Guide
Fethiye, the Lycian city once called Telmessos, curves around a round bay beneath the peak of Babadağ. Pine forest covers the slopes between, and old tombs and ruins lie tucked away on rocky hillsides and among olive groves. Most visitors stay at Ölüdeniz, where hang gliders take off from the summit and land on the soft sand, while the mountains inland see few people apart from walkers on the Lycian Way, Türkiye's first long-distance footpath.
The Fethiye chamber of commerce laid out 343 km of easy and moderate day walks, waymarked in red and yellow; most of them connect to the Lycian Way and are signposted from it. They were planned for families and less experienced walkers who want wide views over the sea, its sailing boats and islands, or a taste of the terrain before setting out on the Lycian Way, and with public transport and local transfers they can be walked one day at a time from a single hotel. The best months are February to June and September to November. The network, created by Ersin Demirel for the chamber, is no longer maintained.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Muğla as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 10.8 °C in January to 27.6 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in April, May, June, September, October and November; rainfall is heaviest in December (207 mm) and lightest in August (4 mm). Long-term means for 2001-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
