The Lycian Way

The Lycian Way threads some 760 kilometres of Turkey's southwestern shore in its extended modern form - from the hills above Oludeniz to the outskirts of Antalya - and it was the country's first waymarked long-distance trail, plotted and painted red-and-white in 1999 along the mule paths and old roads of ancient Lycia. Few trails anywhere pack this density: rock-cut tombs above turquoise bays, the sunken ruins around Kekova, the long sands of Patara, cedar forest on the Taurus shoulders and the natural gas flames of the Chimaera burning from bare rock above Cirali. Most walkers take it in sections - village pensions and campsites string the route, and buses shortcut the dull stretches - while the classic month-long thru-hike remains one of the Mediterranean's great walking journeys, ruins and swimming coves spaced like rewards.

What you actually see

• The Lycian tombs - rock-cut temple facades above the trail's bays.
• Kekova's shore - sunken ruins beneath clear water on the middle sections.
• Patara's dunes - the trail dropping to kilometres of empty sand.
• The Chimaera flames - gas seeps burning from open rock above Cirali.

When to go

April to May and September to October are the walking seasons - wildflowers or warm seas. High summer is dangerously hot on the exposed stretches, and winter brings rain with snow on the high passes.

Honest expectations

This is real trekking - rocky underfoot, steep gradients and sparse water on some stages; proper boots and a guidebook or route app are not optional. Waymarking is decent but faded in places, and accommodation gaps on remote sections need a tent or careful planning.

Nearby

Oludeniz, Saklikent Gorge and the ancient cities of Xanthos and Patara on or near the route.