2 Days: Antalya and the Coast
Two days from an Antalya base covers the two closest legs of the Turquoise Coast without an overnight bag: Perge and Aspendos combined into one half-day trip (18km and 47km out), then Side, 76km southeast, for a working beach town built directly around Roman ruins. Going longer? See the 3-day plan , which adds Termessos.
Book these before you go
- A rental car for both days: compare cars in Antalya
- If you’d rather not drive: book a Perge, Aspendos and Side tour on GetYourGuide
- Your Antalya base for both nights: check rates on Booking.com
| Day | Focus | Distance / Drive Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perge and Aspendos | 18km and 47km, 20-45 min each |
| 2 | Side | 76km, 1-1.25 hr southeast |
Day 1: Perge and Aspendos
Morning
Drive 18km/20-30 minutes east to Perge, the closest ruin on this coast and an easy first stop: a colonnaded main street, a stadium, and a bath complex that still reads like a city rather than scattered stones.
Afternoon
Continue another 30km/15 minutes to Aspendos, the single best-preserved Roman theatre standing anywhere. Entry runs roughly 700 TRY ($15/13 euros), free with the MuseumPass . Acoustics are good enough that the theatre still hosts the Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival every September (2026 dates: Sept 10-29).
Can You Really See Both Perge and Aspendos in One Morning?
Yes, comfortably. Perge takes 60-90 minutes to walk properly and Aspendos closer to an hour, and the drive between them is only 15 minutes. Starting by 9am gets you through both and back in Antalya well before dinner, with time to spare for a swim.
Evening
Back in Antalya for dinner. Both sites together make one relaxed day, not a rushed one.
Day 2: Side
Morning
Drive 76km/just over an hour southeast to Side, a working beach town built directly around a Roman theatre and harbor rather than a fenced-off ruin.
Afternoon
Walk the open town for free; the theatre itself is the ticketed piece, and the exact current fee wasn’t consistent across sources, verify on site. The Temple of Apollo stands on the harbor point at the town’s edge.
Is Side Worth a Full Day on Its Own?
Yes. Between the harbor walk, the agora, the theatre and an actual beach afternoon, Side fills a full day without padding. It’s a genuinely different kind of stop than Perge or Aspendos, ruins you can swim next to rather than ruins you tour and leave.
Evening
Stay for sunset through the temple’s columns, the single most-photographed shot on this stretch of coast, then drive the hour back to Antalya.
Fill the tank before you leave Antalya each morning, neither Perge nor Side has reliable fuel right at the site entrance. General trip planning help for both stops is on the official Turkey tourism site .