Istanbul + Antalya: a week of city and a week of sea without a second flight
The classic holiday scheme that somehow rarely gets built: Istanbul first, then the coast. The domestic flight takes a little over an hour.
Who this is for
Going only to Antalya makes for a beach holiday that repeats itself. Going only to Istanbul makes for an intense trip with no rest in it. The pair solves both: three or four days in a city where you walk twenty kilometres a day, then a week by the sea where you do nothing. Return flights from Antalya run all year, so there is no need to go back through Istanbul.
Istanbul in three days
Three days cover the essentials: Hagia Sophia and Topkapi on the first, the bazaars and Suleymaniye on the second, the Asian side with Kadikoy on the third. If this is your first Istanbul, do not try to add a fourth place to a day — the city is built so that travel between districts eats more than you expect. A good evening here is a ferry across the Bosphorus and fish in Karakoy, not another museum.
Antalya: not only the hotel
Kaleici, the old town, is a harbour, the Roman gate of Hadrian and streets where people still live. The Duden waterfalls drop straight into the sea. Outside the city lies antiquity: Aspendos with a theatre still used for concerts, Perge, Termessos up in the mountains where almost nobody gets to. Westwards the Lycian Way begins, with Olympos and Mount Chimaera where flames come out of the ground. All of it works as day trips from the coast.
How to split the days
Three nights in Istanbul and seven in Antalya if the trip is about rest. If it is about impressions, swap them: five in Istanbul and four on the coast, using Antalya as a base for the ancient sites rather than the beach. The planner counts both versions: change the nights in the form and compare — the flight price moves less than you would think.
When to go
The sea in Antalya is warm from June to October, and October is the best month: the water is still summer, the air no longer is, and there are fewer people. July and August reach thirty-five, and ancient ruins in that heat are an ordeal. Istanbul is good in spring and autumn; in winter it is grey and rainy, but cheap.
How to choose a place on the coast
«Antalya» on a ticket and «Antalya» in a hotel are often different things. The city itself with Kaleici suits those who want more than a beach: there is life, there are markets and restaurants not aimed at guests. Kemer to the west has mountains coming down to the sea, pebbles and cooler air. Belek is golf and expensive hotels on sand. Side has ancient ruins standing among the hotels. Alanya is further east, cheaper and louder. From the airport to the far resorts can be an hour and a half or two, which is worth counting when choosing by photograph.
Antiquity around Antalya
Aspendos is a second-century Roman theatre preserved almost whole, with acoustics that still work. Perge has a colonnaded street, a stadium and baths, and fewer visitors, so it is calmer. Termessos is a mountain city that even Alexander the Great could not take; the climb is steep and the view from the top covers the whole valley. Phaselis has ruins right by the water, and people swim between them. All four are day trips, and no more than two in a day.
Practical matters
No visa, up to 60 days. Bargaining is expected in markets and shops on the coast and not in chain stores. Excursions to the ruins are cheaper booked locally than through a hotel. And the non-negotiable one: insurance should cover activities, not only illness — everybody on that coast ends up on a quad bike or a raft sooner or later.
Moscow → Istanbul → Antalya
Route and nights go into the form — adjust the date and passengers.