This was a solo trip, combining remote work with travel — 24 nights across four very different bases, from Istanbul’s history to Alanya’s beaches.

At a glance

  • The route: Istanbul (8 nights) → Gaziantep (5 nights, by flight) → Alanya (6 nights, by bus) → Antalya (5 nights, by bus) → Side & Aspendos (day trip) → back to Antalya.
  • How long you need: 24 nights / 25 days total, as above.
  • Best time to go: April-May or September-October for the best balance — comfortable temperatures for city sightseeing and remote work, with the coast still warm enough to swim by late spring. Summer (June-August) is hottest and most crowded, especially in Antalya and Alanya; winter is quiet but cold inland.
  • Budget: Turkey genuinely supports every budget — hostel stays run as low as $5/night, luxury all-inclusive resorts as high as $300/night. Outside Istanbul, a good 2-3 star hotel with breakfast runs around $50/night; in Istanbul itself, closer to $60-70/night. Food is cheap and good throughout. Watch for all-inclusive resort deals specifically — a 4-star all-inclusive in Alanya that would normally run $150+/night was found for under $40/night with the right timing.
  • Getting around: Intercity travel worked well by both bus (used for Gaziantep→Alanya and Alanya→Antalya) and flight (used for Istanbul→Gaziantep) — buses are a genuinely comfortable, reliable option for the shorter hops.

The route

Istanbul gets the longest stay at 8 nights — enough time to actually settle into working remotely from the city while still exploring properly, rather than treating it as a rushed first stop.

Gaziantep, reached by flight, is Turkey’s food capital in every real sense — the only Turkish city with UNESCO’s Creative City of Gastronomy designation, and the birthplace of baklava as the world knows it, made with the protected Antep pistachio. The Zeugma Mosaic Museum houses the largest collection of Roman mosaics anywhere, rescued from the ancient city of Zeugma before it was flooded by a dam. Gaziantep Castle and the old bazaar district round out the city beyond its food.

Alanya, reached by bus, is where the trip deliberately slows down — beach time, a stay at an all-inclusive resort, and a scuba diving day trip, with no itinerary to rush through. This is the stop built around doing less, not more.

Antalya, also reached by bus, combines city sightseeing with more remote work, and is the base for the trip’s best day trip: Side and Aspendos. Side’s Temple of Apollo, dedicated to the god of light and music, sits right at the tip of a peninsula and is genuinely best seen at sunset. Aspendos’s Roman theater is considered the best-preserved in the world, with acoustics so precise that a coin dropped on the stage can reportedly be heard from the highest row. After this day trip, the loop returns to Antalya — that’s genuinely the end point, not Aspendos itself.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I need for a trip like this? 24 nights, as laid out here — this is a full, unhurried trip combining remote work with real travel, not a compressed vacation.

Is Turkey expensive? Not necessarily — it supports every budget, from $5/night hostels to $300/night luxury resorts. Watch for all-inclusive resort deals specifically; timing can cut the price dramatically.

How do I get between cities on this route? Both bus and flight work well — buses were used for the Gaziantep-Alanya and Alanya-Antalya legs, and a flight covered Istanbul-Gaziantep.

Is Side and Aspendos worth a full day trip from Antalya? Yes — Side’s Temple of Apollo at sunset and Aspendos’s Roman theater, with its famously precise acoustics, are both genuinely worth the trip.

Want this route adjusted for your dates or pace — or built out as a fully custom trip? Tell me what you’re looking for and I’ll put together a real plan.