The coast Türkiye keeps for itself
Between Fethiye and Antalya the road clings to the cliffs above the sea, and along the way lies Kaş: a town of whitewashed houses, lanes draped in bougainvillea and a harbour where fishing boats share the quay with dive boats. There are no big resort hotels and no sandy beaches in the town itself, which is exactly why mass tourism has passed it by. This is the place on the coast where you come to slow down.
All around it lies Lycia, the land of a people who buried their dead in tombs carved into the cliffs, home to some of the most beautiful corners of Türkiye's Mediterranean coast.
What to see
Kekova and the sunken city
An earthquake in the 2nd century AD sent half of the city of Dolichiste under the sea. Today you explore it by boat, looking down at stairways, walls and amphorae about a metre below the surface. On the opposite shore, the village of Simena (Kaleköy) climbs up to a castle that holds the smallest theatre in Lycia, with Lycian tombs standing in the water below. This is the one day trip you shouldn't miss.
Patara
Patara is eighteen kilometres of unspoilt sand, the longest beach in Türkiye, and it is protected because loggerhead turtles nest here. Behind the dunes lies the ancient city itself: the Arch of Modestus, the theatre, the restored Roman lighthouse and the parliament building of the Lycian League, which the Founding Fathers of the United States cited as a model of federation.
Xanthos and Letoon
Xanthos was the capital of Lycia and Letoon its sanctuary; together they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Twice the people of Xanthos destroyed their own city rather than surrender. What remains is the theatre, the pillar tombs and the foundations of the Nereid Monument, which now stands reconstructed in the British Museum in London. Letoon, about five kilometres away, has three temples, with frogs croaking among its waterlogged stones.
Kaş and its tombs
The town itself has a Hellenistic theatre facing the sea, a Lycian sarcophagus in the middle of a shopping street and tombs cut into the hillside above. For a swim, head to the rock platforms at Küçükçakıl or to the coves around Kekova island.
When to go
May to October for the sea; April and November for the ruins without the heat. Kaş is also one of the best diving spots in the Mediterranean, with wrecks and visibility of up to 30 metres.
How to get there
The nearest airport is Dalaman, about 2–2.5 hours away by road; Antalya airport is about 3–3.5 hours away along the coast. From Fethiye it is around two hours' drive on one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the country.
What to eat
The catch of the day at the harbour, meze made with local herbs and, in Kaleköy, the home-made ice cream sold by a local woman up by the castle. The restaurants in the upper streets are cheaper and better than the ones on the seafront.
Fitting Kaş into your trip
Give it three nights: one day for the Kekova boat trip, another for Patara with Xanthos and Letoon, and one day of doing nothing at all. Kaş is a natural highlight of a route that runs from Pamukkale down through Fethiye to Antalya.