Antalya in 6 Days on a Budget (Plus Day Trips)
Six days: ruins, Pamukkale, and the Kekova sunken city
Six days keeps the 5-day spine, Perge/Aspendos/Side, Termessos, Olympos, a rest day and Pamukkale, and adds a second long-haul day: the Kekova sunken city and Demre/Myra by boat. That’s two 12-plus hour tour days back to back, so the recovery day sits deliberately before them, not after. The 7-day version adds one more day to actually recover from both.
Book these before you go
- Perge, Aspendos and Side combo day tour : the day 1 anchor.
- Olympos and Chimaera jeep safari : day 3’s evening flames run.
- Antalya to Pamukkale day tour : day 5, book ahead in high season.
- Sunken City Kekova, Demre and Myra tour from Antalya : day 6, hotel pickup included.
| Day | Focus | Distance/drive time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Perge, Aspendos and Side | 18-76km / 20min-1.25hr | ~10-17 euros a site, or a fixed tour price |
| Day 2 | Termessos, then Antalya beach | ~37-39km / 40-45 min | ~2-3 euros, cash only |
| Day 3 | Olympos, beach, Chimaera flames | ~80-85km / ~1.5hr | Entry varies by gate; jeep safari priced separately |
| Day 4 | Free day, no tour booked | - | Food and incidentals only |
| Day 5 | Pamukkale and Hierapolis | ~250-300km / 3.5-4hr each way | ~30 euros combined entry, plus ~6 euros for Cleopatra’s pool |
| Day 6 | Kekova, Demre and Myra by boat | ~130-145km one way / ~12hr round trip | Organized day tour, hotel pickup included |
Day 1: Perge, Aspendos and Side
Perge (~18km/20-30 min), Aspendos (~47km/40-45 min) and Side (~76km/1-1.25hr) fill day one on the combo tour above, roughly 10-17 euros a site if you’re buying tickets separately instead; Perge and Aspendos are both covered by the regional Museum Pass . The 2-day itinerary covers this day in more depth.
Day 2: Termessos, then a beach afternoon
Termessos (~37-39km/40-45 min) runs roughly 100-120 TRY (about 2-3 euros), cash only; go early, since gates often close by mid-afternoon, then recover at Konyaalti or Lara beach back in the city.
Day 3: Olympos, a beach, and the Chimaera flames after dark
Olympos (~80-85km via Kemer, ~1.5hr) pairs a beach with ruins by day, then the Chimaera flames near Cirali after dark. The jeep safari above covers the evening drive if you’d rather not navigate it yourself.
Day 4: an actual day off
Book nothing. This is the buffer between the ruins-and-beach pace of days 1-3 and the two big tour days that close this itinerary out; the official Antalya travel guide is worth a browse for anything you skipped.
Day 5: Pamukkale, the honest version
Pamukkale and the Hierapolis ruins sit 250-300km away, 3.5-4 hours each way. The day tour above runs a 5am pickup and an 8pm return, roughly 12-13 hours door to door, for around 30 euros combined entry plus another 6 for Cleopatra’s Antique Pool. The 5-day itinerary has the full honest math on whether that trade is worth it.
Day 6: Kekova’s sunken city, Demre and Myra
Kas itself sits about 190km/3-3.5 hours away by car, too far for a comfortable round trip once you add boat time. What works instead is an organized tour through Demre and Myra, closer at roughly 130-145km, ending in a glass-bottom boat ride over Kekova’s half-submerged ruins, hotel pickup from Antalya included, the whole day about 12 hours (booking link above). It also visits the St. Nicholas church ruins at Demre, a genuine extra rather than a filler stop. The Turkish Riviera guide covers the wider Lycian coast if Kas itself tempts you into a future trip.
Should Kekova and Pamukkale really be back to back?
It’s a deliberate trade-off. Consecutive days concentrate the two long-haul trips instead of scattering them, which matters if you’re not adding extra hotel nights for either. The cost is fatigue: both days run close to 12 hours door to door, so plan nothing beyond dinner on either evening, and treat day 4’s rest day as non-negotiable.
Is the Kekova boat tour better from Antalya or from an overnight in Kas?
From Antalya, it’s a long single day that still delivers the sunken-city view plus Demre/Myra as a bonus. From an overnight in Kas, you get the harbor town and a calmer boat day, but that adds a hotel night this trip doesn’t budget for. The 7-day version adds a recovery day; a proper Kas overnight is its own separate trip.
Confirm both the Pamukkale and Kekova pickup times and locations the day before you fly out, not the morning of; missing either pickup on a 6-day trip with no slack days left is far costlier to fix than double-checking a text message.