Lycian Way Winter Walking

Winter walking Lycian Way Phil Buckley Kaş, Turkey

Phil Buckley Winter walking the Lycian Way

Most people interested in hiking and trekking have heard of The Lycian Way. This 500 km long-distance walking route between Fethiye and Antalya on the Mediterranean Coast has been described as one of the world’s top 10 walks. Here in Kaş we’re roughly at the half-way point. As much of the route is coastal the best time to tackle the route (or bits of it!) is in Spring or Autumn. It’s simply too hot in the Summer.
(You can see more about Walking the Lycian Coast with Bougainivllle Travel on the BT Facebook Album or our YouTube Album.)

November is almost always one of the best months to go walking here. Weather-wise it’s comparable to a (good!) Northern European summer but the days are a bit shorter. The sea is still warm and you can sit out in the evenings. But the crowds have gone home and you can mostly have the trails to yourself. The spectacular ancient sites are all but deserted.

This year (2010) the weather stayed fine until the middle of December and we took the opportunity to go on some day hikes on or near the Lycian Way.

Patara-Aqueduct Loop

Winter walking Lycian Way Patara Aquaduct Map Kaş, Turkey

Winter walking Lycian Way Patara Aquaduct Loop

One of the December walks we undertook recently was a 19 km loop which combined a bit of The Lycian Way with some side trails which have brilliant views over the Mediterranean and the Ancient City of Patara. You’re going to be hearing about Patara a lot next year as it is undergoing a major renovation and hosted a meeting of the World Parliament Speakers Conference in August, 2010.

Patara was the ancient Capital of Lycia, the world’s oldest federal state; Lycia’s constitution is referenced twice in the early papers of the American Founding Fathers and is often cited as a model for modern parliaments. The photos show us on a route along part of the ancient aqueduct that delivered water to the port city from many miles away.

Winter walking Lycian Way olive pickers

Just off route the locals were getting in the olive harvest. They place sheets under the trees then shake them to make the ripe fruit drop. The olive groves and the terraces upon which they stand are thousands of years of old and the labour-intensive method of getting in the crop has changed little.

Winter walking Lycian Way wood gatherers Kaş, Turkey

Lycian Way firewood gatherers

The hike then climbs into the hills where we met tractors bringing firewood down to the villages salvaged from a forest fire. From the tops there are brilliant views over the ancient city, through which a navigable river to the Mediterranean once ran and over the longest beach in the Mediterranean. At 18km long the Patara beachis very little developed due partly to the efforts of conservationists to protect the egg-laying grounds of the loggerhead sea-turtle common in the area.

Winter walking the Lyican Way break Kaş, Turkey

Winter walking Refreshment time

Our walk continued up and over two valleys before descending to a remote rugged section of coastline before we turned inland and up hill to get back to our cars. A moderately difficult walk that took about 4 1/2 hours and a great day out that merited a beer on the way home!

Many people think of Turkey as a dry country but the opposite is true, there are many parts which are lush and behind the Mediterranean coast, just an hour inland, you are in the yayla, or highland plateaux, in the shadow of the Akdağ Mountains, part of the Taurus Range, with peaks of 3000 meters.

Autumn is the driest part of the year. In the winter it will snow and the peaks remain snow-capped until June but for now it hasn’t rained much since May. But still there are abundant crops and fruit orchards in the valleys and gorges that are surrounded by huge forests of pine and cedar between the mountains and the coast.

Lycian Way-Hacioğlan Loop

In December we undertook another walk in one of these valleys, just a little off the main Lycian Way Route.

Winter walking Lycian Way Hacioglan Loop Map

This walk took us on a loop overlooking the village the Hacıoğlan and down into the valley to near the outlying farms. From the upper road you can see, on the far side of the valley, a yellow speck that looked like a crashed plane which appeared then in the spring. This being the first chance anyone had to investigate, some of us forded the river after lunch and went across to have a closer look. it is indeed an airplane, a single pilot crop duster. A local shepherdess informed us that the pilot had walked away unscathed.

Winter walking the Lyican Way airplane Kaş, Turkey

Winter walking Airplane wreck

The dogs and us had a fun time of it walking about 3 1/2 hours to return via a different route to the vehicles.
Use the form below to contact us for more information about winter walking the Lycian Trail or booking.

Patara-Aqueduct Loop

Lycian Way-Hacioğlan Loop

BOUGAINVILLE TRAVEL