Kaş Day Trip to Myra, St. Nicholas Museum and Patara: Hours and Tickets

If you are staying in Kaş or Kalkan and want a day on land between boat trips, the Lycian coast around Kaş gives you three of Türkiye's most rewarding sites within easy reach of one another: the rock-cut tombs and theatre of Myra, the church built over Saint Nicholas's tomb in Demre, and the sprawling ruins of Patara, capital of the ancient Lycian Union. This guide sets out the official opening hours and ticket prices for each, who Saint Nicholas actually was, and a sensible order for fitting all three into a single day.

The three stops at a glance

All hours and prices above are the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's listings as of November 2026: Myra, St. Nicholas Museum and Patara. The audio guide is listed as a service at each site; the ministry does not state that it is included in the ticket, so treat it as separate unless the desk tells you otherwise. Other ministry sites in Antalya province (Perge, Phaselis, the Side Museum) list closing at 17:00–17:30 this November, and the sun sets before 18:00, so call the site before you plan a late-afternoon visit.

Myra: the rock tombs and the theatre

Myra is the reason Demre is on the map. The site's defining feature is its cliff face of Lycian rock-cut tombs: house-shaped facades carved directly into the vertical rock, some with relief decoration, stacked in rows above the stream bed. Below them sits a well-preserved Greco-Roman theatre, one of the finer examples on the Lycian coast, with its seating rows, carved masks on the stage building and vaulted passages largely intact.

You will want a good hour here, more if you like reading inscriptions. The site is open every day from 08:00 to 19:00, with the box office closing at 18:30, and the ticket is €13 as of November 2026. The ministry lists an audio guide service at the site.

Mid-morning and mid-afternoon the sun hits the tomb cliff hard, and there is little shade on the theatre side: carry water and cover your head in summer.

St. Nicholas Museum in Demre: who Santa Claus was

A short hop from the Myra site, in the centre of Demre, stands the church that gives the town its fame. The ministry's own description is worth quoting: Saint Nicholas of Myra, known as "Santa Claus", "was born in Patara and lived in Myra where he was a bishop", and the church was built over his tomb.

That single sentence is the thread that ties your whole day together: the man the world knows as Santa Claus was a Lycian, born at Patara (your third stop) and served as bishop here at Myra. The church that grew over his tomb was rebuilt and added to over the centuries, and today it functions as a museum. Inside you can see the fragments of wall painting, the floor mosaics and the sarcophagus associated with the saint.

The museum is open every day from 08:30 to 19:00, with the box office closing at 18:30, and the ticket is €17 as of November 2026. An audio guide service is offered. Note the half-hour-later opening compared with Myra: if you arrive in Demre before 08:30, do Myra first.

Demre town also has a large modern statue of Saint Nicholas, a short walk from the museum, if you want the photo.

Patara: capital of the Lycian Union

Patara lies near the village of Gelemiş, set on a coastal plain behind a long beach. In antiquity it was one of the principal cities of Lycia and the seat of the Lycian Union's federal assembly: the meetings of the union's representatives were held here. The ruins reflect that status: a substantial theatre, a monumental triple-arched gateway, colonnaded streets, bath complexes and a granary built under the emperor Hadrian, all spread across a wide area threaded with paths.

Because the site is extensive and partly sandy underfoot, Patara rewards the most time of the three: budget at least two hours if you want to walk it properly rather than drive between clusters. It is open every day from 08:00 to 19:00, with the box office closing at 18:30, and the ticket is €15 as of November 2026. An audio guide service is listed.

And the story closes the loop: Saint Nicholas was born here, at Patara, before becoming bishop down the coast at Myra.

Suggested order for the day

Geography does most of the planning for you. Patara lies west of Kaş, while Demre: where Myra and the St. Nicholas Museum sit close together: is east of Kaş. The most natural day runs:

1. Leave early and drive to Patara first. It opens at 08:00 (the St. Nicholas Museum opens at 08:30), and it is the site that most rewards the cooler part of the day, since you will be walking the most here.
2. Walk Patara thoroughly (theatre, gateway, assembly area, colonnaded street) before the midday heat builds.
3. Drive on to Demre for lunch.
4. Visit Myra in the early afternoon, when the tomb cliff is lit from a good angle for photographs.
5. Finish at the St. Nicholas Museum, which lists a 19:00 closing with last tickets at 18:30 (call ahead late in the day): a comfortable final stop before the drive back towards Kaş.

Reversing the order (Demre first, Patara last) also works, and suits anyone who wants to end the day with a swim near Patara rather than a museum. Just remember the St. Nicholas Museum does not open until 08:30 if Demre is your first call.

What the day costs

Prices are per site, as listed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in November 2026 (Myra, St. Nicholas Museum, Patara).

Combining the trip with a boat day

Kaş holidays tend to alternate boat days with land days, and this itinerary is built for exactly that rhythm. Every site lists a 19:00 closing with last tickets at 18:30, but do not build a late start on it: other ministry sites in the province close at 17:00–17:30 this November, so call ahead. If you want all three in one day, leave in the morning; if you are happy with two, you can even follow a shorter boat-morning schedule and take in Myra and the St. Nicholas Museum in Demre in the afternoon.

If you are travelling in the cooler months and planning several ruin days along this coast, our piece on Antalya in winter: Perge, Side and Phaselis hours covers what is open further east.

Check on the day

Hours and prices at Turkish state sites change, and the ministry's own pages are the authority. Before you set out:

• Re-check each site's page on muze.gov.tr: Myra, St. Nicholas Museum and Patara: for the current opening hours and ticket price. With other ministry sites nearby closing at 17:00–17:30 this November, call the site before a late-afternoon visit.
• If a phone call is easier, the ministry lists these numbers: Myra 0 242 871 68 21, St. Nicholas Museum 0 242 871 60 01, Patara 0 242 843 50 18.
• Note that religious holidays and national days can affect sites that are normally open every day; the muze.gov.tr pages are where any change will show.

Where to stay for this trip

Kaş makes the most convenient base for this loop, with Demre and Patara both an easy drive along the coast road. Browse hotels in Kaş to find something within walking distance of the harbour, so boat days and ruin days start from the same door.