Turkey's Lycian Way Trek in 14 Spectacular Photos
This fall, our editors took an 8-day journey along Turkey's Lycian Way trail. Here's the hikers' paradise they discovered.
Hikers on the Lycian Way, and their friendly canine companion, pass through a red pine forest.
Camping is allowed on nearly all public land in Turkey, including this black sand beach near Maden Bay.
Because the Lycian coast faces south, it’s possible to see both sunrise and sunset over the Mediterranean, depending on the aspect of your campsite. Here, a hiker shoulders his pack for the day.
One of the Lycian Way trek’s many ancient attractions is the everlasting flame at Chimera. Legend says it comes from the breath of a buried dragon.
The route climbs high into the cedar forests of the Taurus Mountains, where fall-blooming crocuses dot a grassy ridge.
High peaks run straight down to the coast in this rugged, beautiful region of Turkey.
Sunsets are especially magical at the Gelidoyna Lighthouse, the southernmost point of the Lycian Way.
You’ll want to get up early for this sunrise vista while camping at the lighthouse; the peninsula juts so far south, you can see them both over the water.
There’s nothing quite like finishing a long hike with a swim in the Mediterranean’s warm waters (in this case, near Simena).
We met this gentleman in the town of Ucagiz.
Option: Give your feet a rest with a sea kayak voyage near the ancient sunken city of Kekova.
Locally grown delicacies include olives and pomegranates. This batch is waiting to be cured.
Hike to the village of Kayakoy, abandoned just in the 1920s, though you’d never guess it’s that young.
Leave room for a snack of gozleme: flame-cooked flatbreads filled with vegetables, cheese, or meat.
They say the word “turquoise” comes from the French for “Turkish coast.” And after a week of gorgeous vistas on the Lycian Way in southern Turkey, our editors had no trouble believing it. They trekked across black-sand beaches, past ancient sunken cities, and through some of the world’s last remaining Lebanon cedar forests. Consider this gallery just a preview; you’ll see more stories about how to repeat their trek in future issues.