The Lycian Way

The path starts right from the vicinity of Fethiye Olu Deniz, one of the most famous beaches in Turkey, but many people choose to abandoned their first evening in the ruins Kayakoy, a Greek village in the 20s and remain today a museum. From there walk on and around the headland for great views down to the beach - seen, as do the gliders.

Before reaching Faralya, you will pass on the hillside offers a glimpse into fiord-like Butterfly Valley, the breeding ground of the Leopard Butterfly. Kaback beach is an optional detour ... Then it's along the cliffs through the villages and Alinca Gey to the remote fortress Pydnai, whose ancient walls overlooking the beautiful golden sand dunes of Patara Beach. The ruins of Xanthos, the ancient Lycian capital is achieved through Kınık Akbelen and from there is a detour for Gelemiş village and the ruins of Patara. From these ruins of a Roman aqueduct, the route follows Delikkemer.

Kale, on some maps as Demre, lies near the ruins of Myra. Walking them is in the path of the Church of the Angel Gabriel in the hills above Myra, but as you get closer to the huge Roman theater is located behind the red rocks out interspersed Lycian tombs carved disclosed. Demre / Kale is also the city where Santa was born.

Pass Kutluca, Zeytin and Alakilise embraced mostly on the coast, which is a mixture of rocky and sandy bays to reach here, the highlight of the route - the literal: 1811 meters at İncegeriş T. Leaving Belus, is one of the most scenic stretches along an edge, top to Finike, then it indicates Kumluca Mavikenic and its view of pine restrict the sight of Cape Gelidonia and the famous lighthouse is flooded, until you're almost upon them and it is dramatically unveiled.

After the lighthouse on the road hugs the coast again, so precarious in some places you can peer into the hidden coves below, there it continues in the direction Adrasan and the Bay of Adrasan, which secured a 2 km long sandy beach of pines has. After the beach to break the line gets steeper up to position the flanks of Musa Dag (Moses Mountain), but the view of Mount Olympos, is worth the effort.

Lycian Way Hiking

My old lady knees are sore and tired! Today I hiked 10 kilometers of the 520 km Lycian Way long distance footpath from Fethiye to Antalya along the south Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It was one of the things that I definitely wanted to do while I was here and I’m delighted that I was able to do it.

10 kilometers of that up and down route, I figure, is equivalent to running a marathon! The jeep from Dragoman Tours, driven by a man whose broken-nosed profile reminded me of the now-deceased English actor Oliver Reed, drove the six of us up the road past Buyuk Cakil beach (which I had ridden up on my bike) and further up and up along a rocky red soil track (what we’d call in BC a logging road) into the hills of the Limon Agzi peninsula. We stopped briefly near the top to walk on the remains of the Silk Road, the ancient caravanserai route from China to Anatolia - wow. I could still see the old wide paving stones that would have originally paved the route. Finally we arrived at the hill village of Ufakdere where we received our ski pole walking sticks

The first downhill stretch was steep and rocky with lots of loose stones, winding down through fields of more stones and olive trees. One of our two guides, Kevser, stopped periodically to put a little pyramid of stones on top of path-side rocks, a marker to indicate to the village people that we were travelling through the area. Our first pit stop for snacks was made at sea-level on a wide field next to the ocean and a ruined seaside house. We watched goats frolic as we snacked. Leaving the beach, we began our upward ascent along the stony path through scrub brush, spiky yellow-flowered bushes, and tiny oak trees, pausing briefly to allow what looked to be a school group of hikers to pass by us. The path, marked by red and white stripes painted on the rocks, went up quite steeply and we had to keep a careful eye on the ground because of the loose stones and the possibility of falling. I really did not want to fall or twist my ankle out there in the middle of nowhere.

Our second rest stop was made at the summit and the third when we reached the opposite side of the peninsula and once again descended to sea level. The rocks along the coast here are all limestone and very pitted and eroded and a bit tricky to navigate in places. It was very, very windy and white capped surf was up on the ocean. We could see the island of Meis directly opposite us, glimmering on the mirrored surface of the ocean. (”Meis” means eye and “Kas” means eyebrow, the names linking these two geographically linked places). From there, another upward stretch took us through canyons of eroded rock and a pomegranate field; guide Alkan explained to us that nomadic people still live in this area and they move from seaside village to the mountains to farm, depending on the time of year. In earlier days pirates were a plague along this coast and people built their villages high in the mountains; later, when the Lycian people became more powerful on the sea, they returned to the coast and built villages ocean-side.

Originally written for Ms. Poiesis 

Eftalya - Daily Boat trips from Oludeniz

So much of Turkey's beautiful coastline is only accessible by boat and the region around Oludeniz is no different. Islands, bays and ancient ruins await you and there aren't many nicer ways to see them than by boat.

It can be a little difficult to get on the right boat trip. If your boat is too crowded, the food poor or drinks expensive then the day can be ruined. We'd like help you avoid that. The Eftelya and her crew will pick you up on the beach at Oludeniz (or maybe at your hotel, see below), and take you on a miniature voyage of discovery. Most days of the week the Eftelya runs as a day boat and picks up custom from the beach. Once or twice a week however she runs trips for Activities Unlimited and the Leventa hotel. On these days the number of passengers is limited and the captain takes you to places most day boats ignore. more information

Highlights of the Lycian Way include

•Spectacular walks on the slopes of Baba Dagi, beneath the flight path of the paragliders.
• Stunning descent to Faralya, above the cliffs of Butterfly Valley.

•The 12km long beach at Patara.
•Spectacular views over the coast from above Kas and Kalkan.
•The castle, harbour and sunken ruins at Ucagiz.
•The church of the Angel Gabriel in the hills above Myra
•A fabulous ridge top walk to Finike.
•Staying at the lighthouse at Cape Gelidonia.
•Climbing Mount Olympos - 2388m.
•Splashing in the canyon at Goynuk.

•And the ruins of hidden Lycian cities, the friendliness of the villagers, the quaint old houses in deserted corners, the deep forests and white rocks, and the blue Mediterranean.

Get In

Both Fethiye and Antalya are well-connected to most cities in the country by inter-city buses. The nearest international airports are located at Dalaman for the western trailhead and at Antalya for eastern end.

It's fairly easy to get to western trailhead by minibuses (dolmuş, take those heading for Ölüdeniz, and get off just south of Ovacık/Hisarönü roundabout, at the large sign of 'Montana Resort Hotel') or even on foot from downtown Fethiye

Lycian Way Satellite Image

Legends 1

The name of the Ottoman period Megre Fethiye. Lycians the city Telmessos name vermişler.Kenti sun god Apollo, found that inanılıyor.Fethiye or formerly Telmessos Lycian an important prophecy merkezi.Kehanet from father to son last one ayrıcalık.Telmessos' lu oracles foretell will also rocks rise above the Mediterranean's blue waters alırlarmış.Belki inspired this ditty that is pretty much the legend of Fethiye.

Telmessos

Lycians that city, first established in a timely manner can seat as an city demiştik.Kenti bay over to where the sun god Apollo kurmuş.Likyalı god Apollo, Phoenician king Agenor, little girls love to olmuş.Çekingen and shy, this little girl's side to approach the cute little dog disguised Apollon.Bir entered a mortal human beings to God as if afraid to explain his love of Apollo. A dog is loyal to her as a young boy found çareyi.Kız had become accustomed to it and won the affection of her, they were married. Was a son of this marriage, named Apollo, also founded Telmessos koymuşlar.Kenti Telmessos son was given the name of the city.

ISLAND PRINCESS vessels of the

Kayaköy near Ship Cove in the past young girls tap their fabrics yıkarlarmış.Bu fabric washing time, the area's young daughter, an entertainment, a feast of nature taşırmış.Genç girls, sea, thrown fabrics in the sea playing with each other are, from one end held fabric to the island is extended, whom the fabric of the island's land in the first If you value it held before the murat miserable.

Long before the island's beauty, a legendary girl yaşarmış.Babası king, this girl's beauty of seeing the country's young men, now her lover olurlarmış.Aşkları unrequited remainder of this young life to the kıyarlarmış.Kral this situation so much trouble that eventually her daughter's ring appear yasaklamış.Denizi Loving father had built a beautiful princess from the sea will be reduced by a covered gallery, was floating.

STORY ÖLÜDENİZ BELCEKIZ

A stormy day, a father and son in front of Yediburunlar ship was caught in raging water, storm.

Son knows were here because the Belcekız name in the region living with a girl sevdalıymış.Kayalara come near a cove can enter and storm escape would have told babasına.Baba the pile, and parts ways of here, the place is not steep rocks in claim dururmuş.Aralarında such a violent push-shoving began that his father full-time fund would pile up, threw his son into the sea with a steering oar strokes to have a look at that sea geçmiş.Bir round, flat, flat as a sheet is transformed into a bay.

Father aboard the bay sığınmış.Gemisi and loads freed but her son dead in the burnt tutuşmuş.Günlerce mourners have sea ağlamış.Gözyaşları, cries beads beaches bounces against the slopes sarmış.Belcekız beloved dead have heard and himself at sea as lover to recover dream was. Since then, his son died, where she died, where the Dead Sea and the dedicated Belcekız.

One of the Sunday Times World's Ten Best Walks

The Lycian Way follows 500 km of ancient footpaths and mule roads that linked the villages of the Turquoise Coast before the coming of the car. Waymarked to Grande Randonnee standards, the Lycian Way is now open; this book is the official guide.

Lycia is the historical name of the Teke Peninsula, which is the bump on Turkey's Mediterranean coast between the cities of Fethiye and Antalya. It is the western termination of the Toros mountains, which curl in a double arc around the central Lycian plateau and dominate the south coast.

This book is a guide to Turkey's first waymarked long distance footpath, the Lycian Way. Using the route descriptions in the book and following the Grande Randonnee style red and white flashes you can walk safely and enjoyably around the Lycian coast.

http://www.pandora.com.tr/urun.aspx?id=79893

Trekking in Turkey Video

Trekking in Turkey in the Antalya region. We started on April 11th in Göynuk and finished on April 17th in Finike. Highlights included Mt. Tahtali (AKA Mt. Olympos) and the lighthouse at Cape Gelidonia.

 by Marosh Galovic
More info: lycianway.com

Lycian Way Guide

Lycian Way Guide prepared by Garanti Bank, in 60. years event. This guide inviting the their nature and history buffs, of Lycian Way from Fethiye to Antalya to explore extending invites. "Fethiye and Antalya Lycian Way" book, the Lycian Way in the walk for those who wish, accommodation of the road condition, the necessary materials to water resources, the stage distance between the little travel tip wide range of information is located. In one of the most beautiful region of Turkey, to the depth of history books that appeal to those who want to travel, was sold for TL 15.

With the guarantee that the work of the Lycian Way, 50th The anniversary was celebrated in 1996, Turkey has held values in order to shed light on the "Four Light Tomorrow" project began with a contest.
Environment, education, sports and competitions, including industrial design issues, the environment in the first branch of the "Lycian Way from Fethiye to Antalya" project has won.

Guarantee, "the value it adds to the natural environment of the community and significantly increase permanent and" principle, the project was not only satisfied award. Important historical works on the Lycian Way, Turkey Antalya Culture and Natural Heritage Protection of the Ministry of Culture with the permission of the Board were reviewed.
Marking system was created in accordance with international standards. Warranty routing signs of the contributions is reviewed twice a year maintenance.
Source

What the Press Said About Lycian Way

There are too many press about the Lycian Way in this site, some of them;

Daily Telegraph - August 2002, Anna Sutton
Sunday Times - March 2002, Jeremy Seal
Sunday Times - July 2000, Tim Salmon
Walking Abroad - Autumn 1999, Kate Clow
MeeTurkey - Summer 2002, Sevil Oren
On the Edge - Summer 2000, Alastair Lee
Boston Globe - Summer 2003, Lynn Levine
Op Pad - March 2004, Roel van den Eijnde
MeeTurkey - Spring 2004, Kate Clow

Prepare

You may consider bringing in:

Maps— Maps, usually available with some guidebooks, may be useful for spotting the water sources at least, but they are not absolute necessities to follow the trail as waymarks are sufficient to do that. Some maps, with varying degrees of detail, can also be found online for free.

Tent and camping gear— While you'll find some kind of accommodation (mostly family-run guesthouses) in some villages (usually separated from each other by a distance of average daily walk) along most of the route, there are some sections where wild camping is your only choice for two nights on a row. Even if you don't plan to hike such a section, camping is a great way to reduce your accommodation costs and having camping gear at hand gives much more freedom: Who wants to walk the further 5 km to the guesthouse you plan to overnight while you are totally exhausted and are standing against a gorgeous view? But this choice, of course, has a toll: The lighter the backpack, the happier you will be.

A torch— To have a torch or some other source of light is a must as no part of the trail, apart from those traversing the villages, is illimunated at night, and it quickly becomes a nightmare to follow the waymarks once the night sets.

A phrasebook— Bring in a Turkish phrasebook as the trail goes through really remote mountain hamlets and most villages along the route hardly sees any non-locals, let alone foreigners, other than the hikers - although sometimes only a few km (and a good deal of elevation) separates these remote villages from mass tourism.

Bottles and bottles of water— Hot and dry Mediterranean climate reigns the area, and you'll need lots of water. If it's summer, be ready to walk under the scorching sun for 3-4 hours straight without ever seeing a source of water in some sections of the trail.

Signs and waymarks

The standard waymark of Lycian Way is a half white, half red rectangle. There is no uniform distance between each marks along the route, when the trail start to twist and turn, they become more frequent and when the trail lies as a straight line, converting into an easily-visible path, then they become rarer. They are mostly painted on rocks along the route, though you can also spot some on utility poles, garden walls, or on the actual path itself.
Side paths straying from the main trail -and usually arriving in very off-the-beaten-path sites (in a literal sense!)- have marks similar to the standard rectangles, just yellow replaces white.

Other waymarks include a "turning" or an "S" rectangle (again half white, half red) with an arrow on, which mean there is a curve (or S-curves) coming ahead. They sometimes can be found immediately before the curve. A "red cross" is marked on "wrong" trails and roads, usually accompanied by the standard rectangle painted on the "correct" way.

Once every five or so years, a number of volunteers replenish the waymarks. However, in the meantime some local villagers, at their all good will, repaint the marks on some sections and this may cause the new marks shifting a few (hundred) metres on either side of the actual trail. However, this is not a very big problem as the "new" marks will join the "old" marks somewhere in some way, so you will not get lost even by following these "accidentally" painted marks.

Signs, easily-recognizable, distinctive yellow arrows with the header Fethiye'den Antalya'ya Likya Yolu, i.e. Lycian Way Fethiye to Antalya, are nowhere as frequent as the waymarks, but still can be seen, and indeed are useful, on most junctions (where for example trail separates from a main road) and at village exits. They name the next destination on it with the distance in kilometres. Note the distances on signs are approximate, so don't worry if you see the distance going up or down by 1 km on the next sign.

Understand

Investigated and then waymarked by Kate Clow, a Britishwoman living in Turkey, with the help of a number of volunteers and Turkish Ministry of Culture in early 2000s, Lycian Way connects a number of villages, mountain hamlets, Lycian and Roman sites on its route and ranges from 0 mt (sea level) to 1,800 mt summit of Mt Tahtalı (known by the name Olympos in ancient times) at elevation. It's not a single footpath that has been intact since times immemorial, rather it's a collection of ancient paths, mule and caravan trails, forest and backcountry roads. For many sites, it's the most convenient way to get to, and still many others let themselves to be enjoyed only by those taking the effort to hike the trail.

 

Although there are some hikers doing the whole trail in one go, most people prefer to do it in sections, and in fact some sections are more popular than others. Some short sections of the trail near the major towns can even be regarded as a day trip.

Once littered, it is very hard to clean the trail up, as it mostly lies on a remote and rugged territory. Therefore, following leave-no-trace guidelines is important. Also, think ahead carefully about what you will need and what you won't, as anything that is regarded as "trash" will need to be carried to the nearest garbage bin - a convenience even some of the mountain hamlets completely lack, let alone the trail itself.
April-May and October-November is reported to be best to hike the trail, as it's warm (but not infernally hot unlike in summer!) and not rainy (unlike winter) during these months

Lycian Way Marathon

Lycian Way Ultramarathon, which is going to be the first ultramarathon in Turkey, is an international organization, based on endurance.

The marathon is going to be run on a section of the Lycian Way, between 220 and 250 kilometers. The whole Lycian Way is 509 kilometers long between Fethiye and Antalya. The actual details about the racecourse and the road-map will be given to the participants just before the race starts.
http://www.lycianwayultramarathon.com/?Dep&Lang=EN

Likya Road

Turkey has two long distance trekking routes: The Lycian Way –opened in 1999, and The St Paul Trail –opened in 2004.

Both trails are about 500km long. Kate Clow with Terry Richardson researched designed and implemented both trails. Many other volunteers, including Atil Ulas Cuce and Kerem Karaerkek, who own Middle Earth Travel, helped. Kate and Terry produced the guide books and maps to the two trails, assisted by George Zsiga, who drew the maps and Ueli Aellig and others who took GPS readings.


"Lycian Way" three-thousand-year old trade yolu.Garanti Bank in 1996, our country has values out to design competition regulations and British nationals, subsequently Snowdrop Snow called the British Kate Clow'un has to offer "Lycian Way" project, the first election road again today kazandırılmıştır.Kate Clow marked by "Lycian Way", Fethiye, Ölüdeniz, starting Pension Village, Butterfly Valley, pumpkin, dark Seven Burunlar.Sdyma Pýnara, Letoon, Xanthos ancient cities, fine sand of Patara, the first part tamamlar.Toplam length 509 kilometers, this road second part Antiphellos, Apollonia, Simena, Kekova, Myra, Limyra and centuries unquenchable fires Chimera, Olympos after in Antalya last bulmaktadır.Bu roads of international standards işaretlenmiştir.Üst top red and white signs that the correct route shows.

"Lycian Way", this way is called the tallest in Europe 4, dünyanında regarded as one of the most beautiful walking routes 10 ediliyor.Kimi coastline, sometimes when watching the 1800 meters in height.
Turkey's hidden paradise of the reserves as "Lycian Way" Today, domestic and foreign, nature and hiking enthusiasts incredible beauty sunmaktadır.Dağların, forests, beaches, pastures and through the history intimately July this difficult path and to nature and himself made a voyage of discovery as düşünebiliriz.Ayrıca "Lycian Way" will be held in a pleasant walk, a small mountain village on the road in the warm and friendly people, provides the opportunity to introduce the semi-nomadic life.

While you may not participate in your holiday to the Lycian day hike 3-5 miles of walking in the forest as well as going from a high of watching Ölüdeniz and the "Lycian Way" s of the relish.

Fethiye Transportation

Fethiye Transportation
Fethiye can be reached by the Izmir-Mugla highway as well as by the route of Antalya-Fethiye accompanied by an extraordinarily beautiful panorama.There is also a road Between Burdur and Fethiye.
For those preferring sea voyages,the Turkish Maritime Lines organize mediterranean tours and there are seabuses between Fethiye and Rhodes during the tourism season.

Transportation by air is possible from the Dalaman Airport (50 kms) and the Antalya Airport (210 kms).
How to Go?

By Road : Fethiye can be reached easily by road from all cities in Turkey. (turkeyarena.com)

By Air: The nearest airports are Dalaman Airport (50 kms) and Bodrum Airport (2250 kms). Besides the flights of Turkish Airlines both in summer and winter, it is also possible to benefir from the flights from Europan cities during tourism season. Antalya Airport, at a distance of 3 hours from Fethiye, also provides transportation to Fethiye.

By Sea : Naturally sheltered Fethiye harbour is a resort place for all yatch owners. The ships belong to Turkish Maritime Lines also stop by Fethiye.

Transportation to Likya

Fethiye, Turkey's south-west in a popular tourist merkezidir.Turizmin well as agriculture and citrus fruits in terms highly developed be a center because of transportation facilities gelişmiştir.Ulaşım usually by road, is done only in Dalaman airport to town is 55 km away by air districts our Attached arrivals The number increased.

Transportation by road is also very kolaydır.Antalya Fethiye, Mugla and Burdur three road, pine trees, with a comfortable journey to be made between Fethiye allows visitors easy access.

All three directions the regular bus service Fethiye all other cities and the link sağlamaktadır.Hava transportation to the nearest airport 55 km away from Dalaman Havalimanıdır.Türk Airlines summer and winter pursued in Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Antalya connected flights as well as the tourist season throughout Europe 's are doing a lot of flights to the city as well.

Sea routes with scheduled transportation is not. But in the summer in Greece Rhodes Island ferry düzenlenmektedir.Ayrıca during summer months the Fethiye-Kas, Fethiye and Marmaris, Fethiye and Bodrum aspects of the Blue Voyage tours and bay in the island trips are organized.

Likya Hotels, Staying in Likya

Fethiye, Mediterranean Sea embraces all the flavors together. Natural beauty and historical richness around the sightseeing that has so many places, it is not easy to visit for a few days. There is everything for a holiday. History, sun, culture, water sports, paragliding, scuba diving, historical sites, coves, cuisine and shopping ... Hidden City, Ölüdeniz, Kaya Village, Butterfly Valley, 12 Islands boat tour, Dalyan or alternative tours of the town, the chaos, pollution away, and light country Lycian cities Letoon, Tlos Cadianda, Xanthos, Pınara at yesterday today able to live. Of the Mediterranean city of turquoise pearl of Kalkan with us to relax, have fun on holiday and to live together in your hand. Another possible vacation...

 Hotel Flash

Çalış / FETHİYE

Klas Hotel

Ölüdeniz / FETHİYE

Useful Lycian Way Maps

History of the Lycian Way

Lycian, BC 3. In the second half and the 2nd millennium came to Anatolia has lived for millennia in the southern Anatolian region of Anatolia which is the oldest Indo-European peoples Luviler'in after the disintegration of a part that is said to have continued. Luwian Luwian language of the Hittites and the Hittite with the residents of the close relatives are taken into consideration as well Likyaca'nın Hittite connection is understood. Hittite language name Lukka Lycia.




Established the first known in history as a democratic union, but the names of the areas today known Lycian spread lies between Antalya and Fethiye, is the region called the Teke Peninsula. Geopolitical importance, its unique nature and the different cities, even though they have come together to create a common culture and share it and live there as long as they are to be had. You have left behind them they can survive up to now can be seen easily in the monitoring of work.

What is the Likya?

Likya Road is started at Fethiye and ended in Antalya (Turkey). It is a different walking road style for trekking. Likya Road was founded by Kate Clow in 1999. You can stay in road near the hotels or camping areas. The Likya Road was flavoured by volunteers and sponsors. You can visit the road in summer better.