Turkey: the Lycian Coast from Antalya to Fethiye

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Antalya

   Antalya Airport to Kaleiçi, Antalya's old town

   • Environ 18 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Antalya
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Antalya Airport (AYT), about 15 km east of the centre. A driver meets you in arrivals whatever time you land and takes you to your hotel in or beside Kaleiçi, the walled old town above the harbour. If you arrive early, the afternoon is yours: the old town lanes, a swim from the rocks at Mermerli, or a rest after the flight. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week, then walks you through Kaleiçi: Hadrian's Gate, raised for the emperor's visit in AD 130, the fluted Yivli Minaret and the stairs down to the old harbour, where the Taurus Mountains go pink across the bay as the sun drops. Dinner tonight is together, at a local restaurant in the old town, with mezze, grilled fish and a chance to meet the people you will travel with.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Antalya Airport (AYT)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk in Kaleiçi: Hadrian's Gate, the Yivli Minaret and the old harbour
   • Welcome dinner in Kaleiçi

   Temps libre : Free until the early evening briefing

   

2. Jour 2 : Termessos at opening, Aspendos late

   Antalya to Termessos, then Aspendos, and back to Antalya

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Antalya
   Détail du jour 2

   We leave Kaleiçi early and drive about 45 minutes into the mountains to Termessos, a city built at about 1,000 m inside a pine-covered national park. Alexander the Great looked at its walls in 333 BC and moved on. We are there at opening, while the air is cool and before the tour groups arrive. The path climbs past the city gate and cisterns to the theatre, which sits on the edge of a drop with the peaks behind it, then on to tombs scattered through the trees. Lunch is sit-down at a village restaurant below the park. In the afternoon we drive east to Aspendos, timed for the late afternoon when the morning coaches have left. Its Roman theatre, built in the 2nd century AD, is one of the most complete anywhere: the stage building still stands to full height. Walk up to the top row, then out to the arches of the aqueduct. Back in Antalya for a free evening.

   Compris

   • Termessos with your guide at opening: the city gate, the theatre and the tombs
   • Sit-down lunch below Termessos
   • Aspendos in the late afternoon: the Roman theatre and the aqueduct

   Option plus facile : At Termessos, walk only as far as the theatre and come back down at your own pace, or wait in the shade at the car park.

   Option plus active : Climb on past the theatre to the upper necropolis, where sarcophagi lie tumbled through the forest.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Antalya

   Activité : Termessos is a 2 to 3 hour visit uphill on rough stone paths with no shade on some stretches. Aspendos is flat apart from the theatre steps.

   

3. Jour 3 : The Antalya Museum and the coast road to Kaş

   Antalya to Demre (Myra), then Kaş

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kaş
   Détail du jour 3

   We start at the Antalya Museum when it opens, while you still have yesterday's sites in your head: statues from Perge, the hall of Roman gods and sarcophagi carved with the labours of Hercules. The museum is closed on Mondays; if today is one, we go on day 1 instead. We keep the visit to about 90 minutes, so Myra keeps its time; if the morning runs late, the stop at the St Nicholas church is shortened. Then we take the coast road west, the longest drive of the trip at about three and a half hours in all, broken up so no stretch runs much over an hour and a half. The road runs between the mountains and the sea past Kemer and Finike to Demre. Lunch is sit-down in Demre. Afterwards we visit Myra, where Lycian tombs are cut into the cliff like house fronts above a Roman theatre, and the Church of St Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop behind the Santa Claus story. The last 50 minutes follow the cliffs to Kaş, a small harbour town of white houses and bougainvillea. Settle in for three nights.

   Compris

   • The Antalya Museum with your guide (on day 1 if day 3 is a Monday, when it is closed)
   • Sit-down lunch in Demre
   • Myra: the rock tombs and the theatre
   • The Church of St Nicholas, Demre

   Temps libre : Evening free in Kaş

   Activité : The longest drive of the trip, broken by the museum, lunch and Myra. The museum is closed on Mondays; if day 3 is a Monday we visit it at about 4 pm on day 1.

   

4. Jour 4 : A boat day to Kekova

   Kaş to Üçağız, then by boat to Kekova and Kaleköy (Simena), and back

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kaş
   Détail du jour 4

   A short drive east brings us to Üçağız, a fishing village on a sheltered bay, where a boat for our group only is waiting. We leave before the day boats from Kaş arrive. Along the north shore of Kekova Island, the walls, steps and house foundations of an ancient town lie half under the water, dropped by earthquakes in antiquity. Swimming over the ruins is not allowed, so the boat drifts past slowly while your guide explains what you are looking at. At Kaleköy, the old Simena, a short climb leads to a small castle and a tiny theatre cut into the rock, with a view over the bay and a Lycian sarcophagus standing in the shallows. Lunch is cooked on board. In the afternoon the boat stops in two or three coves for swimming in water clear to the bottom, then heads back to Üçağız. Back in Kaş by late afternoon; the evening is yours.

   Compris

   • Full-day boat for our group from Üçağız
   • The sunken city along Kekova Island, seen from the deck
   • Simena castle and its rock-cut theatre at Kaleköy
   • Lunch cooked on board
   • Swim stops in two or three coves

   Option plus facile : Stay on deck in the shade at Kaleköy instead of the climb to the castle.

   Option plus active : Swim at every stop and snorkel along the rocky shore, away from the protected ruins.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Kaş

   Activité : The climb at Kaleköy is about 15 minutes on uneven steps. If the sea is too rough to sail, we swap this day with day 5 or spend it on foot around Kaş.

5. Jour 5 : The Lycian Way and Patara

   Kaş to the Lycian Way near Patara, then Patara and back to Kaş

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kaş
   Détail du jour 5

   The Lycian Way is a waymarked path of more than 500 km between Fethiye and Antalya. We leave Kaş at about 7:15 for the hour's drive and start walking at about 8:30, before the heat: about 3 hours of stony trail through scrub and olive terraces past the Delikkemer stretch of the Patara aqueduct, where the stone water pipe crosses a saddle above the plain. Your guide sets the pace and the vehicle meets us at Patara. Lunch is sit-down in Gelemiş, the village beside Patara. In the afternoon we explore Patara, a major Lycian port and the birthplace of St Nicholas: the restored assembly hall where the Lycian League met, the colonnaded street and the old lighthouse. Then walk over the dunes to Patara beach, 18 km of sand, for a swim. Back in Kaş in time for dinner wherever you like.

   Compris

   • A guided morning on the Lycian Way, with the vehicle meeting us at the far end
   • Sit-down lunch in Gelemiş
   • Patara: the assembly hall, the colonnaded street and the lighthouse
   • Time to swim at Patara beach

   Option plus facile : Skip the walk: rest in Kaş for the morning and join the group in Gelemiş for lunch and Patara, or walk only the first hour to the aqueduct and ride on.

   Option plus active : Walk the full section with your guide at an unhurried pace and stop longer at the aqueduct.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Kaş

   Activité : The walk is about 3 hours on stony trail with some short climbs. Patara beach closes at night in the turtle nesting season, so we leave before sunset.

   

6. Jour 6 : Xanthos, Letoon and on to Fethiye

   Kaş to Xanthos and Letoon, then Fethiye

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Fethiye
   Détail du jour 6

   We leave Kaş after a slow breakfast and drive about an hour west to Xanthos, the capital of ancient Lycia, listed by UNESCO with nearby Letoon in 1988. Pillar tombs stand on the hill above the theatre, and the copy of the Harpy Tomb shows where its carved panels stood before they went to the British Museum. A few minutes away is Letoon, the sanctuary of Leto and her children Apollo and Artemis, where three temples stand side by side and frogs live in the flooded sanctuary pool. Lunch is sit-down in Kınık. From there it is about an hour north to Fethiye, a working harbour town at the head of a bay full of islands. We arrive mid-afternoon, with time to unpack and walk the harbour. Before sunset, climb the steps to the Tomb of Amyntas, a 4th-century BC temple front carved into the cliff above town, for the view over the bay.

   Compris

   • Xanthos with your guide: the theatre, the pillar tombs and the Harpy Tomb
   • Letoon and its three temples
   • Sit-down lunch in Kınık
   • The Tomb of Amyntas above Fethiye at sunset

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Fethiye

   Activité : The climb to the Tomb of Amyntas is a few minutes up steep steps; you can watch the sunset from the harbour instead.

7. Jour 7 : Kayaköy and the Ölüdeniz lagoon

   Fethiye to Kayaköy, then down to Ölüdeniz and back to Fethiye

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Fethiye
   Détail du jour 7

   Kayaköy is fifteen minutes from Fethiye and best early, so we leave at about 8. Hundreds of roofless stone houses climb the hillside: this was Levissi, a Greek town emptied in the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey and never resettled. Your guide walks you up through the lanes to the churches and tells the story of the families who left. From the top of the village an old stone path leads over the ridge and down to Ölüdeniz, about three hours on foot with the lagoon coming into view as you descend; the vehicle takes anyone who would rather ride. The afternoon is free at Ölüdeniz: swim in the calm water of the lagoon inside the nature park, or watch the paragliders drop from Babadağ, the mountain behind the beach. We are back in Fethiye for the evening, when the group shares a farewell dinner, perhaps at the fish market where you pick the fish and a restaurant cooks it.

   Compris

   • Kayaköy (Levissi) with your guide
   • The Ölüdeniz lagoon nature park entry
   • Farewell dinner in Fethiye

   Activités en option

   • Tandem paragliding from Babadağ (price shown before you book; weight and weather limits apply)

   Option plus facile : Ride from Kayaköy to Ölüdeniz in the vehicle instead of walking the old path.

   Option plus active : Walk the old path from Kayaköy over the ridge to Ölüdeniz, about three hours, mostly downhill, arriving around lunchtime.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free at Ölüdeniz; lunch on your own

   Activité : The path to Ölüdeniz is stony and steep in places on the descent; walking poles help.

   

8. Jour 8 : Fethiye to Dalaman Airport

   Fethiye to Dalaman Airport (DLM)

   • Environ 54 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 8

   The last morning is free. Walk along the harbour, have a long breakfast, browse the Fethiye market if your last day is a Tuesday, or take a last swim. Late morning we drive about 50 minutes west to Dalaman Airport (DLM), passing the pine-covered hills above Göcek and its bay of islands. Your guide comes with you to the airport and checks you in before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm; many routes from Dalaman connect through Istanbul, and international schedules are thinner in May and October than in summer, so check your connection times. If you would like to stay on the coast, we can add nights in Fethiye or a transfer to another town before your trip begins or after it ends; ask us when you request to book and we will quote them.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Dalaman Airport (DLM) with your guide

   Temps libre : Morning free in Fethiye

   Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm.

Faune et météo : May, June, September and October bring warm sea and walkable days; July and August are very hot and crowded. Loggerhead turtles nest on Patara beach from about May to October, when it closes at night.

• Antalya2 nuits
• Kaş3 nuits
• Fethiye2 nuits