Southwest Turkey
Turquoise Coast (Lycian Coast)
A first road trip along Turkey's Turquoise Coast for UK travellers: fly into Dalaman, loop Fethiye–Ölüdeniz–Kalkan–Kaş with a Dalyan boat day, real driving times, blue-cruise costs in pounds and a hire-car yes/no verdict.
In short
Turquoise Coast (Lycian Coast) at a glance
The Turquoise Coast is the slice of southwest Turkey between Dalaman and Kaş — pine-backed bays, Lycian rock tombs and the bluest water in the Med. It's the easy UK-friendly version of a Turkey trip: cheap direct flights into Dalaman, an hour to your first base, and a single coast road (the D400) stringing the towns together. Most people do it as a one-week loop from Fethiye, or hand the driving over entirely and take a three-night gulet (blue cruise) along the same coast. Fethiye is the practical hub; Kalkan and Kaş are the prettier, slower ends; Dalyan and Ölüdeniz are day trips you'll remember.
The Turquoise Coast is the stretch of southwest Turkey between Dalaman and Kaş, where pine-covered mountains drop straight into bays the colour of the name. This was ancient Lycia, so the swimming and the ruins come together: rock tombs cut into cliffs above Fethiye, a whole sunken city under the water at Kekova, and the 18km of Roman Patara behind one of the longest beaches in the Med. For UK travellers it’s the path-of-least-resistance Turkey trip — cheap direct flights into Dalaman, about an hour to your first base, and a single coast road, the D400, that links every town.
The first decision is car versus boat, and the honest answer is a bit of both. A hire car (£35–50 a day from Dalaman) is the rare must on a Turkey trip here, because the postcard beaches — Kaputaş in its canyon, Patara behind the dunes — and Saklıkent Gorge have no useful bus, and the towns sit 30–90 minutes apart. A three-night gulet, the “blue cruise” from Fethiye towards Olympos (from roughly £400pp), reaches the bays no road touches and hands you three days of someone else cooking. Plenty of people bolt the two together.
The route below runs the coast one way: Fethiye first for the boats and the budget, then south to Kalkan and Kaş for the prettier, slower towns, with a Dalyan or Kekova boat day worked in. The D400 is paved and gorgeous but properly bendy, so halve your motorway instincts on the timings and don’t stack the days. May–June and September–October are the sweet spot — 25–28°C, warm sea, comfortable walking on the Lycian Way — while July and August push past 35°C with long paragliding queues at Ölüdeniz.
The route
A relaxed one-week loop from Dalaman that works the coast one way — Fethiye first for the boats, then south to Kalkan and Kaş for the prettier towns, with a Dalyan day on the way in or out. Driving times are real D400 coast-road estimates; it's a slow, bendy road, so don't over-pack the days.
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Days 1–2
Fethiye & Ölüdeniz
Pick the car up at Dalaman (about an hour to Fethiye) and base here first. Day one: the harbour, the Lycian rock tombs above town and the Tuesday market. Day two: drive 25 minutes to Ölüdeniz for the Blue Lagoon, or watch (or do) the paragliders coming off Babadağ — tandem flights run about £130–160. Kayaköy ghost village is a 20-minute hop inland.
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Day 3
Fethiye boat day
Hand back the keys for a day and take a full-day 12-Islands boat trip from Fethiye harbour — roughly £25–35 with lunch, stopping at Cleopatra's Bath and a string of swim bays in Fethiye Bay. Or detour to Saklıkent Gorge (about 50 minutes inland, entry around £1) to wade the cold canyon water.
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Days 4–5
Kalkan & Patara
Drive south on the D400 to Kalkan (about 1h30) — the smartest base on the coast, all whitewashed lanes and rooftop restaurants tumbling to a tiny harbour. Use it for Patara's 18km beach and ruins (about 40 minutes), and the iconic Kaputaş Beach in its canyon (15 minutes towards Kaş, no bus — you need the car).
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Days 6–7
Kaş & Kekova
Kaş is 30 minutes on from Kalkan: cobbled, jasmine-scented and the most laid-back town on the coast, with the best diving and seafood. Take the Kekova sunken-city boat trip (about £45–55 with lunch) to glide over Lycian ruins under the water. Then it's roughly 2h30 back to Dalaman to fly home — or push 30 minutes for a Dalyan turtle-beach and mud-bath day if you skipped it on the way in.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Fethiye (harbour / Çalış)
£ valueThe practical hub: the cheapest beds on the coast, the boat harbour on your doorstep and the easiest base for Ölüdeniz, Saklıkent and the market. Çalış beach a few minutes north is flatter and family-friendly. Less postcard-pretty than Kalkan, but where the trip actually runs from.
Best for: First nights, boats, budget, families
Kalkan (Old Town)
£££ premiumThe most stylish base on the Turquoise Coast: steep whitewashed lanes, villa rentals with private pools and a famous tier of rooftop restaurants above a small harbour. There's no real town beach — you swim from boat platforms or drive to Kaputaş and Patara — so it suits couples over bucket-and-spade families.
Best for: Couples, food, villas, the views
Kaş
££ mid-rangeThe bohemian, low-rise end: cobbled streets, jasmine, dive schools and seafood meze, with no big resort hotels by design. The closest base to the Kekova boats and the prettiest place to slow down for the last two nights — but it's 2h30 back to Dalaman, so plan the drive out.
Best for: Last nights, diving, slow pace, food
Getting around Turquoise Coast (Lycian Coast)
Hire a car — this is the rare Turkey trip where it clearly pays off. The towns sit 30–90 minutes apart on the D400 coast road, and the headline bays (Kaputaş, Patara) and Saklıkent Gorge have no useful bus, so a car turns a string of day trips into one loop. Reckon on £35–50 a day from Dalaman; the D400 is paved and scenic but slow and very bendy, so halve your motorway instincts on timings. Without a car you can still do it on dolmuş (shared minibuses) between the main towns plus boat days, but you'll lose the empty beaches. Drive on the right; bring your UK photocard licence (an International Driving Permit isn't required for short visits but is cheap insurance).
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