Antalya doesn’t do moderation. It’s either Roman ruins popping out of your cocktail bar, or a neon-lit bazaar selling fake designer handbags next to a 2,000-year-old Hadrian’s Gate. If you’re planning to spend 48 hours in Antalya, brace yourself. This city doesn’t believe in half measures. You want to cram 3,000 years of history, a turquoise coastline, Ottoman mansions, grilled sea bass, and a very confusing sense of time into a single weekend? Right this way.
Start in Kaleiçi, the Old Town. Not because it’s quaint (it is), but because it’s the kind of place where you turn a corner and fall into a Roman harbour, or accidentally have breakfast in a 19th-century caravanserai. The streets are more zigzag than grid, lined with crumbling Ottoman houses turned into boutique hotels or carpet shops with cats asleep on every windowsill. Grab your first Turkish coffee at Mado by the harbour. Sip it slowly. You’ll need the caffeine.
From there, walk up to Hadrian’s Gate. Built in 130 AD to welcome Emperor Hadrian, now it welcomes tourists with selfie sticks. It’s still grand, marble arches and Corinthian columns, although the emperor probably didn’t have to dodge e-scooters. Behind it lies the modern chaos of Atatürk Boulevard, but before you leave the calm of Kaleiçi, visit the Antalya Ethnography Museum. Yes, ethnography sounds dry, but this one is full of mannequins in Ottoman drag and questionable taxidermy.
Now you’re allowed to hit the beach. Head west to Konyaaltı Beach, the long pebbly one with the mountain views. You can walk it from the old harbour, past the flapping fish stalls, through Atatürk Park with its slightly tragic dinosaur statues. If you’re feeling fancy, stop for a dip and a cocktail at The Big Man Beach Club. The sea is usually warm, the cocktails are cold, and the service is cheerfully slow.
Back into town, because history isn’t going to gawk at itself. Take the tram east to the Antalya Museum. It’s massive. Start with the Hall of Gods: a room full of marble deities, looking very smug for having survived earthquakes, floods, and looters. Move on to the sarcophagi — so many dramatic stone coffins you’ll start judging them like interior design pieces. End with the mosaics, all smug dolphins and wine-soaked parties. The Romans knew how to live.
For dinner, book a table at Seraser Fine Dining. Ignore the name. Yes, it’s white tablecloths and string quartets, but the food is no nonsense: lamb with smoky aubergine, meze that actually tastes of something, wine that doesn’t come in a jug. Or, if you’re more in the mood for grilled fish and beer, head to Lara Balık. It’s out near the airport, but locals swear by the sea bream and rakı.
Day two of your 48 hours in Antalya starts with views. Early risers can take the Tünek Tepe cable car. It swings you up over the cliffs west of town, ending in a slightly kitschy rotating restaurant. The views over the Gulf of Antalya are spectacular if you can ignore the scaffolding. Then head back down and reward yourself with a proper Turkish breakfast — olives, cheeses, honeycomb, eggs, spicy sausage, bread for days — at Van Kahvaltı Evi.
Next, it’s time for some real ancient drama. Jump in a minibus or Uber to Perge, about 15 km inland. Once a major Roman city, it’s now a sunbaked set of ruins where columns outnumber tourists. The stadium could seat 12,000, the baths have underfloor heating (take that, Scandinavia), and the main avenue still has grooves from ancient chariot wheels. On the way back, stop at Düden Waterfalls. The upper falls are prettier, but the lower ones plunge straight into the sea, which feels more cinematic.
Back in Antalya, treat yourself to a hammam. The 700-year-old Demirtaş Paşa Hammam still does the full scrub and foam routine. Prepare to be sandpapered by a man named Mehmet who takes his job very seriously. You’ll emerge cleaner, pinker, and vaguely dazed.
End your 48 hours in Antalya with a sundowner. Climb the hill to Karaalioglu Park and grab a tea or beer at the café by Hidirlik Tower. Roman tower, Ottoman city walls, Mediterranean horizon — it’s a layered kind of sunset. If you’re lucky, someone will be playing the saz or selling roasted chestnuts. If you’re not, there’ll still be seagulls and drama queens posing for Instagram. Either way, Antalya puts on a good show.
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