Side → Perge Transfer

Side to Perge private transfer

Perge is the morning out that guests in Side plan once the beach has stopped being enough on its own. It lies on the eastern edge of Antalya, on the northern side of Aksu: a Hellenistic and Roman city spread over open ground, its theatre and stadium outside the walls and, beyond the gate, a long colonnaded street with a stone water channel running down its middle. There is hardly any shade anywhere, so the sensible plan is an early start and the walk finished before the sun is high. Many people add a second stop, because the statues dug up here now stand in the Antalya Museum, and the walled old town of Kaleiçi lies in the same direction.

The drive is 52 km and takes about 50 minutes. From Side the car runs up to the junction by Manavgat and turns west onto the D400, the coastal highway that carries on all the way to Antalya. Hotels in Çolaklı or Gündoğdu sit west of Side, so they are already on this line. The highway then crosses the Köprüçay, where a signposted turn leads north to Aspendos, skirts Serik and passes the exits for Belek on the seaward side. As Aksu begins, fields and greenhouses give way to warehouses and petrol stations, and here the car leaves the highway for the short run north to the entrance of the site.

• Ask for an early pickup: Perge is flat, wide and almost shadeless, and the colonnaded street is far easier to walk before the midday heat sets in.
• If you want to go on to the Antalya Museum or Kaleiçi rather than straight back to Side, say so when you book, so that the onward leg or a waiting time can be arranged.
• The museum stands on the western side of the city, beyond Kaleiçi, so pairing it with Perge means crossing Antalya from one end to the other.
• Bring water, a hat and shoes with some grip, because the ancient paving is worn smooth in places and broken in others.