Best Things to Do in Fethiye

Few places in the Mediterranean pack so many distinct landscapes, calm island gulfs, 2,000-metre alpine peaks, sheer limestone canyons and Lycian ruins, into a thirty-minute radius. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit to Fethiye.

1. Swim in the Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon (Kumburnu). Walk out onto the white pebble-and-sand spit where the open turquoise sea meets a warm, mirror-still inner lagoon surrounded by pine mountains.
2. Fly tandem or ride the Babadağ Skywalk Cable Car to 1,969 metres. Ascend from Ovacık up the flank of Mount Babadağ in a panoramic gondola to watch hundreds of colourful paragliders launch over the coast.
3. Walk through the stone ruins of Kayaköy Ghost Village. Explore more than 400 roofless 19th-century Greek Orthodox stone houses and two vaulted churches stepping up a quiet green hillside.
4. Sail across the 12 Islands from Fethiye Harbour. Spend a relaxing day aboard a wooden gulet anchoring in Göbün Bay, Cleopatra's Sunken Bath, Yassıca Islands and Red Island.
5. Take a boat to Butterfly Valley (Kelebekler Vadisi) and St Nicholas Island. Sail beneath 350-metre vertical canyon walls to a roadless beach and climb the Byzantine ruins of Gemiler Island at sunset.
6. Climb to the 4th-Century BC Tomb of Amyntas. Walk ten minutes up from Fethiye harbour to stand beneath an Ionic temple facade carved directly into the living rock of ancient Telmessos.
7. Wade through the icy canyon of Saklıkent Gorge and visit Ancient Tlos. Follow wooden catwalks suspended above a rushing river before wading into a 300-metre-deep slot canyon, paired with the acropolis of Tlos.
8. Dine on charcoal-grilled catch at the Fethiye Fish Market (Balık Pazarı). Buy your own fresh fish from the circular ice counter and have it cooked to order under vine-draped arbours.
9. Hike the opening cliff trail of the Lycian Way. Walk the signposted coastal pine path from Kayaköy to Ölüdeniz or from Ovacık to Kirme and Faralya.
10. Watch sunset from Çalış Beach or Şövalye Island. Ride the municipal water taxi across the bay for a golden-hour walk.