Turkey: 9-Day Trip — Istanbul, Antalya, Kas, Antalya

We were incredibly lucky with the food on this trip — everything was delicious, which I couldn’t say about the previous one.

We stopped by:
📍 F& B Culture
⭐ Rating: 4.7 (2,700+ reviews)

We got a small mixed kebab, a salad, and beer.

At first, I wanted to go for wine, but all the names were unfamiliar, and the grape variety wasn’t listed, so I decided to stick with beer. Overall, alcohol is expensive — wine by the glass costs around 7–10€, bottles go for 40–50€. A regular lager was about 4€, while craft beer was 8-9€ (just like in Paris), but that’s to be expected in a Muslim country and a super touristy area.

After dinner, we finally met up with our friends who arrived a bit later than us and headed to a bar.

The guys got raki, and we went for beers.

Raki is an aniseed-flavored vodka. It’s traditionally served in small glasses with one or two large ice cubes, half-filled with raki, and then cold water is added. The drink turns a cloudy white. It becomes a not-so-strong, refreshing beverage that you can sip slowly. It’s worth mentioning that the taste of anise is very specific and not for everyone, so it’s an acquired taste. It’s similar to Greek Ouzo.

The place is also close to the Galata Tower:
Tower Pub
⭐ Rating: 4.7 (800+ reviews)

We went to bed late, chatting almost until morning. Thankfully, we didn’t have any big plans the next day, so we could get some good rest.

Day 2

Istanbul — Industrial Museum, Water Taxi Ride, Michelin Guide Restaurant, and Craft Beer Brewery

The day started late, and we headed straight for breakfast-lunch at one of the oldest restaurants right by the Galata Tower.

📍 Güney Restaurant
⭐ Rating: 4.5 (5600+ reviews)

This historic spot has been serving since 1964. The menu features both traditional Turkish dishes and Mediterranean cuisine. I had the Adana kebab, and I really liked it.

Next, we decided to visit the Rahmi Koç Industrial Museum.

We chose to take the water ferry. We arrived at the stop, bought entry cards, and topped them up. The system is pretty straightforward, and the cards can be used on any public transport.

The ferry ride itself was a pleasure: the wind, the seagulls. The kids started throwing bread into the water, and a whole flock of seagulls followed the ferry. I had never seen them so close, so I couldn’t resist filming a video.

The museum is huge: from retro cars to a bunch of small things, yachts, train cars — it’s really fascinating. I’d love to come back, but with a guided tour, as there’s surely a whole story behind each item. 

After the museum, we decided to grab some refreshing drinks at the restaurant on-site. Unfortunately, they didn’t seat us by the water, saying that everything was reserved and guests were about to arrive. They probably expected those who wanted to have a meal, although it wasn’t even lunchtime. But, in the end, no one ever showed up. So, we jumped in a taxi and headed to a restaurant for dinner.

🍽 Dinner at Yeni Lokanta — Michelin Guide

📍 Yeni Lokanta

⭐ Rating: 4.7 (1800+ reviews)

We were looking for something fine dining but without the mandatory 7-course tasting menu. At Yeni Lokanta, you can either opt for the set menu (if your group is 5+ people) or order à la carte, so we chose this place — and we were absolutely delighted.

🥂 Upon arrival, we were immediately offered signature cocktails:
Of note: there are cocktails based on raki with herbs — refreshing and interesting.

🍽 Food:
• Large portions. Unexpected for a Michelin-starred restaurant — we ended up really stuffed.
• I had lamb and asked the sommelier to pair it with a glass of red wine. The wine seemed very simple and lacking in depth. At that point, I definitely gave up on the idea of drinking wine during the trip. If I didn’t like the sommelier’s selection, I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to pick a good wine myself.

• My friend had a Turkish Sauvignon Blanc. It was okay, but closer to a Bordeaux-style Sauvignon, and I prefer New Zealand ones, so that was also not quite right for me.

Overall, we were happy with the restaurant. The bill came out to about 160€ for the two of us.

Afterwards, we headed to try craft beer at the local brewery-bar

📍Taproomx

⭐ Rating: 4.5 (300+ reviews)

• They had 10+ beers on tap. You could get a set of 6 different ones to try a little bit of several varieties.
  
• There were also 2 cocktails on tap — one Margarita, and I can’t remember the other.
  
• Snacks and a DJ added to the vibe.
  

The next day, we had a street food gastro tour planned, but the guide canceled it at the last minute.

Day 3

Istanbul — a park, a mosque, and more beer testing.

We kicked off in Istanbul, as it was the most convenient spot for everyone to fly into. We arrived in the evening and checked into a place near the Galata Tower.

🍽 Breakfast at Galaktos Gurme Restomarket

📍Galaktos Gurme Restomarket

⭐ Rating: 4.8 (900+ reviews)

Since the tour was canceled, we decided to have breakfast just a couple of steps from the hotel. It’s a supermarket with various delicacies, and they also serve a traditional Turkish breakfast.

We ordered a breakfast for 2, even though there were 4 of us. It’s huge, and even with four people, we couldn’t finish it.

While having breakfast, we started brainstorming what to do next. At first, we thought about visiting some attractions, but after Googling ticket prices, we decided to skip those activities. On average, an adult ticket to almost any place was around 30€. Plus, we knew there would be huge lines everywhere, and waiting in 40°C heat in the sun didn’t seem like a fun idea.

So, we headed to the other side of the river to visit a park and the Blue Mosque, where entry is free.

We already had Istanbulkart cards, which we’d bought for the ferry ride. Istanbul has a unified public transport system: you buy a card, and after that, you don’t need to top it up every time. At each stop, there’s a turnstile where you swipe your card to deduct the fare. So, we went to the tram stop.

🏛 An Unexpected Exhibition in a Mini-Cistern

In the park, we stumbled upon an old building, which turned out to be a small Ottoman-style reservoir. Inside, there was a modern sculpture exhibition — unexpectedly atmospheric: columns, cool air, and impressive lighting.

“Never expected this small underground cistern to host art — but it was magical.”

We walked through Gülhane Parkı, made our way to the riverbank, checked out the huge cruise liners, relaxed in the shade of the trees, and then headed to the Blue Mosque.

🕌 Visit to the Blue Mosque

At the entrance, they provide:
• Skirts/pareos if your knees are exposed
• Scarves for women (caps don’t count as head coverings)

Inside, it’s stunning, but 🥵 it was unbearably stuffy. At first, it feels cool as you step in from the heat, but after a while, you realize it’s so humid, you can barely breathe, so we quickly left.

Overall, it was extremely hot in Istanbul those days, with temperatures feeling like 40-42°C. The only relief was the fairly strong breeze, which was cool and helped prevent us from melting in the heat.

Galaport

This spot has a modern vibe with branded stores and a wide selection of restaurants. Cruise liners dock here as well.

We sat at The Populist bar, once again on the hunt for craft beer.

📍The Populist bar

We relaxed, watching people wave to us from the balconies of the cruise liners and discussing future travels: maybe Bali, or even Australia, or a Mediterranean cruise.

I wanted to go to a rooftop bar to catch the golden hour lighting, but the bar we found wasn’t on the sunset side, and it also had no fans or air conditioning — just umbrellas. It was stuffy and hot, so we decided to leave. We went back to the bar street near Galaport and this time sat at 

📍🍻 Cheers Karaköy.

The street was full of places offering national dishes: kebabs, gyros, mussels, and fish. Since our bar didn’t serve food, we asked if we could order from a nearby shop, and they gave us both approval and a menu. We were quickly seated, and both the food and bill arrived fast — everything was delicious. We tried shrimp in butter, cheese, and a fish roll, and it was all tasty. The bill wasn’t high at all, both for the drinks and food.

We got our food from: 

📍 Meşhur Mumhane Balık Dürüm

The next day, we had a flight to Antalya waiting for us.

Day 4

ANTALYA

The plan was simple: chill for 2 days at the hotel, explore the old town, then rent a car and drive to Kaş. We left the hotel at 9 AM and were at the hotel by 3 PM.

Hotel in Antalya

At first, we thought about going all-inclusive, but the child-free options with good reviews for food and drinks were really expensive — around €1000 for 2 nights. Yep, it’s high season, and Turkey isn’t exactly cheap. So, we decided on a regular hotel, trying to avoid the typical package-tour crowd.

In the end, we chose Four Hills Hotel
• Child-free
• Pool and spa
• Great restaurant and reviews
• Fresh, central, just 3 minutes to the beach

📍 Four Hills Hotel

After checking in, we went to the nearest Turkish restaurant — everything was delicious.

📍 Ada Restaurant

We ordered kebabs, liver, and a salad. Everything was super tasty.

After that, we went for a quick swim in the sea. Honestly, it was just okay. The water was around 30 °C. We didn’t take sunbeds since we were only there for a few minutes. Both the sea and the beach were a bit dirty.

We headed back to the hotel, cleaned up by the pool, took a shower, and then went out to check out the bars and restaurants.

Craft beer here: 📍 The Barrels Pub Konyaaltı 

Dinner was all about seafood at Başoğlu Balık & Restaurant, and it was quite the experience. You walk in and see a big counter with fish and seafood on ice, where a waiter greets you and takes your order. You pick what you want. The selection was limited: dorado, sea bass, red mullet, a couple of other fish, a few types of shrimp, squid, and octopus. I had hoped for some shellfish, but none were available.

We got:

• 1 kg of red mullet — €80
• 5 large shrimp — €40

You can also choose various meze from the display. We tried:

• Some kind of seaweed cooked with garlic
• Small marinated fish (a traditional thing)
• Artichokes (three types; we picked a mild one)
• A couple of salads

The guys had rakı, the girls stuck to beer (as I mentioned before, I decided to skip wine).

The total bill came to roughly…€200

📍Başoğlu Balık & Restaurant

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by an Irish bar where live rock music was playing.

📍 The Old Belfast Irish Pub Konyaalti

Day 5

Antalya: Beach Bar & Old Town

The next day we had breakfast at Dukley Beach Bar — the name felt familiar, almost like one of the Dukley spots in Montenegro, quite unique and rare.

📍Dukley Beach Bar

Then we headed to Dubai Beach Bar, where they set us up with four loungers and umbrellas right on the waterline.

📍Dubai Beach Bar

You could stay in the water all day — I even bought a float. The only downside was the current, so you had to keep paddling back.

The watermelon was incredible, the beer was cold, and the service excellent.

In the evening, we decided to visit Antalya’s old town, about a 25-minute taxi ride away. We strolled through the streets, enjoyed the panoramic views, and then headed out for dinner.

Dinner in Antalya Old Town

We chose 

📍 Varuna Gezgin Cafe

The interior was stunning — towering ceilings, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and walls filled with photographs from all over the world. The note said the owner had visited every country, which added a personal, worldly touch to the place.

We decided to stick with tapas, but, as usual, the portions were larger than expected — more than we could actually eat. I ordered a Sauvignon Blanc — something familiar — around €12 a glass.

Afterward, we walked through the charming old town streets and stopped at a small bar. I tried another glass of wine for €5, but it was so weak I had to dilute it with water.

This marked the end of our Antalya stay, and next up was our drive to Kaş in the rental car.

Day 6

Kaş, Myra, Phaselis

In the morning, we rented a car from our hotel in Antalya — the plan was to return it at the airport after visiting Kaş, since after Kaş we wanted to relax for a couple of days at a villa in Antalya.

Before hitting the road, we had breakfast at LENA, a modern and cozy spot: we tried syrniki (cottage cheese pancakes) and avocado toasts — everything was really delicious.

📍LENA

On the way, we planned two stops:

1. Phaselis — an ancient city on the coast, with beautiful ruins and beaches.
2. Myra — to see the famous rock-cut tombs and the amphitheater, a place full of impressive history.

Before heading to the next ancient site, we decided to stop at one of the waterfront restaurants. This is quite common here — restaurants built on terraces with flowing water. Trout is a must-try. Even though we’d had breakfast not long ago, the guys still went for the fish, while my friend and I opted for ice cream served in a melon.

📍 Çağlayan Restaurant

Next, we headed to Myra. The entrance fee was €13 — quite expensive for what you get to see. Google Maps reviews confirm this, with users complaining about the high price for very little to explore. The tombs were closed, so it wasn’t possible to go inside. 

Because of the heat, we moved through these sites quite quickly — staying longer simply wasn’t feasible, it was too stifling. At the first spot, there was a beach where one could swim, but we didn’t immediately notice a shower, and we didn’t want to change, so we just continued on.

Kaş

We arrived in Kaş and checked into our apartment. The place was simple but spacious, renovated, and close to the town center. Honestly, I expected Turkey to be cheaper than Montenegro, but prices were comparable to European standards — in Istanbul, Antalya, and Kaş alike, both for food and accommodation. Alcohol was understandable, being a Muslim country, but even in tourist restaurants, it wasn’t cheap.

Still, we really liked Kaş itself. The town is clean, well-kept, and cozy. Unlike Istanbul and Antalya, there was no trash on the streets, everything looked neat. That immediately made a great impression.

Our hotel — 📍 Kaş Sanisu Pansiyon 

We quickly freshened up and went for a walk. First, we tried to go to a craft beer bar, but it was closed, so we had to find another one. There, we ordered some beer and fried cheese. I especially loved the garlic sauce — it was so good that I asked for more. Even though I hadn’t planned to eat fries, I couldn’t resist because of the sauce.

📍 Frida Pub

For dinner, we went to a restaurant Maşuk Meyhane Kaş. The guys ordered rakı again. I wasn’t very hungry after the fries and wanted soup, but it wasn’t on the menu, so I just got some appetizers. We tried another seaweed dish, this time seemingly pickled in vinegar. The guys ordered two kinds of octopus and stuffed squid — they really enjoyed it. The bill came to around 80€ for the two of us, which felt quite reasonable for the level of the place.

📍 Maşuk Meyhane Kaş

After dinner, we went to a bar located on the second floor of a café, where a live rock band was playing — Fırt bar. At one point, a singer came on stage, and everyone started applauding enthusiastically. It turned out he’s a very famous musician in Turkey. We sang along to songs we knew and even danced a bit. We got home around 3 a.m.

📍Fırt bar

After breakfast, we headed to the beach club within walking distance. We settled on the loungers, relaxed, and enjoyed the surroundings. The entrance to the water was from a pier, but with the fairly strong waves, getting in wasn’t very convenient. I ended up skipping the swim and just used the shower, while the others took a dip. Judging by their reactions, it wasn’t entirely enjoyable — the waves and nearby rocks made entering the water a bit tricky.

📍 Leymona Beach & Restaurant & Bar

The club operates on a deposit system, about €28 per person. We ordered some drinks and a little food. Around 5 PM, their “happy hour” for margaritas started — they had 7 or 8 varieties on the menu. We tried the strawberry and chili-passion fruit.

The strawberry margarita was made with fresh berries — delicious. The chili-passion fruit was more interesting: the rim of the glass had salt mixed with hot chili, which really “burned.” Combined with the sweet-and-sour drink, it created an excellent balance. We really enjoyed both cocktails.

After the beach, we decided to visit the amphitheater, located nearby and considered one of Kaş’s main attractions. Tourists often gather there for sunsets and live music. The sun sets behind the mountain, though, so there’s no “direct” view of it. Still, the place has a very special atmosphere.

The guys went to get drinks — they brought a bottle of local prosecco for 300 lira (around €6–7). The taste was pretty awful — hard to drink. But we just enjoyed the view, the quiet, the stones that have been standing here for thousands of years, and the realization that we were sitting in a real ancient amphitheater in the 21st century.

📍 Antiphellos Ancient City

We also stumbled upon an interesting little shop full of old trinkets. The owner told us that they are photographers who regularly travel through Uzbekistan, Mongolia, all the way to China and back—they had just returned. They collect various souvenirs and antique items. I bought a small painted bone jewelry box there for my mom.

📍Silkroad Kaş

We had a very delicious dinner, I had lamb ravioli, and I really enjoyed it.

📍Naturel

It was our last evening in Kaş. Next up — heading back to Antalya.

Day 8-9

We went for breakfast at an interesting spot — a farm. A very charming place, but definitely not cheap.

📍 Doğal Anne Eli Kaş

We decided to spend the last two days at a villa with a pool. It was the perfect choice to take a break from moving around and the busy itinerary. We didn’t expect the view to be so beautiful — it was a huge surprise and a big bonus for us.

📍 Taşköy Villas Antalya

And that’s how we spent 9 days in Turkey. As I mentioned at the beginning, our goal wasn’t to see every sight, but simply to have an amazing time. Thanks for reading!