Rent a car in Antalya, point it southwest, and the Turkish Riviera unfolds in almost too many good options: pine forests that run straight down to turquoise water, a mountainside that’s been quietly on fire for thousands of years, an island so blue it looks digitally enhanced, and old towns where dinner costs less than a coffee back home. This is a week-long road trip through the best of it — Olympos, Kumluca, Suluada, Kaş, Kaputaş, Patara and Ölüdeniz — with the real, current prices for every stop.
📝 A Local’s Note
A week-long rental car with full insurance out of Antalya runs around $126 — book it the moment you land, since this entire route depends on having your own wheels. Public transport along this stretch of coast is patchy at best, and several of the best stops (Suluada’s meeting point, the hidden beach near Kumluca) are only realistic with a car.
Prices below are what travellers were actually paying in 2026, in Turkish lira and US dollars as noted — treat them as a solid ballpark rather than a guarantee.
Day 1: Olympos — Ancient Ruins and a Mountain on Fire
Pick up your rental in Antalya and head straight for Olympos, where a ruined Lycian city sits half-swallowed by forest right down to the beach — you genuinely walk through crumbling walls and sarcophagi on the way to the sand. Parking at the site costs around 30 TL (roughly $1), and the ruins themselves are free to wander at your own pace.
As the light softens, drive up to Yanartaş (the Chimaera) — a hillside where dozens of small gas flames have been burning continuously out of the bare rock for millennia, the same natural phenomenon ancient sailors used as a landmark and folded into the myth of the fire-breathing Chimera. It’s a short uphill walk from the car park, and turning up right around sunset means you get the flames glowing properly against the dark. Bringing marshmallows to toast over them is a genuine local tradition, not just a tourist gimmick.
For the full history of the ruins and entry details, see our Olympos Ancient City guide, and for the flames themselves, our Yanartaş (Chimaera) guide covers timing, the walk up and what to expect.
See the Chimaera Night Jeep Tour →
If you’d rather not drive yourself on day one, our guide to getting from Antalya to Çıralı & Olympos covers the non-car options too, and our Olympos treehouse stays guide is worth a look if you want to sleep in the forest rather than push on to Kumluca.
Day 2: A Hidden Beach and Künefe in Kumluca
Push on to Kumluca and base yourself at one of the seaside caravan camps along this stretch — waking up a few steps from the water is most of the appeal. Right in front of the camp is a small, little-known beach that outside visitors rarely find: the water is so clear you can count individual stones on the seabed, and it’s shallow and calm enough that small fish will nibble curiously at your feet while you swim. Bring your own coffee and enjoy the kind of quiet morning swim that doesn’t show up on most itineraries.
Later, track down a local künefe shop for one of Turkey’s great desserts — shredded pastry and cheese baked until golden, soaked in syrup, and served with a glass of milk on the side. A generous portion runs around 140 TL and is easily enough for two to share after a big lunch.
Day 3: Suluada, the “Maldives of Turkey”
Suluada is the trip’s showstopper: a small island with white sand and water so bright and clear it’s been described as “Gatorade blue” — there’s no better way to put it. It isn’t reachable by road, so book a boat tour departing from Olympos or Adrasan; driving yourself to the meeting point rather than booking hotel pickup is the cheaper option, and two people travelling this way paid around $36 total for the full trip.
The standard package covers a roughly 7-hour round trip with 3–4 swim stops around the island, a barbecue lunch on board (grilled fish or chicken, with pasta, salad and watermelon), and a tea break on the beach partway through the day. It’s a full, unhurried day on the water, and worth building the rest of your schedule around.
🏝️ Book the Suluada
Boat Tour
A full day sailing to Suluada’s “Gatorade blue” water, with swim stops, a barbecue lunch and a beach tea break included.
✅ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · ✅ Reserve now, pay later
See the Suluada Boat Tour →Our full Suluada boat trip guide compares departure points and package options in more detail if you want to shop around before booking.
Day 4: The Coast Road to Kaş, via Myra’s Rock Tombs
The drive from Olympos to Kaş takes 2–3 hours and is a highlight in its own right: a winding, cliff-hugging coast road with ocean views the whole way, the kind of drive that draws comparisons to Australia’s Great Ocean Road. Break it up in Demre, the coastal town that’s home to Myra Ancient City — its most striking feature is a set of elaborate rock-cut tombs carved directly into the cliff face in the 4th century BC, alongside a well-preserved Roman theatre. Entry runs around 300 TL per person (roughly 600 TL, or $20, for two).
See our Demre, Myra & Kekova guide if you have time to add the sunken city boat trip to the same day — Kekova sits just beyond Demre and pairs naturally with a Myra stop.
See the Demre, Myra & Kekova Tour →
Roll into Kaş by evening and settle into your base for the next couple of nights — a modern one-bedroom Airbnb in town runs around $35 a night, and puts you within walking distance of everything in the next section. For hotel options instead, see our best hotels in Kaş guide.
Day 5: Kaş’s Old Town, Home Cooking & Turkish Delight
Spend the morning wandering Kaş’s old town — whitewashed buildings, bougainvillea and narrow lanes that visitors regularly compare to a Greek island (or, more dramatically, to King’s Landing). Our full guide to things to do in Kaş covers the Lycian tombs, the Antiphellos theatre and more if you want a fuller route.
For lunch, find a local esnaf lokantası rather than a menu-in-six-languages restaurant: a hearty Turkish-style goulash (güveç) with rice, warm bread and ayran — the salty yoghurt drink that resets your palate between bites — typically comes to around 120 TL for the full meal. It’s the kind of home cooking that tastes like someone’s actual family recipe, because it usually is.
Save room for dessert: the sweet shop next door does a proper baked rice pudding (sütlaç) along with biscuits and cookies, and the town’s boutique shops are strung with towers of colourful Turkish delight that are almost impossible to walk past without stopping.
Day 6: Kaputaş Beach, Patara’s Dunes & a Turkish Hamam
Leaving Kaş toward Kalkan, watch for the turnoff to Kaputaş Beach — it hides at the bottom of a steep staircase beneath a highway cliff, easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, but widely rated one of the best beaches on this entire route for its turquoise water and boat-free cove.
From there, continue to Patara — one of Turkey’s longest beaches and a protected nesting site for loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtles, with an ancient city attached to the same entrance ticket (around 34 TL per person). Time your visit for late afternoon so you can climb the dunes behind the beach and watch the sunset from the top; our full Patara ancient city guide covers the ruins in depth, and if you’d like a fuller Kaş-and-Patara itinerary in this same style, see our Kaş & Patara travel diary.
Round off the day with a traditional Turkish hamam — a foam massage and an exfoliating kese scrub is the classic combination, and it’s the ideal way to unwind after two days of driving, hiking dunes and climbing beach staircases. Our Turkish bath guide explains what to expect if it’s your first hamam.
Day 7: Mountain Views and Paragliding in Ölüdeniz
Finish the route in Ölüdeniz, where the mountains crowd right down to the famous blue lagoon. A cosy apart-hotel surrounded by fruit trees runs around $22 a night here — noticeably cheaper than Kaş, and a nice, relaxed note to end the trip on. Spend your last day swimming, watching the pirate-ship cruises glide across the bay, and looking up at the paragliders drifting down from Babadağ — Ölüdeniz is one of the world’s best-known paragliding spots, and launching from the mountain yourself is a genuinely spectacular way to close out a week on this coast.
See Paragliding Over Ölüdeniz →
Turquoise Coast Road Trip: Budget at a Glance
| Item | Approx. Cost (2026) |
|---|---|
| 7-day rental car with full insurance (from Antalya) | $126 total |
| Olympos Ancient City parking | 30 TL (~$1) |
| Künefe in Kumluca (enough for two) | 140 TL |
| Suluada boat tour, self-drive to meeting point (2 people) | $36 total |
| Myra Ancient City entry (2 people) | 600 TL (~$20) |
| Airbnb in Kaş (per night) | $35 |
| Local lokanta meal in Kaş (güveç, rice, bread, ayran) | 120 TL |
| Patara Beach & Ancient City entry (per person) | 34 TL |
| Apart-hotel in Ölüdeniz (per night) | $22 |
Planning Your Turquoise Coast Road Trip
- Book the car first: reserve a rental in Antalya before you land — this route only really works with your own vehicle.
- Book Suluada in advance: reserving online ahead of time and driving yourself to the meeting point (rather than paying for hotel pickup) is noticeably cheaper.
- Carry cash: small lokantas, künefe shops and beach entrance kiosks along this route are far more cash-friendly than card-friendly.
- Best time to go: late spring through early autumn for warm, swimmable water at every stop on this list.
- Pace yourself: this itinerary covers a lot of ground in a week — if you’d rather slow down, Kaş and Patara alone comfortably fill two full days on their own.
Planning more of this route? See our Olympos Ancient City guide, the Çıralı & Olympos beaches guide, our Kaş & Patara travel diary, and the Patara ancient city guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do you need for this Turkish Riviera road trip?
A week comfortably covers Olympos, Kumluca, Suluada, Kaş, Kaputaş, Patara and Ölüdeniz at a relaxed pace. It can be trimmed to 4–5 days by dropping Kumluca or combining Kaputaş and Patara into a single afternoon.
Do you need a car for this route?
Yes, in practice. Several stops — the hidden beach near Kumluca, Suluada’s boat meeting point, Kaputaş — are far easier and cheaper to reach with your own vehicle than by public transport or taxi.
How do you get to Suluada?
There’s no road access — boat tours depart from Olympos or Adrasan. Booking online and driving yourself to the meeting point is cheaper than booking a package with hotel pickup from Antalya or Olympos.
Is Kaputaş Beach on the way from Olympos to Ölüdeniz?
Yes — it sits on the Kaş–Kalkan road, after Kaş rather than between Olympos and Kaş, so it fits naturally into the second half of this itinerary.
🚗 Ready to Drive
the Turquoise Coast?
Compare car rentals, transfers and guided tours covering every stop on this route, from Olympos to Ölüdeniz.
✅ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before · ✅ Reserve now, pay later
Compare Transport & Tours →Page last updated: August 2026.