main ways are Kaş Harbour. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Kas, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Kas that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Kas for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.