Fethiye

Sheltered behind a cluster of twelve pine-clad islands where the Aegean meets the Mediterranean, Fethiye occupies the site of ancient Telmessos, the westernmost city of the Lycian League. Directly above the modern palm-lined marina, 4th-century BC temple-facade tombs are carved straight into the vertical limestone cliff, while in the historic bazaar below, diners pick their own sea bream from the circular ice counter of the Fethiye Fish Market.

Twenty minutes south over the pine ridge, the coastline drops away to the world-famous white sandspit of Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon beneath the 1,969-metre peak of Mount Babadağ. In the surrounding valleys and coves lie the stone hillside ruins of Kayaköy, the sheer canyon walls of Butterfly Valley and Saklıkent Gorge, and the starting arch of the 540-kilometre Lycian Way trail. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Fethiye.

Dalaman International Airport (DLM) sits 45 kilometres north-west of Fethiye and connects to Fethiye Intercity Bus Terminal (Otogar) in 45 to 55 minutes via Havaş and municipal Muttaş airport coaches timed to every arriving flight. Inside Fethiye, municipal buses and white dolmuş minibuses depart from behind the central Carrefour/Mosque hub to Ölüdeniz, Hisarönü, Kayaköy, Çalış, Kabak and Saklıkent, accepting contactless Visa and Mastercard cards. See getting to Fethiye and how local minibuses and water taxis work.

Because Fethiye Town and Ölüdeniz sit on opposite sides of a mountain pass (20 minutes apart by minibus), choosing your base shapes your evenings. Stay in Fethiye harbour (Karagözler or Ece Saray Marina) for walkable seafront restaurants, 12-Island boat piers and authentic town life, at Çalış Beach for flat sunset walks and family swimming, down at Belcekız/Ölüdeniz to walk straight onto the lagoon sand, or up in Faralya and Kayaköy for quiet stone boutiques. Compare all bases in where to stay in Fethiye.

Climb up to the Tomb of Amyntas at golden hour, swim in the mirror-still waters of the Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon, ride the Babadağ Skywalk Cable Car or fly tandem over the coast, walk through the 400 stone houses of Kayaköy, sail across the 12 Islands, and wade through icy spring water in Saklıkent Gorge. Full list in things to do in Fethiye.

No evening in Fethiye is complete without sitting under the vines of the central Fish Market (Balık Pazarı), where you buy fresh red mullet, sea bass, calamari and jumbo prawns from the central fishmongers' ring and carry them ten steps to a surrounding tavern to be grilled over charcoal alongside wild Aegean meze and warm tahini halva. Read more in our Fethiye Fish Market and local food guide.

Known in antiquity as Telmessos ("The Land of Lights") and celebrated across the Mediterranean for its seers and oracle of Apollo, the city was renamed Makri in the Byzantine era and finally Fethiye in 1934 in honour of early Turkish aviation pioneer Captain Fethi Bey.