Europe 2024 - 2026 / May 12, 2026

Fethiye, Turkiye

We fell in love with Fethiye! This is definitely one of those places that we’ll return to and ticks all the boxes for a place that maybe we would live one day. Old Town? ✅ Ocean/Sea? ✅ Walking paths? ✅ Good bakery? ✅ Good markets? ✅ Friendly people? ✅ Good weather? ✅

We spent 5 weeks there and were very sad to leave… 😢

Old Town

The old town is in the southern side of modern Fethiye near the ferry terminal. The old town is built upon the Roman city of Telmessos. There aren’t very many old buildings left in the old town (except for the old Hammam), but it has a restored Roman ampitheater, a Roman tomb that they built a road around, some other Roman ruins and tombs, a Lycian tomb in the center of town near the Burger King that they just built around, and some ancient Lycian rock tombs (built in 350 BC) carved into the cliff face overlooking the town. The old town now is a tourist area full of boutique shops, and the more more modern ‘downtown’.

One of our favourite restaurants/bars was located on the water in old town – the Tiger Marine where they had cheap beer (3 euros), cheap iced coffees (3 euros), most meals were 6-8 euros and they had the popular Turkish game Okey, which uses the same tiles as Rummikub so we could play.

Promenade

Every morning I woke up and took a walk along the water. Fethiye is really spread out. There is a promenade from the old town in the south following the water for about 4 kilometers northwards up to a large park that had a great playground and skate park. From the park, you could walk another 10-15 minutes to Calis beach where there was another promenade for another 3 kilometers up the beach.

I loved my morning walks – it was cooler in the mornings and the sea was very calm. There were several restaurants and cafes lining parts of the promenade and it was a great place to have coffee or breakfast. If you were lucky, you might even spot a turtle or two! I didn’t get any good photos of the turtles, so I took this one from one of the other families.

Bakery

After my morning walk, I usually stopped by the bakery. We were really lucky that the best bakery we have found so far in Turkey was really close to our apartment! 😋 They always had hot simits and bread in the morning and pides in the evenings and a good variety of other pastries and cakes.

Market

On Tuesdays and Fridays there was a lively market. On Tuesdays, it was the full market with not only fruit, vegetables, nuts, cheese and snacks, but they also had clothes, shoes and kitchen supplies. On Fridays, it was mainly just the produce market. The market was quite large and covered several blocks.

Friends

We had 4 other families decide to join us in Fethiye. One family we were with in both Serbia and Syros and the other 3 families we were with in Serbia, and we originally met them in Budapest (and Morocco). While we were in Fethiye, the kids took Robotics and Art classes and there were lots of opportunities for meals, coffees, Rummikub, beer, poker, game nights and just hanging out.

We had a local bar across from the bakery that was a very authentic Turkish Okey bar. We were the only non-Turks (and the only females) but the owners and waiters were extremely friendly and happy to have us. It became our local evening hangout.

Many of the group members (including K) joined the Saturday morning 5k run. It was organised by some of the expats living in Fethiye and they welcomed our group with open arms.

Rastapus

K and I took a day trip with another family on a boat called Rastapus around the various bays and inlets near Fethiye. The water was very cold, but nearly everyone (except me) jumped in and had a swim anyway. They also served a fantastic lunch and played reggae music which gives it an extra tick from me 😊

Turtle Rescue Center

One day K decided to join the other families and go to visit a Sea Turtle Rescue center about 1.5 hours away. In this center, they take turtles that have been injured and try to heal them enough to be released again back into the ocean.

Oludeniz and the Blue Lagoon

On the day that K went to the turtle sanctuary, C and I took a Dolmus bus and went over the mountain to the town and the the beach of Oludeniz. We walked from the beach over to the Blue Lagoon. It cost 3 euros per person to enter the Blue Lagoon area and within this area there were a variety of restaurants, cafes, changing rooms, etc. Unfortunately, when we went it was still shoulder season so only 1 cafe and 1 restaurant were open. But the lagoon was beautiful and the water was warm (although we didn’t bring our swimsuits because we thought it would be cold).

This is also the hotspot for paragliders. They jump off the nearby mountain and then land on Oludeniz beach. There were a LOT of them in the sky on the day we went.

Tlos

We took a day trip to the ancient city of Tlos and then on to Saklikent gorge.

We weren’t expecting much from Tlos as the price tag was only 4 euros, but it ended up being pretty impressive. Apparently early settlements here date to 4000 years ago, and it was an important city in the 15th century BC. It was part of the Lycian and Persian empires and much of the current necropolis is Lycian tombs. Then came the Greeks and then the Romans each adding bits (acropolis, stadium, ampitheatre and additional baths) and reconstructing other bits. The city was hit by a few major earthquakes and was reconstructed several times.

The location of the city is on a plateau halfway down a mountain with a view over the surrounding valley. I could just imagine sitting in the baths with the incredible view through the columns.

Saklikent Gorge

I was pretty excited to go to this gorge. When I read up on it, it said that there was a 500 meter structured walk and then another 500 meters or so up the river to see a waterfall. Unfortunately, when we arrived, there was a lot of water rushing down the river and a strong current (all the snow melting) so you could not walk up the river to the waterfall. However, we could walk the first 500 meters to a sort of oasis with picnic tables in the water. The water looked like it was coming from nowhere – literally just coming out of the rocks! There must be internal waterfalls or rivers inside the mountains. The water was absolutely freezing 🥶 Everything went numb within seconds of dipping in your feet and the cold sent pain shooting up your legs. It was beautiful and very peaceful though in the oasis.

Cats

Finally, I leave you with photos of some of the cats around Fethiye. Just down the street from us (near the bakery) a calico cat had 4 kittens – 2 black and 2 brown and white. They were adorable.