Top things to do around Fethiye and Kas in Turkey

If we decided to base ourselves for a while in the small town of Fethiye on the Turquoise Coast, it was mainly to prepare for our 6 days of hiking on the Lycian Way. But even if you’re not planning to walk in the footsteps of the Lycians, we really recommend visiting Fethiye or Kaş (or, even better, spending a few days in both). The Turquoise Coast between Fethiye and Kaş first offers breathtaking scenery and beaches. But it’s also a chance to look back on a distant past: ancient Lycia, whose remains are abundant in the region. And honestly, it would be a real shame to miss out on some of the gems found in this area! So, are you ready? We’re taking you along to our favorite spots in this region, with all the practical info you need to plan your own trip easily.

Fethiye: a small coastal town with a good vibe

Fethiye is pretty much our ideal town size. It has somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, more in summer than in winter, of course. The vibe is fairly laid back by the sea, there’s plenty to do in and around town, and the infrastructure is excellent! That last point matters a lot for nomads like us ;).

The setting also has everything going for it! A pretty bay with beaches, surrounded by the mountains of the western part of the Taurus range. In short, we stayed in Fethiye before and after our trek, about ten days in total. So we had plenty of time to explore the surrounding area.

Things to see and to do in Fethiye

Hang out and grab a drink in the old town

This is something we did a lot, especially after getting back from the hike since we wanted to settle down for a few days. So, the old town of Fethiye, also known as Paspatur, sits at the end of the bay, beneath the cliff where you’ll spot the Lycian tombs carved into the rock from a distance. Surprisingly, this part of town isn’t all that touristy, since there’s no beach here. It’s a really nice spot to eat and grab a drink. There’s also a craft and local produce market that we found pretty charming.

And if you can find accommodation in this area, it’s our top pick for where to stay in Fethiye. In fact, this is where we’d originally planned to stay, but unfortunately we couldn’t find an apartment with good wifi for working. So we ended up choosing the Artim Apart Hotel instead, which isn’t far and offers reasonably priced rental apartments with great wifi.

To search for accommodation, you can use the map below. Feel free to use the zoom and filters to refine the results:

Stroll along Fethiye’s Kordon

The Kordon is essentially the seaside promenade that runs from the old town almost all the way to Çalış Beach. It’s a lovely place to walk or grab a drink in the late afternoon as the sun sets. And to be honest, we found the bars and restaurants along the Kordon much nicer than those at Çalış Beach.

Visit the Lycian tombs of Amyntas

This is clearly the place not to miss in Fethiye! On the cliff overlooking the old town, several Lycian tombs have been carved into the rock. You can’t miss them; they look like huge gates cut into the mountain! The most impressive and largest of them is the Tomb of Amyntas, which dates back to the 4th century BC!

What’s also interesting is that the Lycians apparently liked to bury their important members with a nice view. Well, the real reason is that they believed their dead would be carried off by winged creatures into the afterlife, hence the tombs in elevated locations. From the Tomb of Amyntas, you’ll have a splendid view over the entire bay and the town of Fethiye.

Our tip: come a bit before sunset to enjoy the view from the top of the tomb’s stairs.

Visit the ghost town of Kayaköy

Right next to Fethiye lies the ghost town of Kayaköy, a rather impressive place that’s also well worth a visit. This village was actually inhabited by Greeks before World War I. But following the war between Greece and Turkey that came after, the Greek residents of Kayaköy were forced to leave Turkey. Unlike the village of Şirince, no Turks ever settled here. The village was left abandoned, and to make matters worse, the region was hit by a devastating earthquake in 1957. All that remains today are the ruins of several hundred houses, left there like an open-air museum.

We visited this site during our first day of walking on the Lycian Way, and it left a strong impression on us. It’s quite something to walk through the ruins of all these houses as nature slowly reclaims the land. Or at least, for as long as the local authorities don’t decide to turn half the site into hotels :(. Kayaköy is a remnant of an important moment in Turkish history, and we highly recommend stopping by.

Hiking between Kayaköy and Ölüdeniz

This is a stretch of hiking we really enjoyed, connecting the village of Kayaköy to Ölüdeniz Beach. The trail climbs up from behind the ghost village through a pine forest. You’ll then get some beautiful sea views before descending toward Ölüdeniz Beach. Honestly, we’d recommend combining a visit to Kayaköy with this hike, then heading back to Fethiye from Ölüdeniz.

Enjoy Çalış Beach (or maybe not)

Çalış Beach is a large beach located 4 to 5 km north of Fethiye. It’s known for having one of the best sunsets in Turkey thanks to its west-facing orientation. And yes, the beach is quite nice, and it was almost deserted when we went to watch the sunset. That said, we wouldn’t recommend the restaurants and bars lining the beach. The prices are really inflated compared to what you’ll find in the old town, and personally, they didn’t tempt us at all. But nothing’s stopping you from picking up a small picnic at the supermarket and sipping a cold beer while watching the sunset on the beach ;).

Take in the view over Ölüdeniz Bay (or Gemiler Bay)

We got this view over Ölüdeniz Bay from the best wild camping spot on this Lycian Way trek. The good news? You don’t necessarily need to camp there to enjoy it ;). From the village of Ölüdeniz, you can follow the road and then the Lycian Way trail all the way to the end, whether on foot, by scooter, or by car, and simply take in the view. We’ve marked this spot on the map. Obviously, we’d recommend coming at sunset, which is spectacular from this spot. Judge for yourself!

Visit the Lycian ruins of Xanthos and Letoon

Letoon and Xanthos are 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites that we visited on our last day on the Lycian Way.

In our opinion, if you’re not a history buff, the ruins of Letoon aren’t necessarily worth the trip. The site isn’t very large, and the explanations are pretty thin. But since Letoon is right next to the ruins of Xanthos, you can easily kill two birds with one stone.

Xanthos was actually the ancient capital of Lycia, and in our opinion, it’s more interesting and much larger. You’ll find a very well-preserved amphitheater, tombs, a large stone slab with Lycian inscriptions (dating all the way back to the 5th century BC), the remains of a church, and more. One tip, though: there’s also very little info on-site, so do some research beforehand or come with a guide to really understand this city’s role in ancient Lycia.

Other things we didn’t do

• Visit the Saklikent Gorge: Turkey’s largest gorges are located in Saklıkent National Park, about 40 minutes by car from Fethiye. We considered going, but didn’t have the energy for it after the trek. If you don’t have a car, we’d suggest booking a tour to the gorge.
• Go paragliding from Babadağ: We watched paragliders soar over our heads all afternoon on our first day of hiking, and honestly, it looked tempting, especially at sunset! You can launch from either Fethiye or Ölüdeniz depending on which option you choose.
• Take a boat tour: If you’re not up for beach-hopping on foot the way we did, you can simply take a boat tour instead. It’ll take you past all these gorgeous coves, like the famous Butterfly Valley or Kabak. Just avoid the big sailboats blasting loud music, which feel more like party boats than anything else.

For more activity ideas along the Turquoise Coast, check out the GetYourGuide page.

The town of Kas, or how to do nothing for 3 days

Kaş is a very charming little seaside town located a bit over 2 hours by bus south of Fethiye. Arriving in Kaş, we immediately loved the relaxed vibe. We figured this could be the perfect place to do something we don’t often do: NOTHING (or almost nothing). So the list of things we could have done but didn’t will be a bit longer this time ;).

Just like in Fethiye, we easily found an affordable room in Kaş using Booking. We went with the Mina Apart Hotel, and we can tell you, we had a great stay there :).

Things to see and to do in Kaş

Enjoy the sunset over the harbor from a terrace

There’s certainly no shortage of lovely terraces! For sunset, we’d recommend heading up a bit on Hükümet Street. Then pick a terrace with a nice view over the harbor (we’ve marked the spot on the map at the end of the article). That was our plan for 2 out of the 3 evenings we spent in Kaş ;).

Another great spot for catching the last light of day is just a stone’s throw from the old town: head to the restored ancient amphitheater!

Hiking along the Lycian Way

Originally, we’d planned to hike all the way to Kaş on the Lycian Way. That would have meant skipping the section between Kabak and Patara, which would have been a real shame! Luckily, we changed our plans. The Lycian Way passes above Kaş and continues along the sea toward Demre. You can hike up the trail for a lovely view over Kaş, or continue on to reach the small beaches located 5 to 6 km to the east. Personally, I tried the second option and it was quite nice.

Enjoy the many beaches

There are plenty of beaches around Kaş. If you’re looking to even out your tan a bit, you should find what you’re after. We were in Kaş in May and there were very few people on the beaches. We can’t say what it’s like in high season, but we can certainly say it’s much quieter than Kemer or Demre.

The most famous beach is Kaputaş, located 20 km before Kaş. It’s accessible by car, taxi, or dolmuş. A cliff plunging into turquoise water, with fine sand. In short, it gets packed in summer, so be prepared to arrive early :).

Otherwise, there are also plenty of smaller, lovely beaches accessible on foot or by boat from Kaş. Worth mentioning are Incebogaz, Akçagerme, and Seyrek Çakıl.

Other things we didn’t do

• Boat crossing to the Greek island of Meis (or Kastellorizo): Meis is actually a Greek island located just across from Kaş, barely a 30-minute boat ride away. To be honest, there isn’t a huge amount to do on Kastellorizo. That said, the village looks very charming, and there’s a lovely blue cave (Fókiali) worth visiting. However, the round-trip crossing costs about €25 per person. For a 20-minute boat ride, we felt that was a bit steep.
• Visit the sunken city of Kekova: These are actually the ruins of an ancient Lycian city that was almost entirely swallowed by the sea following an earthquake. Here, you have no choice but to take a guided tour of Kekova Island ;). It can be done by boat or kayak!
• Tours often also stop at Myra, an ancient city and archaeological site located in Demre. The site is known for its impressive necropolis carved into the cliff face.
• Paragliding at sunset: As with Ölüdeniz, one of the popular activities is to do a paragliding descent at sunset from the mountain behind Kas. This activity can also be booked easily from one of the travel agencies.

Map of the things to do between Fethiye and Kas

There you go, we hope you enjoyed this article on the Turquoise Coast between Fethiye and Kaş! It should give you some ideas as you explore this beautiful region of Turkey, which has much more to offer than just its beaches. We’ll see you for the next installment of our adventures in the surprising city of Konya and in Cappadocia.

P.S. — After spending several weeks in Turkey, check out our tips for traveling in Turkey. Happy reading!