Now or Never

Our first nine days in Turkey we planned to spend traveling along the southwestern part of the country commonly referred to as the Turquoise Coast or Turkish Riviera. Turkey is the first country on our trip that requires a paid visa for Americans, so a few weeks before our arrival we bought e-visas online – $50 for each of us. Kind of pricy, but well worth it.

Fethiye, our first destination coming from Rhodes, is a mid-size port and resort town that we were using as a stop over before heading further down the coast. We ended up booking the #1 ranked hotel on TripAdvisor – La Farine Hotel – for only $50 a night! The room had beautiful views of the harbor and free Turkish breakfast, total steal. 

The Turquoise Coast used to be inhabited by the Lycian civilization nearly 3,000 years ago, and the remnants of ancient cities and tombs can be found literally everywhere, and we mean everywhere, from hillsides to city parking lots. While our time in Fethiye was very low key and largely spent cruising around the shops and restaurants, we did hike up to one prominent tomb dug into the mountainside behind the city which offered up some interesting history and epic views.

After a couple nights in Fethiye we took a two hour bus ride south to the small beach town of Kaş (pronounced “cash”) for a five night stay. We had heard Kaş is one on the last unspoiled beach towns left in Turkey…it definitely did not disappoint.

Kaş lies near the base of steep mountain faces that descend sharply into the Mediterranean which makes for some amazing scenery and views. A Greek island called Kastellorizo or Meis (depending on who you ask), the eastern most inhabited part of Greece, is also only a mile offshore. The outdoor terrace of our Airbnb had a prime vantage point of the sea and all the small shops and restaurants down near the waterfront. It was a picture perfect place to watch the sunset and listen to the call to prayer echoing through the town several times a day. Also interestingly enough, because Turkey is one of the few countries Russians can currently visit, we heard Russian being spoken everywhere. Apparently Kaş is becoming increasingly popular with (wealthier) Russian tourists.

During our first full day we rented a 50cc motor scooter (the only kind that doesn’t require a motorcycle license) for $10 and spent the day going up the coast, beach hopping and jumping in the water. It was both a cheap and really fun way to get around. Toss in the perfect weather and we consider it a definite highlight of the trip so far.

Just south of Kaş is a national park called Kekova, a series of bays and islands known for its concentration of former Lycian cities which, due to earthquakes over the centuries/millennia, have sunken into the sea. We decided to splurge on a kayak tour which took us around the areas where the sunken cities can be found. While we definitely had to be creative to imagine an entire city, we could still clearly make out the foundations of buildings under the surface of the water. Swimming breaks and a visit to a mountain top Byzantine-era castle (called Simena), once used to battle pirates in the area, made for another epic day.

This region of Turkey is also known for a coastal hiking trail called Lycian Way that stretches over 300 miles – sort of like a mini PCT or Appalachian Trail. A stretch of the trail passes through Kaş so for our last full day we decided to hike a short three mile leg of it with the help of the All Trails app. On top of more great views we even came across another Lycian tomb set along a steep cliff portion of the trail. Since this section of trail ended at a beach cove lined with a few secluded hotels and restaurants, we were also able to take a water taxi back to Kaş 🙂

Our last stop on the Turquoise Coast was in Antalya, a large city of about 1.3 million – four hours northeast by bus from Kaş. We also used Antalya largely as a stop over to spend time researching upcoming destinations and booking flights, lodging and visas. However, we still got the chance to wander aimlessly around the city. The big city chaos turned out to be a good warm up for Istanbul coming up in a week.

After less than 48 hours in Antalya, we boarded another bus for a “relaxing” nine hours to the Cappadocia region of central Turkey for a four night stay before flying to Istanbul for five nights. Onward we go.