Turkey

Lycian Way

The Lycian Way (Lycian Trail) is a hiking route along the Taurus Mountains bordering the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

📅 7 days🥾 105 km💪 3/7 difficulty

from 200 EUR/ person

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7 days

105 km

~15 km/day

3/7 difficulty

Antalya start

The Lycian Way (Lycian Trail) is a hiking route along the Taurus Mountains bordering the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The climate is very warm and already at the beginning of March it is much warmer here than in Crimea in May. It’s not for nothing that I compared Lycia with Crimea, they are similar in many ways and the Lycian Way can become the New Crimea for those who traveled the length and breadth of the Crimean Mountains. The route is short, but very eventful - a deep canyon, a sky-high peak (Olympus, 2365 m), the mythical Chimera, ancient ruins and the warm Mediterranean Sea.

Lycian Way (Lycian Trail) - a hiking route along the Taurus Mountains bordering the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The climate is very warm and already at the beginning of March it is much warmer here than in Crimea in May. It’s not for nothing that I compared Lycia with Crimea, they are similar in many ways and the Lycian Way can become a New Crimea for those who travel far and wide came from the Crimean Mountains. The route is short, but very eventful - a deep canyon, a sky-high peak (Olympus, 2365 m), the mythical Chimera, ancient ruins and the warm Mediterranean Sea.

This route is only 1/5 of the great Lycian Way - a 500-kilometer-long trail that is included in the top ten best trekking routes in the world. To complete it all, you need at least a month and a half. For most of us, this is an unrealistically long period of time, but spending a week exploring the mountains of Turkey is a much more acceptable idea. If you have a little more time (10-12 days), pay attention to a very similar hike along the route "Lycian Trail".

When designing the route, I was guided by the flight schedule of the low-cost airline Wizzair, which flies Kyiv - Antalya - Kyiv every Friday and Monday.

Trek plan:

RouteRoute map

Open the map →

The GPS track is not digitised yet, the line is approximate (by key points).

Along the trailWhat you will see

city

Antalya

Antalya is a major port city on Turkey's southern Mediterranean coast, serving as the main gateway to the Lycian Way and one of the busiest tourist hu→

canyon

Göynük Canyon

Göynük Canyon is a 4.5 km-long gorge in the Kemer district of Antalya Province, Turkey, situated within the Beydağları Coastal National Park and formi→

mountain

Tahtalı Dağı

Tahtalı Dağı (Lycian Olympus) is a 2,366 m mountain near Kemer in Antalya Province, Turkey, and the highest point along the Lycian Way.→

historic site

Yanartaş (Chimaera Fires)

Yanartaş is a hillside near Çıralı in Antalya Province where natural methane gas vents through rock cracks, feeding eternal flames known since antiqui→

beach

Çıralı

Çıralı is a small rural settlement and 3.5 km beach in the Kemer district of Antalya Province, Turkey, located near the ancient ruins of Olympos and t→

historic site

Olympos (Lycia)

Olympos is an ancient Lycian city on the Mediterranean coast in Antalya Province, now an open-air archaeological site within the Olympos Beydaglari Na→

beach

Adrasan

Adrasan is a small coastal resort village on the Lycian coast of Turkey (Antalya Province), known for its sheltered horseshoe-shaped bay with a 2.5 km→

beach

Karaöz Beach

Karaöz is a scenic beach and coastal village on the Lycian coast of Turkey, situated between Cape Gelidonya and Mavikent in the Kumluca district of An→

city

Kumluca

Kumluca is a district and town in Antalya Province in southwestern Turkey, located on the Mediterranean coast approximately 90 km west of Antalya city→

Day by dayItinerary

Day 1. Antalya, Goynuk Canyon.

The group meets at Antalya Airport (9:30 am). We distribute the food and take a taxi to the bus station. We need a bus to Goynuk. From this village it is a stone's throw to the mountains. Just 4 km along the river and we are in the canyon. However, we won’t be able to stay here for long; we still have to cross the neighboring ridge before evening. But on its other side, we will find a continuation of the picturesque gorge. We will stop late for the night, making the most of the daylight hours.

Day 2. Gedelme, Guzelkatran massif, Yaylakuzdere

In the morning we will continue to climb the gorge to eventually reach a fairly wide plateau adjacent to the Guzelkatran mountain range from the east. We will walk along this plateau (here, as in Crimea, they use the word Yayla - summer pasture) all day. Along the way we will meet a couple of villages - let's see how the Turkish highlanders live :)

Day 3. Saddle of Mount Takhtali, Olympus.

Today is the highest day of the hike. The minimum program is to climb the saddle of Mount Takhtali (1780 m above sea level). If the weather permits and we have strength, then in the afternoon we will make a radial hike towards the peak of Olympus (2365 m).

Day 4. Beychik, Ulupinar, Chimera

The high-mountainous part of the route has come to an end - we begin the descent towards the sea. On the way we pass (or fly over) the village of Beychik, the Ulupinar botanical teahouse, and stop for the night in such a way that at dusk we can go to the Chimera - tongues of flame escaping straight from the rock for more than a thousand years.

Day 5. Cirali, Olympos, Mount Musa

The village of Cirali is famous for its turtle beach (yes, there is already a sea) and its proximity to the magnificent ruins of the ancient city of Olympos. This ancient complex will delight us with Lycian sarcophagi, a Greek theater, Roman gates, a Genoese fortress and a real Turkish jungle. Well, the area itself is pleasing to the eye - a calm river flowing into the sea under the protection of reddish rocks. In the afternoon - a well-deserved bonus in the form of a strong climb to Mount Musa.

Day 6. Adrasan, Cape Gelidonia, lighthouse

Adrasan is a small village in the next picturesque bay. Having replenished food supplies in it, we will again leave the bustle of people and head to the secluded lighthouse on Cape Gelidonia. This is a real end of the world, behind which there are only a couple of islands and the sun setting in the sea.

Day 7. Karaoz, Kumlucha, Antalya

Moving along the sea, by noon we will reach the wide Kumlucha valley almost completely occupied by tomato greenhouses. From this tomato paradise we will take a bus back to Antalya. There we will spend the night in one of the campsites, so that the next morning we will be ready to fly home.

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