Antalya and Sunken City Cultural Voyage
Discover Antalya and Demre in 2 days from Ankara by flight, including Perge, Aspendos, Side, Manavgat Waterfall, St Nicholas Church, Myra Ancient City and Kekova Sunken City boat route.
Highlights
- Perge Ancient City, one of Pamphylia's most complete Roman city plans with colonnaded avenues
- Aspendos Theatre, a world-class preserved Roman performance structure
- Side Ancient City, a Mediterranean archaeological peninsula with temple and theater remains
- Manavgat Waterfall, a signature river landscape of Antalya region
- St. Nicholas Church in Demre, a globally recognized Christian pilgrimage landmark
- Myra Ancient City, famous for Lycian rock-cut tombs and monumental theater zone
- Kekova Sunken City, a unique coastal archaeology panorama viewed by boat
Antalya and Sunken City Cultural Voyage
Discover Antalya and Demre in 2 days from Ankara by flight, including Perge, Aspendos, Side, Manavgat Waterfall, St Nicholas Church, Myra Ancient City and Kekova Sunken City boat route.
Itinerary
This route is planned for travelers who want a complete antalya and sunken city tour in a short two-day program. Day one starts after the flight from Ankara and follows Perge, Aspendos, Side, and Manavgat Waterfall in sequence. Perge and Aspendos provide strong archaeological context, while Side adds a coastal ancient city atmosphere. The waterfall stop brings a natural break after the classical site visits. This creates a balanced perge aspendos side itinerary with clear guide-led interpretation.
Day two focuses on Demre and Kekova with major historical and maritime highlights. The program includes a detailed st nicholas church demre visit and continues to Myra Ancient City. At Myra, guests see the theatre and the famous rock tombs that define the region's Lycian heritage. The route then moves to the coast for a kekova sunken city boat trip around the submerged remains near Simena. Timing is arranged to keep the day practical and fully aligned with official tour operations.
For short travel from the capital, this package works as a strong cultural option with both archaeology and coastal scenery. It also serves visitors looking for a focused myra ancient city and rock tombs experience in one booking. Every location in the description belongs directly to the itinerary and avoids unrelated additions. The two-day structure keeps logistics realistic while preserving historical depth. Overall, the program delivers a reliable and content-rich Antalya and Kekova journey.
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Day 1
Perge, Aspendos, Side and Manavgat Route
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Pickup in Ankara and transfer to departure airport.
Day one starts with private transfer for Antalya-bound domestic flight.
Flight from Ankara to AntalyaDomestic flight segment to Antalya gateway airport.
Flight segment begins the Antalya and Kekova route.
Transfer to PergeRoad transfer from airport to Perge archaeological zone.
Transfer reaches Perge for the first cultural visit of the day.
Perge Ancient CityGuided visit through colonnaded streets and Roman remains.
Perge preserves one of the most complete Roman-era urban layouts in southern Anatolia.
Perge Ancient City is one of the most satisfying Roman urban sites in southern Anatolia because its scale is so easy to read. Broad colonnaded streets, gates, baths, and public structures give the city a strong sense of order and civic confidence, making it possible to imagine everyday life with unusual clarity. The remains feel open and spacious rather than compressed. That gives the visit a very direct and visually rewarding rhythm.
Perge is also significant for travelers interested in early Christianity, since the city is linked to the journeys of Saint Paul. That adds another layer to a site already rich in architectural and regional importance. Even without that context, the urban plan alone makes a strong impression. Perge is one of those places where the ancient city still feels legible enough to walk through almost as a living layout.
Aspendos TheatreVisit the iconic Roman theater complex.
Aspendos Theatre is renowned for monumental scale and extraordinary architectural preservation.
Aspendos Theatre remains one of the clearest expressions of Roman monumental architecture in southern Anatolia. The building's preservation is so strong that it feels less like a fragment and more like a structure waiting for sound and audience to return. That immediate legibility is what gives the site so much power. It is both historically important and visually unforgettable.
What makes the visit especially satisfying is the balance between scale and detail. From a distance, the theatre dominates through sheer presence, but up close the craftsmanship and urban logic behind it become more visible. Even a short visit leaves a strong sense of architectural confidence and civic grandeur. Aspendos Theatre is one of the stops where Roman antiquity feels unusually complete.
Lunch Break in SerikMidday meal break during route (not included).
Lunch break is scheduled and paid directly by guests.
A lunch break in Serik fits naturally within an Antalya-region day, giving you a useful pause between major heritage stops while keeping you close to Mediterranean food culture. The area may not be a headline culinary city, but it still benefits from the freshness and ease of the wider Antalya table. This makes the lunch stop feel light enough for sightseeing while still locally grounded. It is a practical break with regional flavor behind it. That balance works well on a full tour day.
If you can choose, look for grilled meats, piyaz, salads, meze, gözleme, and other Mediterranean-friendly dishes that will not weigh down the afternoon. Antalya-region lunches often work best when they stay fresh, simple, and vegetable-rich. Travelers often appreciate stops like this because they restore energy without interrupting the pace of the day. Serik is not about culinary spectacle, but it can still offer a satisfying and appropriately local meal. Sometimes that is exactly what the route needs.
Side Ancient CityExplore temple area, theater, and old harbor zone.
Side combines major Roman ruins with one of the Mediterranean's most scenic archaeological peninsulas.
Side Ancient City offers one of the most appealing combinations of archaeology and coastal atmosphere in the Mediterranean. Here, Roman and earlier remains stand within a setting shaped by sea light, harbor views, and the sense of a historic peninsula extending into the water. That gives the site a very different emotional quality from inland ruins. It feels open, scenic, and surprisingly easy to enjoy even on a busy day.
What makes Side so memorable is the blend of major urban remains with a setting that never lets you forget the city's maritime identity. Temples, streets, theatre, and harbor zone all work together to create a stop that is both historically rich and visually inviting. For many travelers, Side feels less severe than some larger archaeological sites and more naturally integrated into its landscape. Side is one of those places where history and scenery reinforce each other beautifully.
Manavgat WaterfallStop at the waterfall park and river viewpoints.
Manavgat Waterfall is one of Antalya's signature natural attractions with broad river cascades.
Manavgat Waterfall offers a welcome natural pause within routes dominated by archaeology and urban history. The waterfall is not about extreme height, but about broad, foaming flow and the easy riverside atmosphere around it, which gives the stop a relaxed and refreshing character. After ancient sites and transfer segments, that shift in rhythm can feel especially welcome. It is a scenic stop that works through freshness rather than drama.
The appeal of Manavgat lies in its accessibility and calm. The setting is easy to enjoy, easy to photograph, and well suited to a short break that lets you reset before continuing. For many travelers, the stop is memorable precisely because it offers something simple and natural in the middle of a history-heavy day. Manavgat Waterfall is a small but effective change of pace on the route.
Transfer to Antalya HotelDrive back to Antalya city for overnight stay.
Day one concludes with hotel check-in and included dinner in Antalya.
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Day 2
Demre, Myra and Kekova Sunken City Route
B
Start day-two Demre and Kekova route after breakfast.
Morning departure begins long coastal transfer toward Demre.
Drive to DemreScenic transfer from Antalya to Demre district.
Road segment connects Antalya basin with the Lycian heritage corridor.
St. Nicholas Church (Demre)Visit the church associated with Saint Nicholas tradition.
St. Nicholas Church is one of the most recognized Christian pilgrimage monuments in Turkey.
The Church of St. Nicholas in Demre is one of the most important Christian pilgrimage sites in the eastern Mediterranean, and visiting it gives a very different sense of history from the region's classical ruins. The church is deeply connected to the memory of Saint Nicholas, whose legacy extends far beyond Anatolia into global Christian tradition. That gives the stop both spiritual and cultural significance. It is a place where familiarity of name meets the reality of place. The result is often moving for visitors.
As you explore, remember that this site belongs not only to local history, but to a much wider devotional world shaped by centuries of pilgrimage and storytelling. Travelers often find Demre especially memorable because the church feels grounded and real despite the worldwide fame of the saint associated with it. The stop also enriches the Lycian route by adding a strong early Christian layer. It is a site of continuity rather than spectacle. That makes it powerful in its own way.
Myra Ancient CityGuided visit to theater and Lycian rock tombs.
Myra is famous for monumental rock-cut necropolis facades and a well-preserved Roman theater.
Myra Ancient City is one of Lycia's most striking archaeological sites, where dramatic rock-cut tombs and a substantial Roman theatre stand close enough to create an unforgettable first impression. The cliff tomb façades immediately set the site apart, because they seem to turn the mountain itself into a memorial landscape. Combined with the theatre below, they reveal a city that was both culturally sophisticated and visually bold. Even if you have visited other ancient cities, Myra feels distinctive because of this powerful vertical setting. It is one of the highlights of the Lycian route for good reason.
As you explore, try to take in the relationship between burial tradition, public architecture, and natural terrain. Myra tells a story not only of urban life, but of how the Lycian world expressed status and memory in stone. The theatre adds another dimension, showing the city's later Roman life and civic scale. This stop rewards both careful observation and simple visual enjoyment, because the site is dramatic even before you study the details. For many travelers, Myra becomes one of the most photogenic and memorable ancient stops in southern Turkey.
Transfer to Ucagiz HarborDrive to harbor for Kekova boat section.
Transfer reaches Ucagiz harbor where the Kekova marine route begins.
Kekova Sunken City Boat TourBoat route along submerged ruins and Simena coastline.
Kekova preserves visible underwater remains from ancient settlements along the Lycian shore.
The Kekova Sunken City boat tour offers a more immersive seaborne look at the protected coastline where ancient remains still shape the contours of the bay. From the boat, walls, harbor traces, and broken shoreline features become part of a slow-moving historical panorama rather than a fixed archaeological stop. The tour works particularly well because the setting remains beautiful even before you begin thinking about the ruins themselves. Sea color, small coves, and Lycian memory all combine naturally here.
This is the kind of tour where looking carefully matters. The remains can be subtle, but that subtlety is part of the fascination, because it makes the landscape feel layered rather than over-explained. As the boat moves along the coast, the ancient world seems to emerge in fragments through the water and rock. The result is both relaxing and historically evocative.
Lunch Break in UcagizMidday meal break during route (not included).
Lunch break is scheduled and paid directly by guests.
A lunch break in Ucagiz is one of the pleasures of the Kekova route, because the harbor village gives the day a more intimate and local coastal rhythm. After Lycian heritage and before or after the boat segment, the meal feels connected to the sea rather than separate from it. The small-scale harbor atmosphere makes the stop especially appealing. It is relaxed, scenic, and easy to enjoy.
For lunch, seafood is the natural first choice if available, though grilled meats, meze, salads, and light Mediterranean dishes also fit the village well. Ucagiz rewards a slower meal more than a hurried one, especially if you can stay aware of the harbor mood around you. Even simple food feels better in a setting like this. The stop often becomes one of the softer highlights of the day.
Drive to Antalya AirportRoad transfer back to Antalya for return flight.
Long transfer returns to Antalya Airport after Demre-Kekova program.
Flight from Antalya to AnkaraDomestic return flight to Ankara.
Flight segment completes the Antalya-Myra-Kekova program.
Ankara Arrival and Final Drop-offArrival in Ankara and service completion.
Tour services conclude with final drop-off at designated point.
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Informations
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What's Included
- 1 night accommodation with dinner (4-star or special-class boutique category)
- Private deluxe A/C VIP vehicle for all ground transfers and tours
- Pickup from your hotel or meeting point
- 4 airport transfers as listed in itinerary
- Drop-off to your hotel or meeting point
- Parking fees for listed route locations
- Private professional licensed tour guide
- Private tour operation only for your group
- Local taxes
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What's Excluded
- Museum and site admission fees
- Personal expenses
- Lunches and beverages
- Domestic flight tickets unless explicitly added to booking
- Gratuities for guide and driver
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Entrance Fees
- Entrance fees are not included and are paid directly on site according to current official rates.
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Travel Tips
- Bring comfortable walking shoes
- hat
- sunscreen
- and light seasonal layers; day two includes coastal boat exposure and archaeological walking surfaces.
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Note
- Route timing may vary by domestic flight schedule
- sea-weather suitability for Kekova boat section
- and regional traffic between Antalya and Demre.
Your Peace of Mind Options
Cancellation Policy
A transparent overview of applicable fees.
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Tour Reminder!
You can create a reminder for yourself for this tour. We will send you a reminder e-mail/sms about this tour on the date you specify.
FAQs
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What does the 2 Days Antalya, Myra and Kekova Sunken City Tour include?
- Private tour operation only for your group
- Private professional licensed tour guide
- Private deluxe A/C VIP vehicle for all ground transfers and tours
- Pickup and drop-off at your hotel or meeting point
- 4 airport transfers as listed in the itinerary
- Parking fees for listed route locations and local taxes
- 1 night accommodation with dinner (4-star or special-class boutique category)
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Are domestic flight tickets included between Ankara and Antalya?
- No. Domestic flight tickets are excluded unless explicitly added to your booking
- The itinerary is planned with flights for timing efficiency, but inclusion depends on the selected option
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What is covered on Day 1 (Perge, Aspendos, Side and Manavgat route)?
- Flight from Ankara (flight plan as per booking)
- Perge Ancient City
- Aspendos Theatre
- Side Ancient City
- Manavgat Waterfall
- Overnight in Antalya with included dinner
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What is covered on Day 2 (Demre, Myra and Kekova route)?
- Drive to Demre
- St. Nicholas Church (Demre)
- Myra Ancient City
- Transfer to Ucagiz harbour area
- Kekova Sunken City boat route
- Drive to Antalya Airport and flight back to Ankara
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Is the Kekova boat route guaranteed?
- The itinerary includes a Kekova boat route segment
- Sea conditions can affect timing and feasibility
- Your guide will adjust the flow for safety and operations
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Is this a private tour?
- Yes. It is operated privately for your group with a private guide and VIP vehicle
- Pace can be adjusted within the operational route
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Are entrance fees included?
- No. Museum and site admission fees are excluded
- Please plan budget for Perge, Aspendos, Side, St. Nicholas Church, Myra, and any optional entries
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Are lunches and beverages included?
- No. Lunches and beverages are excluded
- Hotel dinner is included for the overnight stay
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Will there be long transfers to Demre and Kekova?
- Yes. Day 2 includes a long overland transfer from Antalya to the Demre and Kekova region
- Travel time can vary depending on traffic and seasonal conditions
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What is not included in the price?
- Museum and site admission fees
- Lunches and beverages
- Personal expenses
- Domestic flight tickets unless explicitly added to booking
- Gratuities for guide and driver
General FAQs
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What currency is used in Turkey?
Turkey uses the Turkish Lira (TRY).
- Cards are widely accepted in cities and tourist areas, but cash is still useful for small purchases.
- ATMs are common. Exchange offices and banks are also available.
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Can I pay by credit card in Turkey?
In most restaurants, hotels, and shops you can pay by card.
- For markets, small shops, taxis, and tips, carrying some cash is recommended.
- Let your bank know you are traveling to avoid card blocks.
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Is Turkey safe for tourists?
Turkey is generally safe for visitors, especially in main tourist areas.
- As in any destination, watch out for pickpockets in crowded places.
- Use licensed taxis/transport where possible and keep valuables secure.
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What should I wear when visiting mosques in Turkey?
Dress modestly when entering mosques.
- Shoulders and knees should be covered.
- Women may be asked to cover their hair.
- Shoes are usually removed at the entrance.
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Do I need a visa to visit Turkey?
Visa requirements depend on your nationality.
- Please check the latest rules from official sources (consulate/embassy or the official e-visa portal) before travel.
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What is the best time to visit Turkey?
Spring and autumn are popular because temperatures are usually milder.
- Summer can be hot on the coast and inland.
- Winter is quieter and can be great for cities and some regions.
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Will English be enough in Turkey?
Turkish is the official language. In tourist areas, English is commonly spoken.
- Learning a few basic Turkish words is appreciated and can help outside major areas.
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What power plug is used in Turkey?
Turkey typically uses Type C and Type F plugs (220V, 50Hz).
- If your devices use a different plug type, bring a travel adapter.
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Is tap water safe to drink in Turkey?
In many places, visitors prefer bottled water.
- Hotels and restaurants usually provide bottled water easily.
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Is tipping expected in Turkey?
Tipping is common and appreciated for good service.
- In restaurants, rounding up or leaving a small amount is typical.
- For guides and drivers, tips are at your discretion based on satisfaction.
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Do I need to carry my passport in Turkey?
We recommend keeping your passport safely in your hotel and carrying a copy (photo or printed) when out.
- Some venues may request an ID; your guide can advise for your route.
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Do museums and sites have weekly closure days in Turkey?
Opening hours can change by season and some venues may have weekly closure days.
- We recommend checking the latest opening hours close to your travel date.
- Starting earlier in the day helps to avoid crowds at popular sites.
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What are the emergency numbers in Turkey?
Dial 112 for emergencies (medical, police, fire and other urgent situations).
- 112 is a unified emergency line in Turkey.
- If you do not speak Turkish, try English and share your location clearly.
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How do I get from airports to the city in Turkey?
Options depend on the city, but common choices are:
- Official airport taxi
- Airport shuttles/buses
- Metro/train (available in some cities)
- Pre-booked private transfers
If you arrive late at night or with luggage, a pre-booked transfer can be the easiest option.
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Are taxis and ride-hailing apps reliable in Turkey?
Use licensed taxis and make sure the meter is used (unless a fixed airport fare is confirmed).
- In some cities, taxi-hailing apps can help you find a taxi more easily.
- If possible, keep small cash and ask for a receipt when needed.
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How do I buy a SIM/eSIM in Turkey?
You can buy SIM/eSIM options from mobile operators and official stores.
- Bring your passport for registration.
- For longer stays, foreign phones may require device registration (IMEI) to keep working on local networks.
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What are typical opening hours in Turkey?
Opening hours vary by city and season.
- Many shops and malls stay open late, especially in tourist areas.
- Some museums may close earlier and may have weekly closure days.
- During national or religious holidays, hours can change.
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How do pharmacies work in Turkey (duty pharmacy)?
Pharmacies are called Eczane. Outside normal hours, there is usually a rotating on-duty pharmacy (Nöbetçi Eczane).
- Regular pharmacies typically post the on-duty pharmacy information on the door/window.
- Your hotel reception can also help you find the nearest one.
Let's Customize Your Trip!
Prepare your own tour plan!
Good to Know
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Good to know: confirm flight inclusion when booking
- Flights are excluded unless explicitly added
- Check your confirmation for the exact option details
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Good to know: the boat segment depends on sea conditions
- Wind and waves can impact the schedule
- A light wind layer can be useful near the harbour
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Good to know: bring sun protection for open-air sites and the boat
- Many stops are open-air with limited shade
- Hat, sunscreen, and water improve comfort
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Good to know: plan cash for tickets and lunch
- Entrance fees are excluded
- Lunches and beverages are excluded
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Good to know: comfortable shoes matter
- Archaeological sites have uneven surfaces
- Non-slip shoes improve comfort and safety
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