Antalya is a beautiful coastal city and is the fifth most populous city in Türkiye (Turkey). It’s a super popular place to visit in the warmer months. However we visited in winter and still had an amazing time. There are lots of great things to do in Antalya on a budget, including exploring the old town, the bazaars and visiting the beach. There’s also a great day trip that we did from Antalya where we saw some amazing things. It’s also super easy to get around with public transport, so really is a great place to visit while in Türkiye.

In this post:

1. How to get around
2. Old Town – Kaleiçi
3. Just Outside Kaleiçi
4. Old Bazaar
5. Düden Waterfalls
6. Beaches
7. Antalya Aquarium
8. Day trip to Pamukkale and Hierapolis

The buses and trams in Antalya are great for getting around the city! We went everywhere we wanted to go using these modes of transport or walking. Thankfully, the transport system is integrated with Google Maps, so you can simply plug in your start and end point to find the best route.

To catch the transport in Antalya, you have a couple of options. You can use your bank-issued contactless card to tap onto the trams and buses. This will charge a flat fare of ₺35 for trams or buses. You could also purchase an Antalyakart for at kiosks around the city or at the airport. You can then load the card with money and use it to tap onto transport.

Unfortunately, similar to the public transport in Istanbul, finding current information on the prices is near impossible. The card itself cost ₺35 in December 2023, but has likely changed since then. The cost of transport using an Antalyakart is also lower than if you used contactless, but we don’t know by how much.

Because we didn’t know what the cost would be for an Antalyakart, we opted to use our bank cards. We weren’t staying in the city long enough to justify seeking out a kiosk. However, if you’re staying for a while, it might be worth checking the actual cost. It could be better for your budget to go for the Antalyakart.

One of our favourite parts of any older city is the old town. In Antalya, it’s called Kaleiçi, meaning “inside the castle”, as the whole old town is enclosed within city walls. Most of the area dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries but there are some buildings from older eras too.

Some of the buildings are residential, but most have been turned into hotels, restaurants and shops. Because of this, we recommend staying in this area as it’s more touristy and has undergone lots of restorations. We stayed at the Old Town Deluxe Flats in a great little apartment with a kitchen and washing machine. It’s in the old town, in the midst of all the gorgeous little streets and shops.

Apart from wandering the cute streets in Kaleiçi, there’s some cool landmarks to keep an eye out for too. The first one is Hadrian’s Gate, located in the east of the old town. It was built around 150 CE for Hadrian, the Roman emperor. It was has since been incorporated into the city walls. It’s now the only gate into the old town, and you can still walk through and around it which is interesting.

Another landmark to visit is the clock tower, located at the north entrance to the old town. Built in 1901 and also incorporated into the city walls, there’s a clock face on each side making it easy to appreciate from anywhere. There’s also a couple of museums, churches, and other old archaeological sights around the old town so keep an eye out while you’re walking around!

On the edge of the old town is Hidirlik Tower, a round tower made of stone. It was built in the 2nd century CE by the Roman empire and has been used as a military outpost, a fortification and a lighthouse. Right beside it is also Karaalioglu Park, a lovely green space with lots of local cats and an amazing view over the water and surrounding mountains.

As the old town is located on a hill, while wandering around you’ll likely end up down at the Marina. It’s a really nice little area with local fishing boats and bigger yachts. You can walk around the water and there’s also some cafes you can stop at. However the best part of the marina is the view back up to Antalya with the city walls around it. Make sure to take time to admire the beautiful clear blue water around the marina. There’s also a little beach called “Mermerli Plajı”. There is a small entrance fee, and it can be very crowded, so it isn’t the best beach to visit. We’ll share more on beaches soon!

Of course with many of the cities in Türkiye, one of the things to do in Antalya on a budget is visit the old bazaar. It’s located just outside the old town and is a series of little undercover streets. You can buy lots of stuff here, from souvenirs, jewellery, shoes and clothing, ceramics, and home goods. Of course, you can also buy lots of delicious Turkish sweets, spices, teas and fresh fruit and vegetables. If you’re interested in buying something, you can often haggle the price down, which is an expected part of the Turkish culture.

These are two amazing waterfalls near Antalya in Türkiye. The Upper Düden Waterfalls are located in a park a 35 minute bus ride away from the old town. However this is the smaller of the falls at 20 meters high, and there isn’t much to do in the surrounding area.

We would recommend visiting the Lower Düden Waterfall, location a 40 minute bus ride from the old town. This waterfall is also located in Düden park, which is free and has restaurants around. It’s a much more impressive waterfall, falling 40 meters straight into the Mediterranean Sea. There’s some great view points around it and you can also stand above it and see the water rushing over the edge.

Apart from the great view, we also liked the lower falls because there’s more to do. After looking at the waterfall, there’s a lovely walk along the headland back towards Antalya. This walk has a great view of the cliffs as well as the incredible mountains on the opposite headland. It’s a great way to spend half a day and see some incredible landscapes completely for free!

There are a lot of lovely beaches near Antalya that become super popular in the warmer months. The main beach is Konyaaltı Beach, about a 10-20 minute journey from the old town by bus or tram. It’s 13km long, and is mainly a pebble beach with beautiful clear water that’s safe for swimming. There’s some clubs along the beach that offer food and places to sit, as well as a beach park running along the beach. There’s lots of room on the beach that isn’t taken up by clubs and lounges, so you can easily visit for free.

If you’re a fan of aquariums, it may be worth a bit of money to visit the Antalya Aquarium. This aquarium has the worlds largest aquarium tunnel, which is 131 meters long and 3 meters wide. With over 40 exhibits holding 250 different aquatic species, there’s heaps to see and do there. It is in the same complex as a Snow World Ice Museum, a wildlife park, a wax museum and a cinema. There is a combined ticket for everything, but just the aquarium ticket costs roughly 1,319.69₺ (around $56 AUD). From Hadrian’s Gate in the old town you can get there on one or two buses in roughly 40 minutes.

One of the best things to do from Antalya is to take a day trip! While this isn’t a budget friendly activity, we prioritised this day trip so it was really the only money we spent on activities in Antalya. There are a couple of great options for natural wonders to see. These include visiting the Manavgat Waterfall and the Köprülü, Goynuk and Green Canyons. Here you can do some exhilarating tours with activities like ziplining, rafting and quad buggies in the canyons with Get Your Guide. There’s also some great ruins nearby such as the ancient cities of Perge, Phaselis and Hierapolis.

We decided to do a tour of Hierapolis that also included seeing the famous white travertines of Pamukkale. We booked it on Get Your Guide and are so glad we did it because we had a wonderful time. The tour started very early (around 5am), and travelled by mini bus for around 3 hours through the beautiful Turkish mountains to Hierapolis. We had a guided tour around the ancient city then free time to explore it and Pamukkale which is nearby. The tour we went on included a delicious Turkish buffet lunch before driving back to Antalya.

Just to note that our tour didn’t include tickets into Hierapolis and Pamukkale. There was an option to book the tour with entrance included, however it was actually a bit cheaper to buy them at the entrance. We ended up paying while on the tour, which still ended up being cheaper than pre-booking online. The whole tour took around 13 hours, but to see the ancient city and the very cool white travertines, we thought it was worth it.

Whether you’re visiting Antalya in summer and can enjoy the beaches, or in winter like us, there’s lots of great things to see and do. The old town or Kaleiçi is a wonderful area to wander around and explore. Nearby is the marina and the old bazaar, both free to visit and are worth checking out. Then there’s the long and pebbly Konyaaltı beach with the Antalya Aquarium nearby. As for nature, the Düden Waterfalls are great, especially the lower one that falls into the Mediterranean sea. Then there’s lots of fun day trips, including the one we did to Hierapolis and Pamukkale.

There is so much to do in Antalya on a Budget and some great things to budget for if you want to spend a bit more on your trip. Whatever you end up doing, you’re going to have a great time in this wonderful Turkish beach city!

If you want to see everything we did, check out our vlog below:

• Visiting Türkiye (Turkey) In The Winter: What You Should Know
• Public Transport in Istanbul: Everything You Need to Know for 2025
• The Best Itinerary For 24 Hours in Göreme, Cappadocia
• How to Cheaply Travel Türkiye with Kâmil Koç Buses