Turkish Riviera
Temple of Apollo (Side)
How to visit Side's Temple of Apollo: it's free and always open, so this is really about timing the sunset and walking the ruins around it.
Where
Side, Turkey
Opening hours
Open 24 hours — the temple is unfenced and free to walk up to at any time. There are no gates, no tickets and no staffed entrance.
Tickets
Free. There is no charge to see the columns; you only pay if you join a guided walking tour of Side's wider ruins, or buy a drink at one of the bars overlooking the temple.
Time needed
10–15 minutes at the columns themselves; allow an hour or so if you walk down through the old town and time it for sunset.
In short
Visiting Temple of Apollo (Side)
Five re-erected marble columns from a 2nd-century AD temple, standing on the rocky tip of Side's peninsula with the Mediterranean behind them. It's free, unfenced and open all hours, so the only real decision is when to turn up: aim for the hour before sunset, when the columns glow gold and the sea lights up behind them. Treat it as the finish line of a 20-minute walk through Side's old-town ruins rather than a destination in itself.
What you’re actually seeing
This is the postcard image of Side: five re-erected marble columns, their Corinthian capitals still in place, standing on the rocky tip of the peninsula with the Mediterranean filling the background. The temple was built around 150 AD under the emperor Antoninus Pius and dedicated to Apollo; the columns you see today were lifted back upright in a restoration through the 1980s, so it’s a genuine ruin rather than a reconstruction. The smaller, lower remains of a Temple of Athena sit right beside it, which is why you’ll see the spot signed as both.
There’s no fence, no ticket and no opening hours — it stands in the open at the end of the old town, free to walk up to at any hour. That changes how you plan the visit. The columns themselves take about ten minutes to see, so the question isn’t whether to go, it’s when.
When to go, and how to get there
Time it for the hour before sunset. The columns face roughly west over the water, so golden hour turns the marble amber and lights the sea behind them — that’s the shot everyone comes for, and it’s the one time the place feels special rather than brief. If you’d rather have it to yourself, come early morning before the day-trip coaches from Antalya and Alanya roll in; the light is softer and you’ll often have the columns almost empty.
Getting there is part of the appeal. Side’s old town on the peninsula is largely pedestrianised, so drivers should park in one of the lots near the entrance arch and walk in. From there it’s a flat 15–20 minute stroll down the main street, past the colonnaded ruins, shops and the old harbour, to the columns at the far tip. Treat that walk as the real experience and the temple as its full stop.
Is it worth it?
Yes — as long as you go in with the right expectations. This is five columns, not a standing temple, and it won’t fill an afternoon. But it’s free, it’s a real piece of Roman Pamphylia on a sea cliff, and at sunset it’s comfortably the best no-cost photo in Side. Don’t drive over from another resort just for it. Fold it into a wander round the old town, pair it with the nearby amphitheatre and harbour, and if you want the history explained, a half-day guided walk of Side’s ancient city is the only thing here actually worth paying for.
Planning the rest of your trip? See the Side city guide.
