In 1958 an earthquake leveled the seaside city of Fethiye (feh-tee-yeh), sparing only the remains of the ancient city of Telmessos. More than half a century on, it is once again a prosperous hub of the western Mediterranean and a major base for gület (Turkish yacht) cruises. Despite its booming growth, Fethiye is low-key for its size, due mostly to restrictions on high-rise buildings and the transitory nature of the gület business, which brings travelers flocking here between April and October.
Explore Fethiye
Fethiye’s natural harbor is perhaps the region’s finest, tucked into the southern reaches of a broad bay scattered with pretty islands, including Şövalye Adası, glimpsed briefly in the James Bond film Skyfall. Fethiye also makes a good base for visiting Ölüdeniz, one of Turkey’s seaside hotspots, and many interesting sites in the surrounding countryside, including the ghost town of Kayaköy (also called Karmylassos or Levissi) just over the hill.
Fethiye Museum
Focusing on Lycian finds from Telmessos as well as the ancient settlements of Tlos and Kaunos, this small museum exhibits pottery, jewellery, small statuary and votive stones (including the important Grave Stelae and the Stelae of Promise). Its most prized significant possession, however, is the so-called Trilingual Stele from Letoön, dating from 338 BC, which was used partly to decipher the Lycian language with the help of ancient Greek and Aramaic. All exhibits are labelled in English and Turkish.
Also here is a mosaic from Letoön’s Temple of Apollo featuring a lyre, a bow and arrow, and a floral centre. The garden surrounding the museum contains an excellent lapidary of mostly Lycian sarcophagi and Roman tombstones, some of them portraying early Christian symbols and angels.
Çalış Beach
About 5km north of Fethiye’s center is Çalış, a narrow stretch of gravel beach lined with concrete hotels as well as pubs and chip shops patronized by British ex-pats. Part of the James Bond film Skyfall was shot here.
Tomb of Amyntas
Fethiye’s most recognizable sight is the mammoth Tomb of Amyntas, an Ionic temple facade carved into a sheer rock face in 350 BC, in honor of ‘Amyntas son of Hermapias’. Located south of the center, it is best visited at sunset. Other smaller rock tombs lie about 500m to the east. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of graffiti evident at the site.
Ölüdeniz Beach & Lagoon
The beach is why most people visit Ölüdeniz. While the decent strip of pebble shore edging the holiday resort is free, the famed lagoon beach is a protected national park (Ölüdeniz Tabiat Parkı) that you pay to enter. Both the public beach and lagoon get heavily crowded in summer, but, with the mountains soaring above you, it’s still a lovely place to while away a few hours. There are showers, toilets and cafes; sunshades, loungers, and paddleboats can be rented.
Babadag & teleferikk
Babadag, part of the Taurus mountain range, translates as Father Mountain, this giant towers over the bay of Oludeniz and can be seen from the seaside town of Fethiye. Babadag is made up of two peaks that stand across from one another with a flooded valley between them. The highest peak is 1,969 meters tall, while it’s sister is 1,400 meters tall, the steep mountain slopes are coated with thick forests hosting pine, cedar and strawberry trees. Rural villages sit in the foothills and an ancient Lycian road curves around its side.
Babadag is located a short distance from Fethiye in Mugla province, southwest Turkey, it has become famous as one of the best spots in the world for paragliding, with perfect thermal winds and an ideal location overlooking the gorgeous Blue Lagoon at Oludeniz and offering incomparable views along Turkey’s Turquoise Coastline. All year round it is common to see paragliders launch themselves from the majestic peak of Babadag and perform 360 degree spins over the glistening sea before drifting down to land next to Oludeniz beach. Tandem jumps with experienced guides are offered every day, weather dependent, and you can even request to have your picture taken as float about in the sky.
4×4’s and minibuses can climb the steep road to the peak of Babadag and paragliding excursions can be organised in Oludeniz or Fethiye, May to October are the best months for flying. If you like hiking then a 13-kilometre trail runs from the beach to the peak, even if you don’t plan to paraglide the view from the top of Babadag is well worth the climb. teleferik funicular Cable car however you called is open ölüdeniz to top of the Babadag mount.