Guide to Hiking Inn-to-Inn on the Lycian Way

Detailed itinerary with lodging for your self-guided adventure
on Turkiye’s Turquoise Coast

For 26 days in April, we hiked 243 miles on the Lycian Way in southern Turkiye. It’s a deeply rewarding hike and might be the best adventure we’ve ever had.  We hiked it inn-to-inn, meaning we had a place to stay every night and did not bring any camping equipment.

Here’s the key thing: it is completely doable to plan and execute this hike without paying a company to set it up for you.

This guide includes our full itinerary, including where we stayed and how to reach tiny mountain lodges that don’t have websites, plus packing tips and insights for a successful long hike. Read on to get started on your own inn-to-inn Lycian Way adventure.

What’s the Lycian Way?

This amazing hiking route is in a sun-soaked, rocky, gorgeous part of the world dotted with atmospheric Lycian ruins and views over the brilliantly blue Mediterranean. Thanks to Kate Clow and the Culture Routes Society she founded, envisioning and marking a long series of connected ancient paths and byways, you can hike it. Even more amazing, you can hike it inn-to-inn, meaning after you put in a long hiking day, you shower, recharge your phone, and relax over a lovely meal of delicious Turkish food before falling into bed. In the morning, you’re usually treated to an amazing breakfast before doing it again. To have this level of hiking PLUS a few creature comforts is astonishing.  

Why do it yourself?

When you first start researching the Lycian Way, it looks like two options: either camp each night, or book a packaged trip following the company’s route and staying in the lodging they selected. Both are fine options; if you’re a camper, camp! And if you enjoy a package tour (either on your own or with a group), that’s great.

But there’s a third option! It is absolutely possible and very rewarding to hike inn-to-inn on the Lycian Way on your own. If you’d like to stay in lodging each night, there are four reasons why I think planning it yourself is worth it: 

1. We saved a lot of money. By planning our route and booking lodging ourselves and adding up our equivalent costs to a tour package (for example, buses instead of company-provided transportation), our expenses were a bit less for TWO people (sharing a room) than what tour companies charge PER PERSON (sharing a room). 
2. We built our knowledge base. While researching the path, the historic sites, the towns and villages, and the possibilities for accommodations, I got familiar with this region. I formed a mental map that both helped along the way and added greatly to my overall enjoyment. Anticipation is sweet. 
3. We chose what we wanted. There are choices to make between main paths and alternate paths several times along the trail. We chose to do mostly all of it, but not quite;  someone with fewer days could choose a section or two. It’s part of the fun to research the pros and cons to each and choose your own adventure. 
4. Adjusting as you go is possible. I didn’t take advantage of that, but you could. My method was to book every night’s lodging before we began our hike, and I’m still glad I did; I’m a planner and I liked knowing that I had lodging waiting for me at the end of each day. Also, I benefited from the nudge to hike on, even when weary, because lodging was waiting for me in the next town. But you could, if you wanted to, book lodging as you go, perhaps a night or two in advance. It turned out that going in April meant that lodging was available. I personally wouldn’t want to spend time on the trail calling lodging, or walking into places to see if they had a room available, but you could, and that flexibility is a bonus over booking with a company. 

What’s the secret to making this hike a success?

It’s audacious to travel to a country where you don’t know the terrain and you don’t speak the language, and then head out on remote mountain trails, often miles from even the smallest village, relying on a map on your phone, and do this every day for weeks. Woohoo! It’s a great adventure! Here are my tips for managing risk and having a great time. 

1. Start in early to mid-April. Earlier than that you’ll encounter closed lodging and the possibility of snow on the eastern end of the trail. Later than that and the heat is brutal, reducing your fun and dramatically increasing how much water you’ll need to carry. I know, I know: many people only have the time to do such an adventure in summer, and I wish there was a better answer here. But this is an unshakable truth: go in April and finish by early/mid-May.
2. Pack light. This is a big reason you’re going inn-to-inn, to reduce the weight on your back. Take as little as you can. Plan to rewear your clothes. To help you pack, I list below the total contents of my pack. As you’ll see, it’s not much.
3. Download your essential info. While we had good internet connection surprisingly often (T-Mobile cell phone) and almost always had Wifi at our lodging, be prepared in case you don’t. You should download these three items in advance: 

• The regions of Turkiye you’ll be hiking on your favorite map app that gets its data from Open Street Maps (OSM). Culture Routes Society, the organization Kate Clow founded and the original source of information for all things related to the Lycian Way, posts their trail updates to OSM. 
• Google Translate’s Turkish language. We found this very helpful. 
• WhatsApp. Turkish people use this app heavily, and it’s what you’re going to use to reach those little mountain lodges without websites.  

4. Do your research. Read voraciously and enjoy learning about Turkiye. A few ideas include: 

• Kate Clow’s guidebook,  The Lycian Way. I photographed every page of this book so I could reference it along the way without carrying the bulk of the actual book. 
• Trekopedia. Occasionally this is not the very latest information, but it’s laid out very helpfully and I used it A LOT. 
• Blogs, like this one: Explorer Genes. Mandy and Greg’s travels are very inspirational and this post is a great place to start. There are many others, too. 
• Social media groups where you can read real-time updates from people on the trail. 

5. Learn a few words of Turkish. You’ll encounter many, many people who speak English (and other languages), but learning at least a few basic words in Turkish is polite, will be useful, and will make your trip more fun. 
6. Be ready for the outdoors. You’re not camping, but this is still very much an outdoor adventure. You will be in the sun, in the woods, on very rocky and remote trails with very long stretches between tiny villages, all day long, day after day. Be comfortable with dirt, with peeing behind a tree, with eating quirky picnic provisions while perched on a rock, with letting sweaty clothes air out overnight and pulling them on in the morning. All of this is awesome! Getting into a rugged mindset helps. 
7. Work on your fitness. If you haven’t really hiked much before, I wouldn’t start with the Lycian Way. Choose a shorter one with less elevation change, and work up to this one. This is a demanding, rocky, sunny, sweaty hike. You don’t have to be an Olympian and regular folks with regular levels of fitness (like me) can do it, but it is not to be taken lightly.
8. Stay flexible. You eat what you’re served–there’s usually little choice. Luckily, what you’re served is delicious. Coffee drinkers, note that you’ll need to switch to tea in the morning (sometimes instant coffee is available); Turkish tea is hot and plentiful and served with such flair that you may not miss your coffee at all. Some lodgings are lovely, polished inns with great service. Some are rustic homestays and the only option in a tiny mountain town. All are run by kind, welcoming people in beautiful surroundings. Enjoy the great people you’ll meet and the generous meals you’ll be served, and laugh at the occasional lumpy bed and crazy plumbing and hilariously loud roosters right outside the window. It’s a grand adventure and the variety in the lodging is all part of it. 
9. Check out Justin’s tips on how to handle “tense” dogs, ATMs, catching the dolmus, and other good advice for a successful Lycian Way hike.
10. Start in April. Did I mention? Seriously, this is the secret. 

What should I pack?

The campers need to pack a lot. You are hiking inn-to-inn, so you can and should pack light. You’ll need some stuff for your safety and comfort, of course, but you’ll thank yourself for keeping it as light as possible. Here is the complete list of what I packed.

Basic hiking gear:

• 1 pair of hiking shoes. Really take your time on your shoes decision. Make sure they fit perfectly and give support for a demanding, rocky trail.
• 24-liter backpack. (Justin carried a 34-liter backpack.) My pack was packed tight, but this size worked well for me. Justin carried more water and was glad to have his larger pack with some white space.
• 1 ½-liter water bladder. Justin had a 3-liter water bladder. Almost every day, 1 ½ liters worked for me. If we’d hiked any later in the year, we’d need MUCH more water.
• 1-liter water bottle (with carabiner to keep it secure). I also carried this, and on 3 days I drank it. Mostly it was “insurance” water in case we got lost, etc.
• 2 Montbell collapsible hiking poles. These excellent hiking poles came with rubber tops (for paved roads), and plastic baggie for rubber tops. Seriously, don’t hike the Lycian Way without 2 hiking poles. Vitally important.

Travel Basics:

• Passport
• Tiny wallet. 1 credit card, 1 debit card, a few thousand Turkish Lira (many pansiyons and restaurants are cash only), driver’s license, copy of the photo page of my passport.
• Small journal and pen.
• Glasses with hard case, cleaning cloth, and tiny glasses repair kit.

Tech:

• Phone, phone cord, and plug w/ 2 cord capacity. Many pansiyons have very few outlets, so a multi-plug is helpful. 
• Lightweight, battery phone recharger and cord. Because your map is on your phone.
• Type C plug adapter. Turkiye uses the same plug as most of Europe. 
• Step counter device with charging cord. For me, counting all those steps/miles was part of the fun.

Toiletries:

• Chapstick(s) with SPF. 
• Small bottle of sunscreen.
• Tiny bottle of hand sanitizer.
• Small zip lock bag of toilet tissue/wipes. Also baggie to pack out when used.
• Ear plugs (several pair). Dogs, roosters, and minarets with loudspeakers are sometimes right next door. Ear plugs are important. You might want an eye mask, too.
• Hairbrush/hairclips.
• Toothbrush/paste/floss.
• Soap bar, shampoo bar. Many pansiyons supplied soap/shampoo; a few didn’t.
• Tiny pair of scissors and nail clippers.

First Aid Items:

• Assorted small adhesive bandages/Moleskin/ Compeed pads.
• Tube of antiseptic gel.
• Tweezers.
• Tylenol.  

Clothing:

• 3 pants. Hiking pants worn every single day, yoga pants worn every evening, lightweight cotton pants to sleep in.
• 3 shirts. Long sleeve UV-blocking hiking t-shirt worn every single day, 1 T-shirt for evening/sleeping, 1 spare quick-dry short sleeve t-shirt.
• 3 pairs of quick-dry underwear. Wash that day’s underwear/ socks/bra every night. You have a spare set in case you don’t get to it one night.
• 6 pairs of socks. 3 pair of hiking socks, 2 more pair for evenings (1 light, 1 knee-length heavy wool).
• 2 bras. 1 hiking bra worn every day and 1 for evenings. Keep underclothing in a zippered plastic bag.
• Warm hat. Worn a little bit, in the evenings.
• Sun hat. Worn every single day.
• Lightweight merino wool sweater. I wore this every evening. It gets chilly in the mountains.
• Lightweight zip up jacket.
• Rain jacket with hood.

Other Stuff:

• Thread and needle. I sat on a sharp rock for a picnic lunch one day and ripped a small hole in my pants. I was glad to have thread and needle to patch it up.
• Sunglasses with strap. I bought the strap in Kas. Life changing! Before that my sunglasses slipped down my sweaty nose.
• Handkerchief.
• Plastic bags.
• Raincover for backpack. A couple of days it rained a little and one day it rained hard. I was glad to have this. Mostly we enjoyed gorgeous, sunny days.
•  UV light with battery charger for treating tap water. I’ve read that many people just drink the tap water and they are fine. We chose to treat it. We never had any food or water issues.
• A few laundry detergent sheets. I washed a lot of clothes in the sink with hand soap, and it was totally fine. When we had access to a washing machine, it was nice to have these along.

Items I did NOT take: 

• No deodorant. It would have been overwhelmed in a mile or two anyway.
• No towel. At only one lodging out of the 24 did we need to ask for a towel. All the others had nice clean towels ready for us. 
• No spare shoes/slippers. This may be a good idea if you have the space. I made do with socks. 
• No Kindle/print book. Tough one, but I read library books on my phone screen. It was fine. 
• No print map/guide book. I took photos of every page of Kate Clow’s guide, The Lycian Way, so I could reference it along the way. Otherwise we used our OSM-based map app for wayfinding, and we used the elevation charts and general info on Trekopedia. 
• No hair conditioner. My hair got wild. I didn’t care. 
• No stores of food. We were able to pick up provisions for picnic lunches in little markets along the way. Our most frequent lunch consisted of peanuts, crackers, oranges, and a little chocolate. You are provided generous breakfasts and dinners and most lodging, so a lighter lunch works well.
• No laundry line/clips. Often there were laundry lines available at our lodging. Where there weren’t, we hung our socks across our hiking poles. It always worked out. 
• No bug spray. If we had hiked later in the year, this would have been critically important. But in April/early May, you don’t need it yet. We literally saw one mosquito on the second to last night. 
• No swimsuit. We were happy to admire the sparkling water but not jump in. But if a dip sounds good to you, you could probably find room in your pack for your suit.

What’s the Itinerary?

Our itinerary worked really well. Every single lodging worked out (if the place was great, I noted that below), and the pacing was generally very good. I’m sharing the itinerary exactly as we hiked it. (I list a few changes we’d make if we hiked it again after the itinerary, below.) A few notes on the itinerary: 

• I tried to book small pansiyons as much as possible, supporting local people.  
• We hiked most of it. Hiking the “whole thing” is a little hard to measure, since there are lots of alternate routes, the last section has fewer lodging options, and the ending has moved over time. We stopped in Goynuk. Others end in Hisarçandır, or beyond that in Geyikbayırı, or even in Antalya, and some just hike on to St Paul’s Trail. We met someone on the trail who thought our long distance was astonishing, and someone who was certain we were quitting too soon. We deeply loved our hike as it was. Hike your own hike and enjoy.  
• I note both the projected mileage each day and what my step counter reported we actually walked. It was usually pretty close. 
• I list costs of lodging and meals in the currency we paid: usually Turkish Lira (TL), sometimes Euros (€), and occasionally US Dollars (USD). All prices shown are for two adults. Dinner prices usually include one beer. I note if lodging costs include breakfast and/or dinner. Of course, prices are likely to change, but this will give you a ballpark.
• We left two suitcases with Mustafa at our first lodging in Fethiye, then at the end we took a bus back to Fethiye. Mandy and Greg did the opposite: they left a suitcase in Antalya, took a bus to the start, hiked to Patara, then took a bus to pick up their bags in Antalya. I’m not aware of a luggage service on the Lycian Way, but you could possibly find someone to hire to move your bags.
• I’m delighted if this itinerary is useful to you, but you need to check the alternate paths, other lodging possibilities, and daily mileage to make the trip your own. Justin and I, you’ll notice, never missed a ruin, but we walked by a few beaches. It might be the opposite for you. Planning is a big part of the fun. 

DAY 0:

• Kordon Apartment, Fethiye. Lovely part of town with restaurant/cafe options. Mustafa is an excellent host. He stored our two suitcases until we returned at the end of the hike.

DAY 1:

• Mileage: 20km, (12.4mi). Count = 7.5m
• Start/End: Fethiye to Ovacik
• Lodging, meals, and money: CC Butik Hotel.  CC (pronounced “JJ”) is a great guy–very relaxed vibe here. Room & breakfast and 1 beer = 1600TL, cash. Dinner at restaurant in Ovacik = 1000TL, cash.
• Hiking notes: Amyntas rock tombs and Kayakoy ruins. This formerly Greek ghost town was haunting and moving–don’t miss. We took a dolmus from Fethiye to Kayakoy because we wanted to understand them and know how much of an option they were during the trip. They are great and work smoothly, and a ride is just a few TL (cash). If we were hiking again, we’d skip that first dolmus, but the reassurance was nice that first day.

DAY 2:

• Mileage: 21km (13mi), Count = 14.2mi
• Start/End: Ovacik to Kabak
• Lodging, meals, and money: Casa di Pietra. Breakfast included. Room and Breakfast = 2630TL. Dinner available at one of the two restaurants in Kabak, across the street. Dinner = 850TL. 
• Hiking notes: Take your iconic photo with the famous Lykia Yolu sign just outside Ovacik. Fantastic views of sea, bay, and paragliders. Mostly uphill over Baba Dag (Father Mountain). Stop for chai and goleme at cafe. Walk through villages of Kirme and Faralya. Many hikers stop in Faralya–may be a good idea to break up 1st week. Steep up and down to Kabak. Very rewarding day. 

DAY 3:

• Mileage: 20km (12.4mi), Count = 12.8mi
• Start/End: Kabak to Sidyma (Dodurga)
• Lodging, meals, and money: Sidyma Homes. +90 252-678-1108. Call Fatma’s friend Brea on WhatsApp at +1 530 443 7527. Cash only, pay on arrival,  Fatma is so welcoming, food is fantastic, view is amazing, room w/shared bathroom is basic & comfortable. Room, breakfast & dinner = 3000TL.
• Hiking notes: Via Alinca. Spectacular canyon hike–some of the best hiking of the whole trip. This is the alternate path and highly recommended for the Sidyma ruins and the chance to stay at Fatma’s wonderful pansiyon. Kate Clow lives nearby and we met her at breakfast!

DAY 4:

• Mileage: 19km (11.8mi), Count = 9.6mi
• Start/End: Sidyma to Gavuragili
• Lodging, meals, and money: Likya Park Orman (cabin). Near Gavuragili. Food was excellent. Laidback, pleasant place near water that would be a great spot to take a rest day. Room, breakfast & dinner = 5300TL, pay on arrival, cash preferred but credit card possible. 
• Hiking notes: Via little town of Bel which has a  convenience store. Lovely views into valley. Very steep decent into Gavuragili with sweeping views over sea  is tough–just take your time.

DAY 5:

• Mileage: 17km (10.5mi), Count = 10.8mi
• Start/End: Gavuragili to Letoon 
• Lodging, meals, and money: Letoon Antik Hotel, reserve on WhatsApp at +90 533 423 9854. Gas station next door for lunch provisions.  Room, breakfast, & dinner = 4000TL, cash on arrival.  
• Hiking notes: Trail over hill to Padnai ruins was overgrown and difficult. Nice, but could be skipped on bus. Walk quiet dirt road for about 5mi to Letoon (some tense dogs in town). Walk around excellent Letoon Ruins with amphitheatre, stelle that were “Rosetta Stones” for the Lycian language. Then walk 1km along busy road to Letoon Antik Hotel. 

DAY 6:

• Mileage: 16km (10mi), Count = 13.3mi
• Start/End: Letoon to (South of) Uzumlu
• Lodging, meals, and money: 2mi beyond Uzumlu, Tuana Suite Apartment on AirBnB. Lovely apartment with a washing machine. Nice dinner across the street. We bought breakfast/lunch provisions from grocery store downstairs. 
  Room = $58 USD. Dinner = 900TL.
• Hiking notes: 3mi busy road section–consider bus or hitchhiking. See excellent Xantos ruins–at back, there’s an open place in the barbed wire fence to exit. Then 3mi walk on busy road to Chavdir–consider bus or hitchhiking. Much better hiking after Chavdir–steep with prickly bushes, but you walk on an aqueduct! Hike up water channel. Some tense dogs. We got a ride from AirBnB host from Uzumlu to apartment, because we were spent. Better if we’d hitched a ride earlier on those busy roads earlier in the day and enjoyed the good mountain trail between Uzumlu and Tuana. 

DAY 7:

• Mileage: 17km (10.5mi), Count = 12mi
• Start/End: Uzumlu to Gelemis
• Lodging, meals, and money: Stay at Golden Pension. Room & breakfast = €45, pay with credit card on arrival. Many restaurants available for dinner. Dinner in town = 970TL.
• Hiking notes: Pleasant forest hill trail up and down to Akbel. Trailhead a bit hard to find in Akbel. Some tense dogs. Then 9mi trail along ridge, views of the big bowl of greenhouses and occasional views of the Mediterranean. Fantastic Delikkemer aqueduct with adjoining stones–highlight of trip. Note that you’re hiking back west today. Gelemis is busy, charming village, just north of Patara village. This might also be a good spot for a rest day–Patara Beach is said to be lovely.

DAY 8:

• Mileage: None. Count = 6mi
• Start/End: Dolmus from Gelemis to Kalkan.
• Lodging, meals, and money: Kleo Boutique Otel. Many stores available for breakfast/lunch. Many options for lodging and dinner in town. Room (no breakfast) = 2900TL, cash on arrival. Dinner = 700TL.  This place was fine. Also consider this Kalkan apartment. Higher price point but absolutely stunning view–we stayed here for a few nights at the end of the hike and loved it. 
• Hiking notes: Walk to fantastic Patara Ruins south of town. Suggest you don’t buy the audioguide–didn’t work well and didn’t add a lot. Signs are good. After ruins, walk back to town, take dolmus from across street from Golden Pension to the main road (it may take a while, but it will come). Take dolmus from stop at main road to Kalkan. 1st dolmus =  25TL each, 2nd bus =  45TL each. In Kalkan, the stop is at top of hill–walk to bottom to Kleo Hotel. Note: instead of a dolmus, you could hike east back on the same trail you hiked west, or you could go the reportedly very difficult coastal path. We liked taking the dolmus to return east. Kalkan is a big town with stores, pharmacies, etc., in case you need equipment/supplies. Also there’s a cash machine. 

DAY 9:

• Mileage: 13km (8mi), Count = 10.3mi
• Start/End: Kalkan to Saribelen
• Lodging, meals, and money: Mozaik Pansiyon.  Room & breakfast = €81. Dinner at Mozaik Pansiyon = 600TL, cash. 
• Hiking notes: Hike straight up out of Kalkan. Trail hard to find due to new villa construction in several spots here. Fantastic views from top. Hike through Bezirgan on plateau with historic granaries. Hike up and over to Saribelen (way down is slick and steep–take your time). Convenience store in Saribelen is 1km from Mosaik Pansiyon.

DAY 10:

• Mileage: 11km (7.5mi), Count = 8.3mi
• Start/End: Saribelen to Gokceoren
• Lodging, meals, and money: Yesil Pansiyon, reserve on WhatsApp: +90 242-839-1042/ 537-810-5983. Only place in town. Room & breakfast & dinner = 3600TL cash on arrival. Lunch at Mountain’s farmhouse = 700TL cash.
• Hiking notes: Great hiking day, beautiful mountain trail with some challenge. Be sure to stop at “Mountain’s” farmhouse for Chai, famous aryan with mint, couscous with tomato and beans. Seriously good, lovely and relaxing. Walk on to Yesil Pansiyon in Gokceoren. Nice view over the valley, nice dinner. 

DAY 11:

• Mileage: 21.6km (13.4m), Count = 14.3mi
• Start/End: Gokceoren to Cukurbag
• Lodging, meals, and money: 3 Odas. Booked on AirBnB. Room & breakfast = $71USD. Dinner = 1100TL.
• Hiking notes: Excellent hiking day. Long, challenging up and down mule trail, but not crazy. Pretty well marked. See interesting Phellos ruins, though overgrown & hard to access. Stella with writing in the middle of the trail! Hike down into Cukerbag. Some tense dogs. Walk on to lovely 3 Odas. 

DAY 12:

• Mileage: 7km (4.3mi), Count = 5.9mi
• Start/End: Cukurbag to Kas
• Lodging, meals, and money: Hotel Kayahan, two nights. Room & breakfast = $62 per night. Many options in town for dinner. Dinner = 750TL. 
• Hiking notes: Flat hiking at first to cliff edge over Kas. Beautiful view. Way down is steep, but not as tough as it looks from the top. Enjoy lovely seaside town of Kas. Kas is a big town with stores, pharmacies, etc., in case you need equipment/supplies. Also there’s a cash machine.

DAY 13:

• Mileage: none. Count = 4.4mi
• Start/End: Stay second night in same place. 
• Lodging, meals, and money: Room & breakfast = $62USD per night. Dinner = 1180TL in town. 
• Hiking notes: Take a break in Kas. Enjoy Greek temple, tombs, amphitheatre, beaches and laidback vibe. 

DAY 14:

• Mileage: 19km (11.8mi), Count = 11mi
• Start/End: Kas to Bogazcik
• Lodging, meals, and money: Ali Pansiyon. Reserve on WhatsApp at +90 536-678-1910/ +90 539-921-4042. Rustic. Shared toilet, shared shower room. Four single beds in room, though we seemed to have room to ourselves. Only place in town. Room, breakfast, and vegetarian dinner for 3700TL, cash on arrival. 
• Hiking notes: Via famous ropes by tomb at Liminagzi. This was enjoyable and not as nervy as it looks. Then hike a long section (9mi) of shore rocks/boulders, then uphill to Bogazciz. Trail can be tricky to find up the hill and is tougher than it looks on paper. 

DAY 15:

• Mileage: 15km (9mi), Count = 9.9mi
• Start/End: Bogazcik to Ucagiz (a.k.a. Kekova)
• Lodging, meals, and money: Room & breakfast = €90. Dinner at Hassan’s restaurant at waterfront = 1720TL. 
• Hiking notes: Hike downhill–trail better marked than yesterday’s. Rocky trails with red dirt. Stop in Aperlai for gozleme. Hike to Ucagiz–can be very windy on coast. Check in with very friendly Hassan and family, and enjoy a beverage at their waterfront restaurant, then dinner later. There’s a little store in town for lunch provisions.

DAY 16:

• Mileage: 8.7km (5.4mi), Count = 5.8mi
• Start/End: Ucagiz (a.k.a. Kekova), boat to Kalekoy, hike to Kapakli
• Lodging, meals, and money: Istlada Tas Ev Apart. Room = €96. Dinner & breakfast = €76.  ½ hour boat trip to see sunken city: $50USD. 
• Hiking notes: Ask Hussan for a look at the “sunken city” ruins in his speed boat–beautiful and atmospheric–then drop off at Kalekoy. Hike up to excellent viewpoint of castle and tombs. Then hike to Kapakli. This is a shorter day, but good hiking. You could combine with tomorrow’s hike. 

DAY 17:

• Mileage: 11.4km (7.1mi), Count = 8mi
• Start/End: Kapakli to Demre
• Lodging, meals, and money: Alkan Apartment. Very nice. Washing machine. Room = €81. Nearby grocery store available for breakfast/lunch provisions. Lots of options in town for dinner. Dinner = 600TL. 
• Hiking notes: Hike lovely coastal route to Andriake Ruins at edge of Demre. (Site was closed for renovations, but coming in from this direction allows you to see most of it.) Walk mostly sidewalk into big town of Demre. See interesting St. Nicholas Church and what is traditionally known to be his tomb, a pilgrimage site for many Russian tourists.

DAY 18:

• Mileage: none. Count = 5mi
• Start/End: Dolmus from Demre to Karaoz
• Lodging, meals, and money: Stay in Gelidonia Pansiyon. Room & breakfast = €50. Dinner at Gelidonia Pansiyon = 1600TL, cash.
• Hiking notes: Walk north through Demre to Myra Ruins–excellent theatre, stelle, reliefs, and engravings, plus the rock tombs. Walk to bus station, take bus to Kumluca.  Take dolmus to Karaoz. (We actually took dolmus to Malikent because it came sooner, then waited for another dolmus to Karaoz. A dolmus straight to Karaoz would be better.) Today’s bus trip skips over two sections: one that can only be hiked by camping, and another full-sun road section along the shore. Most hikers skip these and go straight to Karaoz as we did.  

DAY 19:

• Mileage: 20km (12.4mi), Count = 11.9mi
• Start/End: Karaoz to Adrasan
• Lodging, meals, and money: Adrasan Shambala Hotel. Room & breakfast = €55.  Lots of choices along beach for dinner, dinner also available at Shambala hotel.  
  Dinner = 1550TL. Convenience store available in Adrasan for lunch provisions. 
• Hiking notes: Rewarding hike around peninsula. Beautiful Gelidonia lighthouse, rocky shore, amazing views all day. Walk into small town of Adrasan. 

DAY 20:

• Mileage: 15.5km (9.6mi), Count = 13mi
• Start/End: Adrasan to Cirali
• Lodging, meals, and money: Cirali Kus Yavasi, 2 nights. Very homespun, wonderful hosts, cozy and relaxing. Washing machine available. A couple of good dinner options north of town–more if you go back into town proper. 
  Room & breakfast = $56USD per night. Dinner = 1200TL.
• Hiking notes: Tricky to find the trail out of Adrasan. Small stream to forge at bottom of mountain. Hike 900m uphill, lush, green mountain trail. Inviting little cafe near the top. Then downhill to hole in the fence at Olympos. Walk to kiosk for tickets, then enjoy fantastic ruins: baths, theatre, temple, etc. Walk to beach, then walk through Cirali to lodging north of town.

DAY 21:

• Mileage: none. Count = 5mi
• Start/End: Stay in same place.
• Lodging, meals, and money: Room & breakfast = $56USD per night. Grocery stores in town for lunch provisions. Dinner at place across the street = 870TL. 
• Hiking notes: Enjoy a break day. We borrowed bikes from our hosts and cycled a bit around Cirali. You could also use today to go back to Olympos, although it’s far enough from this lodging that we were glad we went to it yesterday. In the evening, walk to the ticket booth (75TL each), then take your headlamps and hike 1km uphill to the blazing chimera. Try to get there for sunset. Recommended! Very worthwhile to see this amazing sight at night. 
  

DAY 22:

• Mileage: 8.1km (5mi), Count = 6mi
• Start/End: Cirali to Ulupinar
• Lodging, meals, and money: Tokgoz Otel Pension. Booked on AirBnB. Room = $67USD. Dinner & breakfast at same place = 1600TL, cash.  
• Hiking notes: Hike back up to the chimera and nearby ruins of Byzantium church,  just like last night. Continue to upper chimera field, then down to a stream. Hike back out, then walk short way along highway to reach the hotel. Today could easily be combined with tomorrow’s hike, and if I were planning this again, that’s what we’d do. 

DAY 23:

• Mileage: 9.3km (5.8mi), Count = 6.7mi
• Start/End: Ulupinar to Beycik
• Lodging, meals, and money: Amazing tree house with views of mosque, valley, all the way to the sea. Nice dinner. Washing machine available. Room and breakfast = $134USD. Dinner in same place = 1200TL, cash.
• Hiking notes:  A little tricky to  find the trail out of Ulupinar. Steady climb to Beycik. Dinner with an amazing view over mosque and valley, all the way to the sea. Recommend combining today’s hike with yesterday’s. 
  

DAY 24:

• Mileage: 12.5km (7.8mi), Count = 10mi
• Start/End: Beycik to Yayla Kuzdere
• Lodging, meals, and money: Stay in Turker Restaurant & Camping & Pansion. Reservation confirmed via WhatsApp–pay on arrival. Enver is friendly host. Turker Facebook page. Room & breakfast & dinner = €120, cash in euro or TL on arrival. 
• Hiking notes: Tricky finding the trail out of Beycik. Very steady uphill all morning to highest point of the whole Lycian Way (not marked, but you’ll find it on your map). Then long decent. Great trees, great views. Pass through part of a Motorcross track. (It was Sunday, so the motorcycles were out. If you plan today to fall on a weekday, that would probably be better.) You could add an out-and-back hike up to Tahtali Dagi peak today, if you choose. We did not and don’t regret it–plenty of challenging, good hiking and scenery today without it. 

DAY 25:

• Mileage: 16.2km (10mi ), Count = 9mi
• Start/End:Yayla Kuzdere to Goynuk Yayla
• Lodging, meals, and money: Kamile’s House, reserve on WhatsApp at +90 532 616 2865. Rustic. 3 single beds in the room, but we had it to ourselves. Shared toilet room and shower room. Only lodging around. Room, breakfast, & vegetarian dinner = 3200TL, cash on arrival.
• Hiking notes: Hike along rural dirt road until Gedelme, where there is a small store to get 2 days of lunch provisions. Hike steadily uphill, some scree, to reach Kamile’s pension. Peaceful. 

DAY 26:

• Mileage: 16.6km (10.3mi), Count = 12mi
• Start/End: Goynuk Yayla to Goynuk
• Lodging, meals, and money: Seven Seas Hotel Life all inclusive resort.  Not our usual thing! End-of-trip celebration. Many other options available in Goynuk, though almost all are at a similarly high price point. A homestay type of accommodation is hard to find in Goynuk.
• Hiking notes: Steady downhill to a log to cross over erosion, then exciting rushing river/climbing over boulders section. (We heard that we’d have to forge the river, and perhaps that’s true earlier in spring, but we didn’t get wet.) Then hike up and over the ridge. Beautiful. There were other hikers, but it wasn’t as busy as we thought the famous Goynuk Canyon might be. Steady hike down to river at bottom of canyon. Cross earth bridge to entrance area to the canyon, with touristy stores/food. Exit to Canyon Road. Walk into Goynuk with many resort hotels. From a resort along water, you can enjoy a beach bar overlooking Mediterranean with Antalya visible in far distance. Toast the end of your amazing journey! 

Post-Hike Travel Day: Cross the whole peninsula on buses. Stay in Kordon Apartment, Fethiye again. Great place in a bustling part of town. From Goynuk, take the bus to Kemer, then bus to Kas, then bus to Fethiye to pick up suitcases and stay the night. Buses in Turkiye are excellent and this will likely go very smoothly, but it’s a long way and will take all day. 

Post-Hike Lodging: Apartment in Kalkan. On AirBnB. A wonderful place with a stunning view. Highly recommended, with all the restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores of Kalkan nearby. Bus from Fethiye to Kalkan. If you have the time available, it’s very worthwhile to stay here, relax after your long hike, and enjoy the view. If you don’t, I recommend booking this place when you pass through Kalkan on the hike.

What would you change if you hiked it again?

This itinerary was great. If we were hiking it again, we’d make three changes: 

1. Lighten the first week just a little. It was a lot, and the “rest day” (Day 8) when we finally got to it, wasn’t a true rest day by the time we walked around Patara, got to the bus, and walked through Kalkan. Here are three possibilities to choose from for lightening the first week:

• Stop at Faralya on day 1. Then next day, hike to Kabak, drop off your bags, and hike down to Kabak beach and then back to Kabak village to stay the night. (It’s supposed to be one of the best beaches on the whole coast, and we didn’t see it.)  Then continue with the itinerary as written. 
• Stay an extra night at Likya Park Orman. It’s a really pleasant spot with great hosts near the water, and it would be a nice rest day. 
• Stay in Gelemis for two nights, so you have a true rest day in a pleasant little town in addition to the day walking around Patara ruins and beach.

2. Get on a bus or hitchhike for the 3 miles from Letoon to Xanthos. You walk along a busy asphalt road and it’s not great. After you enjoy Xanthos, get a bus or hitchhike to Chavdir. Then later in the day, you’ll be more likely to enjoy the mountain trail between Uzumlu and Tuana. 

3. Hike from Cirali to Beycik in one day. There’s no special reason to stop at Ulupinar and the mileage could be done in one day with no problem, so combine days 22 and 23 on this itinerary.

If I don’t have this long, what sections should I choose?

This is a tough one. I think the first section, ending in Patara, is probably the most representative of the Lycan Way with great hiking, fantastic views over the Mediterranean and outstanding ruins at Sidyma, Letoon, Xantos and Patara. If you’re short on time, get the bus from Gavuragili to Letoon (we were the rare hikers who didn’t skip this). After Patara, you could get a bus to the Myra ruins at Demre (best ruins overall). Then get a bus to Karaoz so you can hike the famous peninsula with the Gelidonia lighthouse, and then the next day you can hike the wonderful mountain trail between Adrasan and Cirali, and see the Olympos ruins. Although I hate to have you miss the quiet mountain hiking between Kalkan and Kas, or Goynuk Canyon….In truth, even the less spectacular days on the Lycian Way are good. You’ll have a great hike, no matter which parts you choose. 

Last thoughts?

Turkiye is a complex, wonderful, beautiful country. It’s a privilege to be able to hike along this spectacular southwestern coast. I think you will fall in love with the landscape, also the delicious fresh food, but most of all the kind people. Turkish people are rightly proud of their country and their history, and we found them to be generously welcoming. We loved this hike and think you will, too. 

Feel free to leave questions in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer. If you hike it, let me know how it goes. Enjoy! 

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