Turkey: Walking the Lycian Way from Kabak to Çıralı

1. Day 1: Arrive in Dalaman, on to Kabak

   Dalaman Airport to Fethiye, then Kabak

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Kabak
   Day 1 details

   A driver meets you in arrivals at Dalaman Airport (DLM) and your See Sight Tours guide joins the group for the drive east. The first stretch, about 50 minutes, runs over the pine hills above Göcek to Fethiye, a harbour town at the head of a bay of islands, where we stop for a coffee and a stretch on the waterfront. From Fethiye the road climbs past Ölüdeniz and along a ledge cut into the side of Babadağ, with the sea far below, through the village of Faralya and down into Kabak. There are no large hotels in the valley, only small lodges among the pines and terraces. We arrive in the late afternoon, in time to watch the light go off the sea from the terrace. Your guide gives a short briefing on the walks ahead and checks your shoes and daypack. Tonight the group shares a welcome dinner together at the lodge.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Dalaman Airport (DLM)
   • Coffee stop on the Fethiye waterfront
   • Welcome briefing and kit check with your guide
   • Welcome dinner at the lodge in Kabak

   Free time: Free on arrival in Kabak until dinner

   Activity: The last 30 km to Kabak are steep and winding. Land at Dalaman by about 2 pm; later arrivals are met and driven straight to Kabak.

   

2. Day 2: Above Butterfly Valley to Kabak

   Kabak to Faralya by vehicle, then on foot along the Lycian Way back to Kabak

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kabak
   Day 2 details

   The Lycian Way is a waymarked path of more than 500 km from Fethiye to Antalya, and today you walk one of its best-known stretches. The vehicle takes us a few minutes up the road to Faralya and we start walking at about 8:30, while the cliffs are still in shade. The trail follows the rim of Butterfly Valley, a deep cleft whose stream runs out to a beach far below, then contours along the mountainside through pine and scrub with the sea on your left the whole way. It is about 8 km of stony path with a few short climbs. We reach Kabak village before noon and stop for a sit-down lunch of gözleme, salads and village bread. The afternoon is free: the steep path down to Kabak beach takes about 40 minutes, and the swim at the bottom is the reward. Dinner is on your own, at the lodge or a valley restaurant.

   Included

   • Guided walk on the Lycian Way from Faralya to Kabak, along the rim of Butterfly Valley
   • Sit-down lunch in Kabak village

   Optional experiences

   • Boat from Kabak beach to the Butterfly Valley beach, in season and calm weather (price shown before you book)

   Easier option: Walk the first hour along the Butterfly Valley rim to the viewpoint and back, then ride to Kabak for lunch.

   More active option: Walk the whole stage, then go on down the path to Kabak beach and back up, about 2 extra hours.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Kabak; dinner on your own

   Activity: About 8 km and 4 to 5 hours on feet with stops, on stony path with drops beside the trail. The path down into Butterfly Valley itself uses fixed ropes and is not part of the walk.

   

3. Day 3: Patara and on to Kaş

   Kabak to Patara, then Kaş

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kaş
   Day 3 details

   A slow morning in Kabak, with time for a last swim or a coffee on the terrace, before we drive back up the valley road and east through Fethiye and the Eşen plain, about two hours in all with a stop on the way. Patara was one of the leading ports of ancient Lycia and the birthplace of St Nicholas. Before the ruins we sit down to lunch in Gelemiş, the farming village beside the site. Then your guide walks you through Patara: the restored assembly hall where the cities of the Lycian League sent their delegates, the colonnaded street, the theatre half buried in sand and the old lighthouse by the silted harbour. From the ruins a boardwalk crosses the dunes to Patara beach, 18 km of sand, where you can swim. We leave in the late afternoon for the 50 minute drive to Kaş, a white harbour town under the mountains. Settle in for three nights.

   Included

   • Sit-down lunch in Gelemiş
   • Patara with your guide: the assembly hall, the colonnaded street, the theatre and the lighthouse
   • Time to swim at Patara beach

   Free time: Morning free in Kabak; evening free in Kaş

   Activity: Patara is a flat site of about 2 hours on sandy paths with little shade. In the loggerhead turtle nesting season (about May to October) Patara beach closes from dusk to morning, so our swim is in the afternoon and we leave before sunset; nesting areas are marked and stay off limits.

4. Day 4: Patara to Kalkan on foot

   Kaş to Gelemiş, on foot via the Delikkemer aqueduct to Kalkan, then back to Kaş

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kaş
   Day 4 details

   The longest walk of the trip. We leave Kaş at about 6:45 for the hour-long drive west past Kalkan and start from Gelemiş at about 8, before the heat. Early in the walk the path passes the Delikkemer aqueduct, part of the Roman water supply to Patara: a pressure pipeline of carved stone blocks, a largely intact inverted siphon, and your guide stops to show how it worked. The trail climbs on through olive terraces and low scrub, with the Patara dunes and the sea opening out behind you. We eat a packed lunch in the shade on the way. The later section runs along the hillside above the coast and drops into Kalkan, a small harbour town of whitewashed houses with wooden balconies. Finish with a tea or a cold drink on the harbour while the vehicle comes round; we are back in Kaş, 35 minutes away, by late afternoon. The evening is yours.

   Included

   • Guided walk on the Lycian Way from Gelemiş to Kalkan
   • The Delikkemer aqueduct
   • Packed lunch on the trail
   • Tea on Kalkan harbour

   Easier option: Walk the first hour with the group to the Delikkemer aqueduct and back to the vehicle, then ride round to meet everyone in Kalkan, or spend the day in Kaş and meet us for dinner.

   More active option: Walk the full stage, about 14 km, at an unhurried pace with a longer stop at the aqueduct.

   Free time: Evening free in Kaş

   Activity: About 14 km and 5 to 6 hours on feet, with a climb of about 400 m and a long, stony descent into Kalkan. Walking poles help. Carry 2 litres of water.

5. Day 5: Aperlai on foot, Kekova by boat

   Kaş to the Aperlai trailhead, on foot to Aperlai, then by boat (out from Üçağız) to Kekova and Simena, back to Üçağız and Kaş

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Kaş
   Day 5 details

   After two big walks, a day split between the trail and the water. We drive about 40 minutes east to the trailhead near Boğazcık and walk down through pine and scrub to Aperlai, an ancient Lycian port on a narrow neck of land that is reached only on foot or by sea. Its harbour buildings slid under the water in antiquity, and you can see their walls in the shallows beside the shore. At the cove our boat collects us; it has come out from Üçağız harbour, where anyone taking the easy option boarded with the vehicle. Lunch is cooked on board as we cross to Kekova Island, where the walls, stairs and house foundations of a sunken town lie along the north shore. Swimming above the ruins is not allowed, so the boat drifts slowly past. At Kaleköy, the old Simena, a short climb leads to a small castle with a view over the bay. The boat returns to Üçağız and we are back in Kaş by late afternoon.

   Included

   • Guided walk to Aperlai and its sunken harbour
   • Boat for our group from Aperlai to Kekova and Kaleköy
   • Lunch cooked on board
   • The sunken city along Kekova Island, seen from the deck
   • Simena castle at Kaleköy
   • Swim stops in the coves

   Optional experiences

   • Sea kayaking along the Kekova coast, away from the protected ruins (price shown before you book)

   Easier option: Skip the walk: ride with the vehicle to Üçağız harbour and board the boat there in the morning; it then calls at the Aperlai cove for the walkers before Kekova.

   More active option: Explore the Aperlai shore and the path beyond with your guide for an extra hour while the boat waits in the cove.

   Free time: Evening free in Kaş

   Activity: About 3 to 4 hours on feet in all, mostly downhill to Aperlai on stony path, plus 15 minutes of uneven steps at Simena. Whether a boat may land at the Aperlai cove is an ops check before departures are confirmed; if it may not, the walkers climb back to the trailhead (about 1.5 hours more) and board at Üçağız. If the sea is too rough, we walk around Kaş instead.

6. Day 6: Myra, then the Chimaera at dusk

   Kaş to Demre (Myra), then Çıralı

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Çıralı
   Day 6 details

   A rest from walking. We leave Kaş mid-morning for Demre, about 50 minutes east, and visit Myra, where the Lycians cut their tombs into the cliff face like the fronts of timber houses, above a Roman theatre carved with theatre masks. Lunch is sit-down in Demre. Then we follow the coast road through Finike and Kumluca, between the mountains and the greenhouses, and turn down to Çıralı, a village of orange groves and small pensions behind a long pebble beach, about 1 hour 45 minutes to two hours from Demre. There is time to unpack and swim. Before sunset we drive a few minutes to the foot of Mount Chimaera and walk up a stepped path, about 25 minutes, to the Chimaera itself: dozens of small flames fed by natural gas burning out of cracks in the rock, as they have since antiquity. They show best as the light fades. Walk down by torchlight; dinner on your own in the village.

   Included

   • Myra with your guide: the rock tombs and the theatre
   • Sit-down lunch in Demre
   • The Chimaera flames (Yanartaş) at dusk with your guide

   Easier option: Stay in Çıralı for the evening instead of the climb to the flames.

   Free time: Afternoon by the beach in Çıralı; dinner on your own

   Activity: The Chimaera path is about 1 km of steps and rocky track, climbing about 150 m; bring a torch or headlamp for the walk down. In the loggerhead turtle nesting season (about May to October) Çıralı beach closes at night, so the afternoon swim ends before we leave for the flames, and nesting areas are marked and off limits.

7. Day 7: Olympos and a beach afternoon

   Çıralı on foot along the beach to Olympos, and back

   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Çıralı
   Day 7 details

   We start at about 8:30 and walk south along Çıralı beach, about 3.5 km of pebble and sand, to the mouth of the Olympos valley. The ancient city was a member of the Lycian League and later a base for the pirates that Rome cleared from this coast in the 1st century BC. Its ruins are spread along both banks of a stream under plane trees and oleander: a temple doorway standing on its own in the woods, a theatre, bath houses, Byzantine walls and tombs, some with their inscriptions still sharp. Your guide takes about two hours through the site before we walk back up the beach, or ride back if you prefer. Lunch is on your own in the village. The afternoon is free for swimming and lying in the shade. In the evening the group shares a farewell dinner at a family restaurant in Çıralı, with grilled fish, mezze and the orange groves around you.

   Included

   • Guided walk along Çıralı beach to Olympos
   • Olympos ancient city with your guide
   • Farewell dinner in Çıralı

   Easier option: Ride to the Olympos entrance and back with the vehicle and walk only through the ruins.

   More active option: Before breakfast, climb the Lycian Way from Çıralı towards Ulupınar for a view over the bay, about 2 hours return with your guide.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Çıralı; lunch on your own

   Activity: About 4 hours on feet, flat apart from short scrambles in the ruins; the beach walk is on pebbles.

8. Day 8: Phaselis and Antalya Airport

   Çıralı to Phaselis, then Antalya Airport (AYT)

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   We leave Çıralı after an early breakfast for Phaselis, about 30 minutes north, so we are there at opening and ahead of the day trips from Kemer and Antalya. The town was founded by colonists from Rhodes and grew rich on trade from three harbours. Today a paved main street runs between them under the pines, past the agora, the baths and a small theatre, with the aqueduct arches at one end. Walk to the south harbour, where ruins run down into clear, calm water, and swim if you like. Late morning we drive about 70 km north along the coast past Kemer to Antalya Airport (AYT), about 1 hour 15 minutes. Your guide comes with you to the terminal before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm. If you would like to stay on in Antalya, we can drop you in the old town and quote extra nights when you request to book.

   Included

   • Phaselis with your guide at opening: the main street, the theatre and the harbours
   • Drop-off at Antalya Airport (AYT) or in Antalya's old town

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: April and May bring wildflowers, green hills and a sea warming to swimmable by May; October has a warm sea and cooler walking days. Loggerhead turtles nest on Patara and Çıralı beaches from about May to October, when the beaches close at night and we keep evening swims to daylight. June to September is too hot for long stages on this coast.

• Kabak2 nights
• Kaş3 nights
• Çıralı2 nights