Guide
Waymarked over some 500 km, the St Paul Trail runs from the ruins of Perge, ten kilometres east of Antalya and close to the city's airport, all the way to Yalvaç, north-east of Lake Eğirdir; walking the whole of it takes around 27 days. A second branch sets off from Beşkonak, the gateway to Köprülü Kanyon National Park some 80 km north-east of Antalya, and meets the main line at the Roman site of Adada.
Kate Clow laid the route out in 2008, hoping to bring visitors into rural Türkiye and to show walkers the country Paul passed through on the first of his journeys across Asia Minor. It uses old Roman roads, footpaths and forest tracks, and some stretches can be ridden on a mountain bike. Of the two long-distance paths it is wilder than the Lycian Way: it climbs from sea level to 2,200 m, and two optional summits reach about 2,800 m.
Spring and autumn are the walking seasons; July and August are hot. On many nights you can sleep in village houses or small pensions, but the longer stages mean camping, and good pitches are easy to find. Eğirdir is the main base for transport and accommodation along the way.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Antalya as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 10.1 °C in January to 28.6 °C in July; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in April, May, October and November; rainfall is heaviest in December (251 mm) and lightest in August (4 mm). Long-term means for 1930-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
