One of the Favorite Trail Routes in Turkey: Lycian Way

The Lycian Way, one of the most popular trail routes in Turkey, is a wonderful route passing through the heart of a fascinating nature, surrounded by the magic of ancient cities and appealing to all senses of the human beings. You can hike along the Lycian Way to bring peace to your soul, calm down your mind and relax. The Lycian Way, one of the longest trails in Turkey, attracts attention with its length of 555 kilometers. Starting from Ovacik region in Fethiye and ending at Geyikbayiri in Antalya, this route took its name from the Lycians.

 

The Lycian Way forks out into three main branches, which are Western, Central and Eastern Lycian, and consists of 30 tracks. Each track ends at the most beautiful spots in Turkey. Passing through spots such as Fethiye Oludeniz, Kabak Bay, Butterfly Valley, Kalkan, Kas, Kekova, Patara, Demre, Mount Olympos, Cirali and Goynuk Canyon, the Lycian Way is thus very precious. While hiking along the Lycian Way, you sometimes pass by steep slopes and the shores of the rich-blue sea, and feel the spirit of nature to the bone.

 

 

While hiking along the Lycian Way, you come across with nearly twenty ancient cities and travel through the corridors of history. The red and white lines guide you along the tracks, which have been marked in accordance with Grande Randonnée system. You can choose any tracks based on the difficulty level you want and the duration of the hiking. If you want to travel entire Lycian Way, you have to be prepared to spend a period of 25 to 40 days.

 

 

The trails Along the Lycian Way

*Hisaronu (Ovacik)-Faralya,

*Faralya-Kabak Bay,

*Kabak Bay-Alinca,

*Alinca-Yediburunlar,

*Yediburunlar-Gavuragili,

*Gavuragili-Patara,

 

*Patara-Kalkan,

*Kalkan-Saribelen-Gokceoren,

*Gokceoren-Kas,

*Kas-Kekova,

*Kekova-Demre,

*Demre-Alakilise-Finike,

 

*Karaoz-Gelidonya Feneri-Adrasan,

*Adrasan-Olympos-Cirali,

*Cirali-Beycik, Cirali-Tekirova,

*Tekirova-Phaselis-Gedelme,

*Beycik-Tahtali Mountain-Gedelme,

*Gedelme-Goynuk, Goynuk-Hisarcandir and 

*Hisarcandir-Geyikbayiri

 

When To Hike Along The Lycian Way

Since the Mediterranean climate dominates the route where the Lycian Way passes, the winter is mild and thus the hiking season is quite flexible. You can hike 11 months of the year here. However, we can say that the best time for hiking is the spring, when the snowy mountain scenery matches with the waking nature. The autumn, when cool and refreshing air dominates rather than humid air, is also very suitable for hiking.

 

 

What To Do Along The Lycian Way

We can make a few suggestions to you to make your walk as colorful and memorable as possible…

*You can also visit ancient cities with archaeological value such as Patara, Xanthos, Telmessos, Andriake, Myra, Belos, Olympos, Phaselis, Kayakoy, Sidyma and Letoon along the Lycian Way route.

 

 

*You can take a walk on long and calm beaches of Patara and swim in its crystal-clear water. You can also rest on the virgin beaches such as Kabak Bay, Kekova, Adrasan, Korsan Bay, Cirali and Phaselis, and relax in the rich-blue water in touch with the lush nature.

*You can camp at Cirali Beach.

*You can watch the sunset at the legendary Gelidonya Lighthouse and spend the night there. Watching the sun rising at the end of the night will bring a different excitement.

 

Although there are easy to walk tracks along the Lycian Way, you need to take into consideration the challenging aspects of the nature and prepare suitable equipment. High-quality waterproof trekking shoes with flexible soles, which fully cover the ankles, trousers made of fast-drying fabric, sweat-absorbing underwears and thermal t-shirts, sun-protective hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, swimwear, towels and slippers, spare clothes and underwears, a thin cardigan and cotton socks must find place in your backpack. Apart from these, there must be a compass, map, whistle, pocketknife, flashlight, battery, lighter, first aid kit and water bottle in your backpack.