Snowy summit of Tahtalı Mountain attracts visitors in spring

ANTALYA

Towering 2,365 meters above the Mediterranean, Mount Tahtalı offers a stunning escape where visitors can swap Antalya’s coastal springtime for a snow-capped summit in just half an hour.

With sunny weather dominating the Antalya coastline, the scene is split between those diving into the Mediterranean and others enjoying a leisurely stroll along the shore.

Accessible via a scenic cable car ride, Tahtalı Mountain is a winter-white highlight of the Taurus range, renowned for offering some of the most spectacular panoramic views of the Mediterranean.

The summit can be reached in approximately half an hour from the coast. The peak, where visitors can move from sunny coastal weather to a snowy landscape in a short time, attracts both local and foreign tourists.

Haydar Culfa, deputy general manager of Olympos Teleferik (cable car), told state-run Anadolu Agency that the first snowfall of the season fell on the summit in December 2025.

Stating that the summit has preserved its white snow since then, Culfa noted that they have seen strong interest in the first three months of the year.

Emphasizing that Antalya is one of the world’s most beautiful tourism destinations, Culfa said the city, where two seasons can be experienced simultaneously, offers services catering to visitors with different preferences.

He noted that visitors to the summit take plenty of souvenir photos and have the opportunity to play with snow, while also being able to enjoy food and beverages at the café located at the peak.

“Someone swimming in Phaselis can reach our lower station in 10 minutes and then enjoy a 12-minute cable car ride to experience snow at the summit,” Culfa said.

“As of April, we host an average of 500 local and foreign visitors daily. Our cable car starts operating at 9 a.m. and runs every 30 minutes. Tahtalı Mountain is also known as one of the closest high mountains to the sea in the world, which attracts the interest of our visitors,” he added.

Culfa also said that cable car rides accompanied by the unique views of the Taurus Mountains are especially popular on weekends, adding that with the snowfall about 10 days ago, they expect snow to remain at the summit until early June.