Perge Ancient City

We had a guided tour through the ancient city. I would not recommend doing it any other way. The city excavations are still in progress but that which is open for tourists is enough to keep you busy for a few hours. The city is a great illustration of the country's and region's cultural diversity. Highly recommended.

A large car park and modern entrance building with a cafe and toilets suggests a popular site but no one there on the day we visited.
A large site so it can involve a bit of walking appreciate. The stadium which stands only a few levels high is near the entrance and although quite low it is enough to create the vision of the past. There are so many pillars here, of the baths, the main city boulevard and other buildings and while no single structure is striking, the overall impression of a city is created. there are a number of descriptive signs around the site to provide information although pre-reading or a guide would be helpful.
Across a small road with a different entrance but included in the same ticket is the theatre. From the outside it doesn't look so impressive but when inside it is spectacular. Rows upon rows of the semi circular theatre steeply built into the hillside look down on the stage creating a fantastic panoramic scene. This may provide the highlight but with the rest of the site it makes for an interesting visit.

Lovely site that was very pleasant to visit.

We took the tram from Dogu Garaj to Aksu. It took us about 20 minutes plus another 20 minutes walk to the small amphitheater. You can purchase the tickets there and near the main site.

We spent roughly 2 hours because sun was unforgiving around 3 PM. If we had gone in the morning, we would have spent more time instead of rushing. The site was awesome with a vast area to walk. All the sculptures pertaining to this place are contained within the Antalya Museum.

I recommend walking up to the vantage point (5 minutes walk) going north to see the entire place.
If I had to decide between this and Termessos, I'd prefer the Termessos experience although they can't be compared. I know some visitors face this dilemma because of lack of time.

The current ticket price is 100TL.

Perge is the ruins of a large ancient city that has been well preserved to us. On the ruins of the city, buildings can be traced according to the restored scheme of the city. There are really a lot of interesting objects here. Entrance costs 42 TL.

Absolutely amazing site to visit definitely worth the trip. We went for about 10am and even at this time it was very hot. I suggest you go later on in the day when sun isn’t as harsh. We spent a little over an hour here. So many interesting ruins to see, so fascinating. We didn’t bother booking a tour and what we overheard was pretty obvious stuff and nothing you couldn’t get from the many signs that were in Turkish and English. You can get the train but we didn’t fancy the 20 minute walk in the heat. You can get a taxi from Antalya that will stay and return you. I think we overpaid for ours at 750 lira as used hotel taxi and say other taxis adverting for 400 so I’d recommend you do that.

One of the most unexpectedly astonishing ruins I've ever visited and probably the number 1 or 2 reason for visiting this region and Aspendos Amphitheatre being the other reason. The place would have been wonderful to see in reality. The town planning at this time was about aesthetics with water features running along the main streets would have been wonderful to behold. The stadium, theatre, water feature along the main street, town houses with back gardens. Hard to believe this was a city established 12th to 13th centuries BC! Do set aside 2 hours to really immerse yourself in the place.
Definitely ensure you visit the Antalya Museum (either before or afterwards) and do set aside a minimum of 4 hours if you are taking the tram from the main square as you will need 3 hours in the museum and gardens to investigate the astonishing artefacts from this wonderful time capsule.

There is a lot of walking for a outing here and it's worth it. There's so much to see and experience - the signs are helpful (in Turkish, English, and German) to help get an idea of what this city was like. Look out for turtles, cats, and other critters as you go as well. There's very little shade here, so I would recommend not going in the heat of the day.

Really nice site, only 17% excavated and lots to see. It is very hot and little shade, so bring lots of water and a fan! My recommendation for this site is that you get a guide who can explain what you are seeing. This should be the first part of the tour followed by the Antalya Archaeological Museum. This way you can see some of the artifacts that were removed from the site and get a better feel for what it actually looked like.

This was one of the main distribution points of statues to Greece. The mines were in the hills and they would make hundreds of statues. Some of Gods and others headless of men and women. The headless statues would be shipped to Greece etc., and local artisans would complete the head based on the person who ordered the statue. Original mass production marketing.

The main Steets are covered in sand/gravel to protect the mosaics that are under them. There are examples of them at the museum. This is a must do if you are visiting Antalya.

My very first ancient ruin, so I am very impressed! We used the train to get to Aksu, then strolled along the road to Perge, very easy. Train - we were not sure (and am still not sure) if the local tram/bus card works for trains - the train ticket machine was broken but a helpful security guy showed us to use our credit card for entry, very easy.
We arrived about 10am, and thought the place was quiet but by 1pm it was nearly empty which was fun. Try walking to top of the hill (north) for a great view over the whole area.
And yes the arena was open, so keep your original entry ticket in your pocket.

The city covers a huge area, there seems to be many buildings still to discover.
The columns were incredible, so many of them.
The stadium is also worth seeing, as is the theatre. All the statues from the theatre can be seen in Antalya Museum.
Well worth a visit.