One Week of Antalya Day Trips

A full week keeps the same Pamphylia, Termessos, Olympos, and Pamukkale days as the 6 day plan, then spends the extra day turning the hardest single day on this coast, Kas and Kekova, into two relaxed ones instead of one grueling one. Only need the short version? Start with our 2 day itinerary and build up from there.

Day Focus Distance/drive time from Antalya
1 Perge’s colonnaded street and stadium 18km, 20 to 30 minutes
2 Aspendos theatre and Side’s harbor ruins 47km / 76km, 40 to 45 min / just over 1 hour
3 Termessos, the mountaintop ruin Alexander gave up on 37 to 39km, 40 to 45 minutes
4 Olympos beach-and-ruins, Chimaera flames after dark 80 to 85km, about 1.5 hours
5 Pamukkale’s travertine terraces and Hierapolis 250 to 300km, 3.5 to 4 hours each way
6 Travel to Kas, overnight on the harbor 190km, 3 to 3.5 hours
7 Kekova sunken city by boat, return to Antalya boat from Kas/Ucagiz, then 190km back

Book these before you go

Day 1: Perge, the closest ancient city

Perge is 18km out, 20 to 30 minutes, a colonnaded main street, Roman stadium, and agora. Entry runs somewhere between 100 and 300 TRY, verify on site. Settle into Kaleici or Lara for the six days ahead.

Day 2: Aspendos and Side, the Pamphylia double

Aspendos, 47km out, has the best-preserved Roman theatre anywhere, hosting the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival most Septembers; entry runs about 700 TRY (roughly $15, €13). Side, 76km total, pairs a working beach town with its own Roman ruins.

Day 3: Termessos, the ruin Alexander couldn’t take

Termessos sits inside Guillik Dagi National Park, 37 to 39km out, a steep shadeless climb rewarded with no tour-bus crowds. Entry runs roughly 100 to 120 TRY, gates often close mid-afternoon. Check current access at the official park site first.

Day 4: Olympos and the Chimaera flames after dark

Olympos, 80 to 85km south via Kemer, pairs beach and ancient ruins. The Chimaera flames at Cirali are natural gas vents best hiked after dark, when they actually show up against the rock. Drive back to Antalya that night, or overnight in Cirali if the evening runs long.

Day 5: Pamukkale, the honest way to do a very long day

Pamukkale sits 250 to 300km out, 3.5 to 4 hours each way; a commercial single-day round trip runs a 5am pickup to an 8pm return, a 12 to 13 hour day. Combined entry to the terraces and Hierapolis runs about €30, check the current fee on the official Hierapolis listing , plus roughly €6 more for Cleopatra’s Antique Pool.

Day 6: Travel to Kas and settle in for the night

Why does Kas need an overnight instead of a day trip?

Kas is 190km, 3 to 3.5 hours, from Antalya, and doing it as a single day on top of a Kekova boat trip means 6 to 7 hours of driving before the boat even leaves. Splitting the drive and the boat across two days turns a genuinely grueling slog into two of the better days on this coast, with a full evening to actually enjoy Kas’s harbor.

Spend the afternoon on Kas’s small town beach or wandering the harbor, and book a hotel with a harbor view; the town is compact and walkable once the drive is done. Dinner here runs the same rough price bands as Antalya, 300 to 600 TRY for a mid-range main.

Day 7: Kekova by boat, then back to Antalya

Kekova’s sunken city, a Lycian settlement drowned by an earthquake, is visible only from the water and sits inside the Kas-Kekova Special Environmental Protection Area ; boats depart Kas or nearby Ucagiz for a combined Kekova and Demre/Myra day that runs roughly $65 or more per person. Book the morning departure to leave the afternoon free for the 190km drive back to Antalya, arriving in time for a last dinner in Kaleici before flying out. Turkey’s official tourism site covers the wider Turquoise Coast if this stretch earns a return trip.