Southern Denizli: Tavas, Ancient Tabae, Acıpayam, Bozdağ and Çameli

Drive south out of Denizli toward Muğla, Fethiye or Antalya and the road climbs out of the Lycus basin into the high, rugged plateaus of Tavas, Kale, Acıpayam and Çameli. Breaking your drive along this southern mountain corridor reveals a 3,000-year-old rock-cut cliff town, a stalactite cavern, a 2,420-metre winter ski resort and one of Turkey's quietest Cittaslow highland districts.

Tavas and the cliff fortress of Kale-i Tavas (Ancient Tabae)

Roughly 45 km south-west of Denizli (past Serinhisar, Turkey's roasted-chickpea leblebi capital, and the knife-making town of Yatağan with its starlit 1,350-metre Kefe Yaylası pine plateau), Tavas is famed for crispy wood-fired Tavas pidesi. Continuing 25 km toward Muğla brings you to the sheer natural rock tabletop of Kale-i Tavas (Ancient Tabae):

• A 3,000-year-old natural citadel: ringed by vertical cliffs on all four sides and entered across a narrow stone bridge neck, Tabae served as a Hellenistic, Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman cliff town until residents moved down to modern Kale in the 1950s. You can walk freely past 300 rock-cut cisterns, foundations and the multi-domed 16th-century Cevher Paşa Mosque, while late summer (August to October) drapes every village wall below in drying garlands of crimson Kale Peppers.

Acıpayam: Keloğlan Cave, Canyon and Yazır Painted Mosque

Along the eastern fork (the D330 highway toward Fethiye and Antalya), detour 18 km south of Acıpayam to Keloğlan Cave (Dodurgalar), a 145-metre horizontal fossil cavern packed with dense columns of stalactites and stalagmites lit by a wooden walkway. Nearby sit the turquoise limestone walls of Acıpayam (Olukbaşı) Canyon and the 1802 Yazır Mosque, whose wooden interior is covered in floral kalemişi folk paintings.

Denizli Bozdağ Ski Centre (2,420 m) and Cittaslow Çameli

High between Tavas and Acıpayam at Nikfer rises Denizli Bozdağ Ski Centre (2,420 metres, 85 km south of Denizli), the largest winter sports facility in the southwestern Aegean, operating chairlifts and ski rentals from late December to March (an unforgettable winter pairing with the steaming thermal pools of Karahayıt). Further south on the Fethiye border, mountainous Çameli is certified as a Cittaslow (Slow City) haven of monumental black pines, trout streams and cycling trails.