How to Spend 3 Days in Antalya, Turkey (Türkiye)

Antalya is a popular holiday destination along the Turkish Riviera, or Turquoise Coast of Türkiye. Although a lot of people arrive here for a relaxing beach vacation, there are actually plenty of things to do in and around Antalya for those seeking a more active holiday. Based on our experience, we recommend spending a minimum of 3 days in Antalya to be able to see the majority of its highlights.

You could easily spend one day getting lost in the narrow streets of Antalya’s Old Town. Plus, there are also plenty of ancient ruins and other natural attractions in the vicinity if you wanted to add a fun day trip to your stay. Of course, Antalya has some lovely beaches if all you want to do is spend a day or an afternoon relaxing and swimming by the sea.

In our guide, we’ll detail what you can get up to if you only have a short amount of time in Antalya. We’ve also included some useful information such as how to get to the city, how to get around, and where to stay and eat.

If you’d like to see what we got up to in Antalya, then make sure to watch our Fethiye and Antalya video on our YouTube channel. For more Türkiye videos check out our Türkiye Series.

Introducing Antalya, Turkey (Türkiye)

According to most sources, the city was founded in the Hellenistic period around 150 BC, by Attalos II, King of Pergamon. At the time, it was called Attalia. However, other evidence suggests that Antalya was founded even earlier, around the 3rd century BC.

From 133 BC, Antalya became an important Roman city. During the Byzantine period, many churches were built. From the 7th century, the city was the target of Arab invasions, which led to it becoming the capital of the Byzantine military district. In the 13th century, Antalya was conquered by the Seljuk Turks. Then, Sultan Murad II incorporated it into the Ottoman Empire in 1423.

Between World War I and 1923, Antalya was occupied by the Italians and had been a pretty multiethnic city. However, when the Turkish Republic took control of it in 1923, the city underwent a huge population exchange. Greeks living in Türkiye had to leave their homes and migrate to Greece, and Muslim Turks living in Greece had to return to Türkiye. This is the reason why the town of Kayaköy, located near Fethiye, became a ghost town.

Luckily, Antalya wasn’t abandoned. In fact, today the city is home to over 1 million people, making it one of the largest metropolitan cities in the country.

How to Spend 3 Days in Antalya Turkey (Türkiye)

Day 1: Wander Around the Old Town (Kaleiçi)

Without doubt, Antalya’s Old Town, also known as Kaleici (Kaleiçi), is one of the most beautiful along the Turquoise Coast of Türkiye. We fell in love with it as soon as we started wandering around its narrow streets.

We recommend spending the majority of your first day in Antalya within Kaleici. As you walk around the maze of cobblestone streets, you’ll see plenty of old buildings adorned with flowers, which have been converted into hotels and shops. There are also many historical monuments and landmarks to stop by too, such as Hadrian’s Gate, the Clock Tower and Yivliminare Mosque.

We love browsing local shops and markets, and we found many bazaars selling all sorts of souvenirs here. For some panoramic views, head down to Kaleici Marina and go up to the glass elevator viewpoint.

For more incredible views, walk over to Karaalioglu Park. We watched an absolutely beautiful sunset from here. There are also endless places to eat, whether you’re looking to sample the traditional Turkish cuisine or fancy something more Western. We’ve listed a variety of restaurants, pubs and cafes to try further below.

Our best advice is to just start walking around so you stumble naturally upon beautiful side streets and corners. However, make sure not to miss a few landmarks and spots, which we’ve summarised in our more detailed blog post.

Day 2: Day Trip To Perge Ruins and Kursunlu Waterfalls

Ancient City of Perge

The ancient city of Perge is a great day trip to do on your second day in Antalya. It’s located only about 20km to the northeast of the city. Even though it has a long history, most of the ruins you’ll see today are from the Roman period. The site is also included on the UNESCO World Heritage Temporary List.

There are many ways you can get to Perge, including on public transport, by taxi, or with an organised tour. If you’re like us and want to visit independently, then just hop onto the T1B tram in Kaleici, and travel all the way to the Aksu stop. From there, either walk the rest of the way or take a taxi to the site.

Alternatively, visiting Perge with an organised tour is also a great idea. This tour, for example, visits Perge, the Aspendos Ruins and the city of Side, as well as Manavgat Waterfalls.

We recommend allocating at least 1.5 to 2 hours to see everything in Perge. The archeological site is home to Perge Theater, a huge Roman Stadium, long colonnaded streets and many other landmarks.

Kursunlu Waterfall and Nature Park

Since you’ll only need a few hours to visit Perge, we suggest adding on a visit to Kursunlu Waterfalls for a full day out. This nature park is located about 8km to the north of Perge, and you can either get a taxi there or hop onto bus MK81, which drops you off in front of the entrance. We recommend planning your journey in Google Maps.

Top Tip. Get an eSIM with Airalo to be able to use data on the go if you travel independently.

The park covers an area around 600 hectares, and has been declared as a nature park since 1991. Kursunlu is an 18m tall waterfall situated only a short hike from the entrance. It’s worth noting that the waterfall is going to be more of a trickle during the summer months. However, in our opinion, it’s still a nice place to come to, especially if you’re already visiting Perge. We also went on a short circular walk around the park to make the most of our visit.

Day 3: Chase Waterfalls and Relax on the Beaches of Antalya

Waterfalls of Antalya

Antalya has a few beautiful waterfalls that are worth visiting during your stay. The most famous ones are the Duden Waterfalls. There are two waterfalls, called Upper Duden Waterfall (Yukarı Düden Şelalesi) and Lower Duden Waterfall (Aşağı Düden Şelalesi). Both are fed by the Duden River.

Upper Duden is a 20m high waterfall located to the north of the city. Apart from seeing the waterfall, you can also walk around the surrounding park if you wish. Lower Duden Waterfall is definitely the more famous of the two. This 40m high waterfall drops into the sea from the clifftop, which reminded us of Kilt Rock and Mealt Falls on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

The best part about Lower Duden Waterfall is that you can either view it from land or take a boat tour to it. There are quite a few buses running to the viewpoint from Kaleici, or you could also opt to take a taxi. Boat tours usually depart from Kaleici harbour.

Beaches of Antalya

Antalya has a couple of different beaches where you can relax, soak up the Mediterranean sun and cool down in the sea.

Konyaalti is one of the two main beaches in Antalya, located to the west of Kaleici. It is a long pebble beach with plenty of restaurants, bars, cafes and beach clubs around it. A lot of visitors base themselves around here if they’re after a more relaxing beach holiday.

The other popular beach in Antalya is Lara Beach. It’s located to the east of the city, not too far from the airport. Lara is actually the only sandy beach in Antalya, where you can also enjoy crystal-clear waters. You’ll find a lot more luxurious accommodation options here.

Lastly, if you’d like to stay close to the old town, then consider checking out Mermerli Beach. It’s located right next to Kaleici Marina. You could rent some sunbeds and umbrellas, and spend a few hours relaxing here. Mermerli is a tiny beach but a great option if you prefer a more active holiday with just a little downtime thrown in for good measure.

How to Get to Antalya

Thanks to being one of the most popular places to visit along the Turkish Riviera, there are plenty of direct flights between other cities in Europe, the Middle East and Antalya. Even if you can’t fly direct to Antalya, you could always fly to Istanbul first, then get an onward flight from there.

From the airport, you can travel to the city centre by taxi, the Havas airport shuttle bus, public bus or tram.

If you’re already in Türkiye, and want travel to Antalya from popular destinations within the country, such as Istanbul, Selcuk, Pamukkale (Denizli), Fethiye and Cappadocia, then definitely read our detailed guide on how to get to Antalya.

In that post, we’ve listed the different modes of transport you can take from each of these places, and provide you with links to the websites we used to check timetables and ticket price information.

How to Get Around Antalya

We found Antalya to be a well-connected city from a visitor’s perspective. You can use the tram (AntRay), local buses, dolmus’ (minibuses), and also taxis to get around. We could easily reach the city centre from the main bus terminal, and the getting there from the airport would’ve been just as straightforward.

Within Kaleici, we just walked around on foot as it’s pretty much all pedestrianised. It’s the best way to see this part of Antalya anyway. However, when we wanted to go further afield we used Google Maps to plan our route. This way we knew which method of transport would be easiest to take to get where we wanted to go. The AntRay tram map was also useful for route-planning.

Before you can use public transport in the city, you have to buy an Antalyakart, which lets you travel on all available modes of transport. The card initially costs 35 TL. Then, just top it up to cover as many journeys as you’ll need during your stay. Learn more about the Antalyakart here.

Whilst you can also use a contactless card, note that you might encounter some additional fees depending on your bank. We personally use a Wise card which allows us to pay directly in local currency without a ton of extra fees.

Where to Stay in Antalya

Antalya can be divided into three main tourist areas: Kaleici, or the Old Town, Konyaalti Beach, and Lara Beach.

We found Kaleici a great place to stay when spending only 3 days in Antalya. You’ll have a lot of hotel and hostel options here depending on your budget. Kaleici is also filled with restaurants and cafes, so you won’t have trouble finding somewhere to eat during your stay. Not to mention that we found it easy to go on day trips from here, since it’s well connected by public transport and taxis.

So, if you’re also short on time, or backpacking across the country like we did, then you can’t go wrong staying in the Old Town.

However, if you’re looking for a more beachy and relaxing holiday, then we suggest finding a place either around Konyaalti Beach or Lara Beach. Konyaalti is situated to the west of Kaleici, and is the main beach in Antalya. You’ll find plenty of beach bars, cafes and restaurants here. It’s also connected to Kaleici by bus and the tram if you’re close to the Müze stop.

Lara Beach is located to the east of Kaleici, quite close to the airport. This is more like the modern part of Antalya, where you’ll find a lot more luxurious resorts than in Konyaalti. It’s also the only sandy beach in the city.

Is 3 Days Enough in Antalya?

If you’re short on time because you want to visit other places in the country, then 3 days will be just enough to see the highlights of Antalya. We also only had about 3 days in Antalya, and whilst we could’ve spent longer there, we were happy with what we managed to see in such a short time.

However, if you’re planning a week long vacation, then you can definitely base yourself in Antalya the whole time. That way, you’ll be able to have some active days with a few days trips, as well as more relaxing ones on the beach.

Where to Eat in Antalya

Antalya is packed with cafes, bars and restaurants, so we didn’t have trouble finding somewhere to eat during our stay. Below we’ve listed a couple of places you could try out.

• Can Can Pide Yemek Salonu. They serve fantastic traditional Turkish food such as Pide.
• Varuna Gezgin Cafe. A fabulous place with a variety of food options, including vegetarian dishes, and a great atmosphere.
• Beerzone. A great burger place in Kaleici.
• Cay-Teas. A lovely spot for some tea and cakes.
• Rotto Pizza Kaleici. A great place if you’re after some pizza.
• Rokka Pizza Falafel. A nice lunch spot with lots of veggie and vegan options.
• Pasa Bey Kebap. It’s a good place to enjoy traditional Turkish food, located around Karaalioglu Park.

Final Thoughts on How to Spend 3 Days in Antalya Türkiye

Whilst we don’t always enjoy popular beach holiday destinations, we really loved our stay in Antalya. We believe it was mainly because there was a lot to do in and around the city, so we were never bored. Kaleici was definitely our favourite area, and we really liked walking around the narrow streets and checking out the countless souvenir shops. We also found Antalya well connected by public transport, so we could do a few of the day trips easily on our own.

Have you ever been to Antalya? If so, how long did you spend there and what did you get up to? If not, do you think 3 days in Antalya is enough to see the best of the city? Let us know in the comments below.