Sally and I dedicated October to walking The Lycian Way in Turkey. In 23 walking days we managed to do 262 miles of the 318 , so we walked around 82% of the route including both ends.
Section’s we missed are:-
- The day from Akmel to Gelemis. Although we did walk most of it the other way! (Section 8 )
- We walked a different route from Demre (Myra) to Andriake taking in the remains at Sura. Many thanks to Salih for rescuing us from Andriake and helping us with the walk to Alakilise. (End of Section 18 and start of Section 19)
- Alakilise to Mavikent – mainly to save time plus it gets problematic to cross the high ground without a tent & the beach walking along a busy road didn’t appeal. (Parts of Sections 19 & 20)
- A short section from the Roman Bridge to the junction with the high route. Due to no accommodation at the bridge plus the section can be treacherous due to landslips. (Part of section 25b)
It is a great walk fantastic scenery with many beautiful bays most of which are deserted, lots of hill walking, very rocky (I totally wrecked my Scarpa boots). The trail is pretty well marked, although The Gaia iPhone app previously loaded with the GPS trail from Amy & Jim was invaluable most days 🙂
The people are really friendly and even the barking dogs wag their tails. The prices, I estimate, are about 1/3 of UK levels eg two nights full board for both of us at The George House was under 200TL (£70). Although it is crucial to negotiate the price BEFORE you stay.
Here are the days we walked, with links to my geotagged photographs for each section:
We met many great folks particularly the two lanky German boys carrying huge bags with a tent that never got used! plus Keith & Irma from South Africa.
The trail is very well used in many parts although some sections are getting overgrown.
I can really recommend the walk to anyone.
It was the most fantastic walking I have ever done… I loved the heat the food and the Turkish people, but most of all I loved spending a whole month with you 🙂