Two Days in Antalya

Most people come to Antalya for the beaches, but the coast east of the city was ancient Pamphylia, and its cities are some of the best preserved in Turkey. This route spends the first day in the city and at Perge, and the second day further east at Aspendos and Side. Kaleiçi, the old town, is best on foot; for Perge, Aspendos and Side you need a car, a taxi or a day tour.

A note on the Antalya Museum

The Antalya Museum is one of the country's great archaeological collections and holds most of the sculpture found at Perge. It closed in summer 2025 so that a new building could go up on the same site. Check its museum page before you travel: if it has reopened, give it half a day before you go to Perge.

Day 1: Kaleiçi and Perge

Spend the morning in Kaleiçi, the walled old town above the harbour. Enter through Hadrian's Gate, a Roman triumphal arch, and wander down the stone lanes towards the old port. On the way, the Kaleiçi Museum occupies two listed buildings: a traditional Kaleiçi house and a former Greek Orthodox church. An hour is plenty. The streets are cobbled and sloping, so wear comfortable shoes.

In the afternoon head east to Perge. You enter through a Hellenistic gate flanked by two round towers, and a long colonnaded street with a water channel down its middle stretches ahead of you. The site is flat but large; allow two hours. There is hardly any shade, so bring a hat and water, and in summer wait for the worst of the heat to pass.

Day 2: Aspendos and Side

Drive east towards Serik. The Roman theatre at Aspendos is almost entirely intact and still hosts performances. After the theatre, a stony uphill path leads to the ruins of the agora and basilica on the hill behind, with a view of the aqueduct crossing the plain. An hour and a half to two hours covers it. If it fits your route, the Seljuk-era Eurymedon Bridge nearby makes a short stop.

In the afternoon continue to Side. The ancient city lies inside the modern resort, and you can walk through the ruins to the Temple of Apollo at the tip of the headland. The theatre was closed for restoration at the end of 2024, so check whether it has reopened. Spend the hottest part of the day in the Side Museum, set in a Roman bath building, with statues and sarcophagi from the city; an hour is enough.

Practical notes

Some museums close one day a week, so check the hours on each museum page. State-run sites generally accept the national museum passes, while private museums such as the Kaleiçi Museum may not; confirm on the official list via our museum pass page. To continue west along the coast, see the Lycian coast route.