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Ever since I started blogging about my travel adventures, I thought a lot about how the way my husband and I travel has changed over the last decade, and then I always reminisce about this one vacation 10 years ago when we hopped on a plane together for the first time to go on an all-inclusive holiday in Turkey and how bored I got hanging by the pool after I finished the only book I brought with me.
Now this sounds like I didn’t enjoy our Turkish holiday at all, but that’s not true. In fact, I have some very good memories about our time there, like that day I learned to shoot a bow and arrow, and then there was that day we took a trip to the Kursunlu Waterfalls and the ruins of Perge and Aspendos. As it turned out, Antalya has a lot to offer the tourist who is willing to venture outside of his or her hotel.
We booked this day tour at our hotel and were driven everywhere by coach bus. At the ruins our guide would give us some interesting information about what we saw there, but most of the time we were free to wander around, take in the sights and snap some photographs. If you’re not a fan of organised tours, all of these sites are perfectly reachable by car as well.
Kursunlu
The waterfalls of Kursunlu were our first stop of the day. I must’ve had the wrong idea about Turkey because I did not expect to see such beautiful nature in this country. We were here in May when the falls were still impressive (they can get thinner during the summer) and the whole park was just a lovely, peaceful place.
Fun fact: the falls were used in a TV commercial for Timotei shampoo back in the 80s.
Perge
Perge was an ancient Greek city, founded in approximately 1.000 B.C. It used to be one of the most important cities of ancient Pamphylia (ancient name of the area that’s now roughly the Antalya province). Not much is left of that time, most of the remaining ruins date back from the Roman Empire, who conquered the city in 188 B.C.
There’s really a lot to see in Perge, from a Roman theater to a stadium with a capacity of 12.000 people to a colonnaded street and much much more. It’s easy to spend a few hours exploring the ancient city and trying to imagine what life must’ve been like for the Greek and Roman people who lived here so long ago.
Aspendos
The last stop of the day was at the ancient amphitheater of Aspendos, the best preserved Roman theater outside of Italy. The amphitheater can seat 7.000 people and it is still used for concerts today.
Location
The Antalya province is located on the mediterranean coast of South-west Turkey and it’s the centre of the country’s tourism industry. If you’re ever in this region, don’t spend your entire vacation inside your hotel, but make sure to venture out to experience some of the rich history and culture the area has to offer, or visit one of the beautiful waterfalls of Antalya.
Other day trip ideas in Antalya Province
- Kaleici Old Town & Hadrian’s Gate
- Antalya Museum
- Termessos Ruins
- Düden Waterfalls
- Ruins of Side
- Eternal flames of Chimaera
- Ruins of Phaselis
- Mount Tahtali
