Antalya Turquoise Coast: Gulet Boat Trip to the Blue Lagoons, Kemer Resort Town, Olympos Ancient City in the Forest, the Chimaera Eternal Flames, Phaselis Three Harbours, and the Lycian Way Walking Route
The Antalya Turquoise Coast route covers the gulet wooden boat trip along the pine-covered coast to the secluded coves and bays, the Kemer resort and the Taurus mountain backdrop, the Olympos ancient Lycian city in the forest valley, the Chimaera eternal flame vents on the mountain, the Phaselis three-harbour Lycian city, and the Lycian Way coastal walking route.
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Gulet Boat Trip: The Turquoise Coast by Sea
The gulet wooden boat trip from the Antalya harbour along the Turquoise Coast westward to the pine-fringed coves and bays that are inaccessible by road provides the most complete experience of the Mediterranean coastal landscape between the Taurus mountains and the sea. The gulet trips range from the 4-hour sunset cruise to the full 3-day Blue Cruise as far as Fethiye, stopping at the secluded coves for swimming, snorkeling, and anchoring for the night in the bays where the wood oven on the gulet cooks the fresh fish dinner.
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Kemer: The Pine Forest Resort Town
Kemer, 42 kilometers southwest of Antalya at the base of the Taurus mountain forest, is the most family-oriented resort town on the Antalya Riviera with the marina, the beach promenade, the shopping centre for the resort visitors, and the mountain forest rising directly behind the town that provides the most dramatic mountain-to-sea resort backdrop in Turkey. The Kemer Carnival and the beach festivals of the summer season are the most commercially organized public events on the Turquoise Coast and the events that the all-inclusive resort visitors attend most consistently.
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Olympos: The Lycian City in the Forest Valley
Olympos ancient city, accessible through the forested valley that the Olympos stream has carved through the Taurus mountain limestone, is the most atmospheric ancient site in the Antalya region because the dense vegetation that grows over the Lycian ruins creates the most jungle-like archaeological site in Turkey, with the carved sarcophagi emerging from the undergrowth, the Roman harbour mole in the river estuary, and the Byzantine church walls rising through the trees. The Olympos bungalow camp village in the treehouse cabins above the valley is the most popular budget accommodation on the Turquoise Coast.
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Chimaera: The Eternal Fire of Antiquity
The Chimaera on Mount Olympos above the Olympos valley, the natural gas vents that have burned continuously for at least 2,500 years and that the ancient sources identified as the fire-breathing monster of Greek mythology, is the most extraordinary geological curiosity on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. The evening hike from the Cirali village beach through the pine forest to the Chimaera flame field, arriving at dusk when the flames become visible against the darkening sky and the smell of methane is strongest, is the most otherworldly single night experience on the Turquoise Coast.
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Phaselis: The Three-Harbour Lycian City
Phaselis, 55 kilometers southwest of Antalya, is the Lycian city with the most beautifully situated archaeological site on the Turkish coast, built on a pine-forested peninsula with 3 natural harbours used simultaneously for the different trade winds and connected by the main colonnaded street that runs from harbour to harbour. Alexander the Great wintered at Phaselis in 334 BC before the Persian campaign and the city alliance with Macedonia established the beginning of the Hellenistic period at Phaselis. The pine forest swimming directly from the ancient harbour walls is the most archaeologically integrated beach experience in Turkey.
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Lycian Way: The 540-Kilometer Coastal Walk
The Lycian Way, the 540-kilometer long-distance walking route marked by the British walker Kate Clow in 1999 and running from Fethiye to Antalya along the coast and mountain ridge of the ancient Lycian civilization territory, is the most complete coastal long-distance trail in Turkey and the walking route that most completely reveals the Lycian archaeological heritage of the rock-cut tombs, the sarcophagi, and the ancient city ruins along the entire Antalya to Fethiye coastline. The trail sections from Olympos to Phaselis provide the most dramatic combined coastal and mountain walking on the Lycian Way.