Things to Do in Belek Besides the Beach — the Inland Half of the Holiday

The change of scene is inland, not further along the sand. A resort in Belek is built so that you never have to leave it, which is precisely why the days start to rhyme by the middle of the week, and the quickest cure is something dusty and hands-on rather than horizontal. That is the day we sell: an off-road safari that runs in the Aspendos area, on the natural land along the Köprüçay river, where you drive the machine yourself. A quad is €30 per driver for the short tour and €38 for the long one, a buggy €35 and €43, and whoever rides along instead of driving pays exactly half — €15, €19, €17.50 or €21.50. Round-trip hotel transfer is included from fifteen resort areas along the coast, the whole thing takes about four to four and a half hours door to door, and it runs twice a day, so half your day survives it. Everything else that breaks up a beach week here — golf, the parks over on the Kadriye side, a boat day, rafting inland, the classical sites, the weekly markets — is further down this page, and we sell none of it, so you will find no prices attached to those.

Why the middle of the week goes flat

An all-inclusive hotel in Belek is designed to remove decisions, and it does that job extremely well. The sea sits in front of the gardens, meals need no thought, the shade is arranged, and nothing you do carries a separate bill. The one thing the arrangement cannot supply is variation. By mid-holiday the days begin to overlap, and what most guests are actually short of is not another comfortable hour — it is contrast.

Contrast is the whole product on this page. We are not selling a better beach or a quieter pool; we are selling the opposite of one. You are collected from your hotel, driven away from the coast, given a briefing and a test ride, and then you steer a machine yourself over ground that is uneven, dusty and entirely unmanicured. You come back needing a shower and a change of clothes. If that reads as a warning, this is the wrong day out for you. If it reads as a relief, keep going.

Who this actually rescues the week for

Three sorts of guest book it for the same reason and describe it completely differently. Restless adults want to do something rather than watch something. Parents of teenagers want an activity the hotel cannot supply — and from 16 a teenager drives their own machine here, once they have passed the test ride, which is not a thing the pool offers. Couples want an hour or two they will still be arguing about at dinner.

It suits plenty of people and it genuinely does not suit others, so here is that half too. If what you want is scenery, comfort or a quiet cultural morning, this is the wrong purchase: the ground is rough by design and the dust is not a side effect. Anyone who is pregnant, or who has back or neck trouble, should skip it, and rough ground is the reason. And a party where nobody wants to drive cannot simply all come along, because a passenger seat only exists next to a driver who has passed the test ride.

  • You have run out of hotel and want a day that resembles none of it
  • You are travelling with teenagers: from 16 they drive their own machine, after the compulsory test ride
  • You would rather do the driving than be driven anywhere
  • Two of you on one machine: the second person pays exactly half the driver's price
  • You do not want to commit money in advance — the reservation is free and no card is taken online
  • You can spare half a day: about four to four and a half hours door to door, morning or afternoon

What it costs, and who counts as a paying place

Prices are per driver, and the half fare for the person riding along is the only reduction that exists here. There is no child rate and no free seat. Everyone who gets on the transfer and joins the safari is a paid place — adult or child, driver or passenger, and that includes a guest who only comes along to watch.

So two people sharing one quad on the short tour pay €45 in total, transfer and all, and a parent taking one child on that same tour pays the same €45. Work your own group out from the list below before you book, because this is the part people most often misjudge.

  • Quad, short tour with 1.5–2 hours of riding: €30 per driver
  • Quad, long tour with 2.5–3 hours of riding: €38 per driver
  • Buggy, short tour: €35 per driver
  • Buggy, long tour: €43 per driver
  • Anyone riding along pays half the driver price: €15 or €19 on a quad, €17.50 or €21.50 in a buggy
  • One passenger per driver — both machines seat a driver and one other person
  • There is no lower age limit for the passenger seat, though we do not recommend it for children under 4, who can find it hard to hold on safely

How much of the holiday it eats

About four to four and a half hours door to door, counting the pickup, the drive out, the briefing, the compulsory test ride, the riding itself and the drive back. The riding inside that is one and a half to two hours on the short tour, two and a half to three on the long one. The gap between the two prices buys time at the wheel, not a better route.

It runs twice a day, a morning session and an afternoon one, which is what lets it sit inside a beach holiday rather than replacing a day of it. Take the morning and the pool is still there when you get back; take the afternoon and you keep an ordinary beach morning first. Your own pickup time is confirmed after you book, because the order in which that session's transfer works its way along the coast decides it.

Where you actually end up

This is the part guests get wrong before they arrive, so we will be blunt. The riding does not happen at the resort. Belek is where we collect you and the market this page is written for; the safari itself takes place in the Aspendos area, on the natural land along the Köprüçay river — the Eurymedon of the classical maps — which is roughly 35 to 40 minutes' drive from the Belek area, depending on where you are picked up.

What is out there is a working landscape rather than a viewpoint: river sections, forest tracks, open off-road terrain, and dirt that keeps changing under the wheels from gravel to sand. Dust is certain. Mud and shallow water are not — they depend on conditions on the day, and we are not going to promise you a soaking because it would make this page read better. The safari does not tour the ancient site at Aspendos either. We are on the natural ground by the river, not on a sightseeing route.

Teenagers, and who is allowed to drive

No driving licence is required, because this is a private off-road course rather than a public road. Drivers are 16 or over and should carry ID, which is there to evidence the age rule rather than to stand in for a licence. After the safety briefing everyone who wants to drive takes a compulsory test ride, and that is what settles the question: whoever gets through it takes their own machine, and whoever does not, or would simply rather not, rides along at half the driver's price.

That rule is exactly why this works for a family whose teenagers have run out of pool. A sixteen-year-old is not a passenger here, they drive. Younger children ride in the passenger seat beside an adult at the half fare — there is no minimum age for that seat, though we do not recommend it under 4, because a small child can find it hard to hold on safely. Nobody is pushed into driving, and nobody rides free.

Sunburnt, dusty, and what to wear about it

Cover up. That is the short version, and it happens to suit anybody who has already caught too much sun earlier in the week: old clothes you would not mourn, closed shoes rather than flip-flops or slippers, and long sleeves if your shoulders have had enough. Bring sunscreen, your own sunglasses and a change of clothes for the drive back, because the ones you ride in will be dusty.

A helmet comes with the ride. The dust mask, the goggles and the bandana do not: a pair of goggles can be bought at the base, and if you would like something over your face, pack a bandana of your own. None of that is a hardship — it is simply worth knowing before you turn up in white.

The other things that break up a beach week

We run one activity and we would rather be useful about the rest than pretend it does not exist. So, honestly, here is what else changes the shape of a day from a Belek hotel. We sell none of it, which is why this list carries no prices, no opening hours and no travel times: those change, and a stale number is worse than no number at all. Your hotel desk or a local agency will have the current version.

Two of them sit close enough to ours that guests ask us to choose for them, so we argue both cases properly elsewhere: an off-road day weighed against a rafting day, and a quad weighed against a jeep. If you want the wider survey of what a week here can hold, our orientation page covers the town itself rather than our own tour.

  • Golf, which is the thing the town is genuinely built around
  • The theme and water parks over on the Kadriye side of the strip
  • A boat day along the coast — the slow, wet opposite of an off-road morning
  • Rafting on the rivers inland, if you want the water version of an adventure day
  • The classical sites the region is known for: Perge, Aspendos and Side
  • The weekly markets in the surrounding towns, whose days your hotel will know
  • A jeep safari, if you want the mountains without driving anything yourself

Booking a day out without paying for it yet

The reservation is free. No card details are taken online, nothing is charged in advance, and you pay in euros on the day of the tour. It is not an instant confirmation, though: after you book, a person contacts you to confirm your pickup time, because that depends on the route the transfer runs that session. Free cancellation stands until 24 hours before departure.

The earliest date the form will take is tomorrow. If the day that has gone flat is today, message us on WhatsApp instead and we will tell you plainly whether it can still be done. Round-trip hotel pickup and drop-off is included in the price from Belek, Kadriye, Boğazkent, Lara, Kundu, Antalya, Muratpaşa and Konyaaltı, and east along the coast through Side, Manavgat, Evrenseki, Kumköy, Çolaklı, Gündoğdu and Kızılot, with no transfer surcharge anywhere on that list. Staying somewhere that is not on it? Write to us on WhatsApp before you book rather than after.

  • Free reservation: no prepayment and no card details online
  • You pay in euros on the tour day
  • Not instant: a person confirms your pickup time after you book
  • Earliest online date is tomorrow — for today, WhatsApp us on +90 536 603 75 84
  • Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure
  • Round-trip hotel transfer included from all fifteen listed areas, with no surcharge

Questions

Frequently asked

I am bored of the beach in Belek — what actually changes the day?
Going inland does. The resort strip is designed to keep you on it, so the contrast has to come from leaving it. Our own version is an off-road safari in the Aspendos area by the Köprüçay river: about four to four and a half hours door to door, one and a half to three hours of that at the wheel, from €30 per driver with round-trip hotel transfer included. Golf, the parks near Kadriye, a boat day, rafting, the classical sites and the weekly markets are the other honest answers, and we run none of those.
What is there for teenagers to do in Belek?
From 16 they can drive their own quad or buggy on our safari, once they have passed the compulsory test ride at the base. No driving licence is required, because this is a private off-road course rather than a public road. Under 16 they ride as a passenger beside an adult and pay half the driver's price. There is no free place for anyone at any age.
Is a dusty tour a bad idea if I am already sunburnt?
It is the one day of the week you will be dressed for it: old clothes, closed shoes, long sleeves if your shoulders have had enough, plus sunscreen and your own sunglasses. A helmet is part of the ride. The dust mask, the goggles and the bandana are not — goggles are on sale at the base, and a bandana is worth packing if you want something over your face.
How much of my holiday does it take?
Half of one day rather than a whole one. About four to four and a half hours door to door, with the riding taking one and a half to two hours on the short tour or two and a half to three on the long one. There are two sessions a day, a morning and an afternoon, so the other half of the day stays yours. The exact pickup time is confirmed after you book.
Does everyone in the family have to pay, even the small ones?
Yes. Every person who joins the transfer and the safari is a paid place — driver or passenger, adult or child, and even somebody who only comes to watch. The half fare for the person riding along is the only reduction there is: €15 or €19 on a quad, €17.50 or €21.50 in a buggy. There is no lower age limit for the passenger seat, but we do not recommend it for children under 4, who can find it hard to hold on safely.
Can I book it for this afternoon?
Not through the website: the earliest date the form will accept is tomorrow. For today, message us on WhatsApp at +90 536 603 75 84 and we will tell you honestly whether it can still be arranged. Either way the reservation itself costs nothing — no card online, no prepayment, and you pay in euros on the day.
Do you book the other excursions as well?
No. We run the quad safari and the buggy safari and nothing else, which is why this page names the alternatives but attaches no prices, hours or timings to them. Ask your hotel desk or a local agency for those; they will have today's version rather than one typed months before your flight.
Is the safari actually in Belek, or somewhere else?
In the Aspendos area, on the natural land along the Köprüçay river, roughly 35 to 40 minutes from the Belek area depending on your pickup point. Belek is where we collect you, not where you ride: the course is private off-road ground, well away from the hotels and the shore.
Book · from €30