Dalaman to Demre: the honest way to do it
Updated: 2026-08-11
Straight answer first: Dalaman is the far airport for Demre. The drive is about 195 kilometres and three to three-and-a-half hours; public transport is a three-leg, five-plus-hour relay. Doable — but there is a smarter shape for this trip, and it runs through Kaş.
Driving from Dalaman to Demre
The route runs the D400 the whole way: Dalaman to Fethiye, then the coast past Kalkan and Kaputaş to Kaş, then on through the Kekova district to Demre — roughly 195 kilometres, three to three-and-a-half hours of genuinely spectacular road. Driven with stops, it is not a transfer; it is the first day of the holiday.
Can you do it by public transport?
Technically: airport shuttle to Fethiye (about an hour), bus or minibus to Kaş (about two more), then the Kaş–Demre dolmuş (another 45–50 minutes). With waits, budget five hours or more. As a one-way relocation it works; as a day trip it is a hostage situation. If you are bound for Demre from Dalaman without a car, plan to sleep somewhere along the way.
The smarter shape: base in Kaş
Demre sits under an hour from Kaş by dolmuş, and the sights pair naturally with the Kekova boat day — which leaves from Kaş anyway. So the plan that actually works: land at Dalaman, transfer or drive the 150 kilometres to Kaş, settle in, and take Demre as the easy day trip it wants to be. Same monuments, none of the relay race.
Questions people actually ask
Which airport is better for Demre — Dalaman or Antalya?
Antalya, clearly: 141 km against roughly 195, with direct buses on the corridor. Fly into Dalaman for Demre only if Kaş is part of the plan — which, for the record, it should be.
How do you get from Kaş to Demre?
Dolmuş from the Kaş otogar, about 45–50 minutes, running every 30–60 minutes through the day in season — or as part of the organised Myra & St Nicholas day tour that pairs it with Kekova.
Is the Dalaman–Demre drive worth doing in one go?
As a straight transfer it is a long afternoon. Broken at Kaputaş for a swim and Kaş for lunch, it becomes one of the best road days in Türkiye — same tarmac, different holiday.