Stayed in a stone courtyard on the cliff edge of the old town—so healing
Anyone else get this!! Stayed in Antalya for four days, and I feel like I’ve been completely refreshed by the Mediterranean Sea🫧
Not to say other destinations aren’t great, but this city gives off such a strong sense of relaxation. Two-thousand-year-old city walls, waterfalls plunging into the sea, jelly-like bays beneath cliffs, and the smell of grilled meat drifting through the old town alleys on summer evenings… all mixed together create a magic that makes you not want to go home.
🔥 must-know info before you go
✅ Visa: From 2026, Chinese passports are visa-free, with a 90-day stay allowed within 180 days. You can fly directly with a blank passport
✅ Flights: Istanbul to Antalya takes 1.5 hours. Round-trip tickets including taxes can be budgeted under 4,000
✅ City transport: Tram + bus cover most main attractions. Buy an Antalya Kart and tap for the whole trip. Single rides cost just a few lira
✅ Best time: July is peak season but also when the sea is warmest and the sun shines the most. Just prepare for the heat
✅ Currency: Turkish lira. ATMs on the street offer the best exchange rates. Don’t exchange too much at the airport
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
🏛️ Kaleiçi old town | plan to spend a whole day here
The soul of Antalya is all here. Enter through Hadrian’s Gate and it feels like stepping back in time—three arches built in 130 AD, personally walked by Roman Emperor Hadrian. The marble columns on both sides are well preserved, and the light and shadows make for amazing photos.
Inside the gate are winding Ottoman streets with cobblestone roads lined by colorful wooden houses. Vines hang from second-floor balconies, and cafes and shops hide deep in the alleys. Don’t bother with a map—just wander, every corner holds a surprise. Walk down to the Roman harbor and look down from the cliff at the U-shaped bay packed with sailboats and yachts, backed by the deep blue Mediterranean. I could stare at this view all day.
There’s an Antalya museum in the old town. Tickets cost 15 euros. Download the Müzekart app in advance to scan the ticket QR code and listen to free Chinese audio guides. The Roman marble sculptures inside are more exquisite than expected. Plan to spend two hours here.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
🌊 Düden waterfall | a waterfall that plunges directly into the Mediterranean
This is incredible. The Düden River crashes straight down a 40-meter cliff into the Mediterranean. The mist mixed with the sea breeze hits your face, and standing here in July is cooler than any air conditioning. There’s a walkway below the waterfall where you can go behind the curtain of water. Looking out from inside, the sea and waterfall frame the same view—an experience you won’t find many places in the world.
Free entry, reachable by bus, just a half-hour from the old town. Best to go before 9 AM. Tour buses arrive after 10, so you’ll have the whole area almost to yourself before then.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
🏛️ Aspendos ancient theater | a 2,000-year-old acoustic marvel
About 50 km from the city, a 40-minute drive. Tickets cost 340 lira, roughly 70–80 RMB.
Built in 155 AD, this ancient Roman theater is 96 meters in diameter and seats 15,000 people. It’s the best-preserved Roman theater in the world. The most amazing part is its acoustics—stand in the center of the stage and speak normally, and the last row at the top can hear you clearly without any amplification. Every June and July, an opera festival is held here. Just imagining sitting on 2,000-year-old stone steps watching an open-air opera gives me goosebumps.
Afternoon is the best time for lighting, with sunlight hitting the colonnade from the side, creating rich shadows—perfect for photos. Plus, fewer tourists come in the afternoon, so you can basically have the stone steps to yourself.
If you don’t drive, take a minibus from Antalya’s long-distance bus station to Serik town, then transfer to bus 10. The whole trip takes about 1.5 hours. Or join a local day tour that includes tickets, lunch, and transfers for about 45 euros—convenient and hassle-free.
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
🏠 accommodation is the highlight
🏠 The courtyard is in a stone alley halfway up the hill in Kaş town, just three minutes off the D400 highway. Surrounded by local stone houses, it’s quiet but full of life
🏠 Open the wooden door to a private courtyard with stone floors, old vine trellises, and a long table covered with a blue-and-white checkered cloth🍋 Lemon and fig trees grow in the yard, and you can see the distant bay and scattered sailboats from above
🏠 The second-floor terrace is the real showstopper. The entire Mediterranean spreads out before you. Wake up to seagulls in the morning, wrap yourself in a blanket with a cup of Turkish coffee on the terrace☕ and watch the sun rise slowly from the horizon, bathing the whole bay in golden light. That kind of healing can’t be found in any spa
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
💸 cost breakdown (4 days 3 nights per person, excluding major transport)
Accommodation share: 900 RMB
Food: 650 RMB (eat at local shops in old town alleys, avoid the first row by the harbor)
Tickets: about 500 RMB (museum 15 euros + ancient theater 340 lira + others)
City transport: about 100 RMB
Total: about 2,150 RMB per person
🗒️ hard-earned tips
→ July UV rays are no joke. SPF 50+ minimum, sunglasses, hat, and sun-protective clothing are all essential
→ Wear flat shoes on old town cobblestones! High heels or flip-flops will have you twisting your ankle in seconds. Don’t ask me how I know
→ Turkish tea is offered everywhere. Don’t refuse—it’s a social courtesy, not a sales pitch
→ The Düden waterfall walkway is slippery. Wear non-slip sneakers. Flip-flops will make you fall behind the water curtain
→ The Aspendos theater stone steps are high and steep. If your stamina is average, wear sneakers and bring plenty of water
Antalya is one of those cities where you think, “How special can the Mediterranean really be?” before you go, but once there, you get proven wrong every day. Two-thousand-year-old stones tell stories, 104°F sun makes you lazy, the sea is unbelievably blue, and you can turn a corner in an alley and find an old man playing guitar. This mix of ancient and relaxed vacation vibes is unmatched anywhere else in the Mediterranean.