Fethiye

Fethiye is a bustling harbour town with a popular Tuesday market selling all sorts of strange and wonderful items from leather, spices and jewellery to genuine (and not so genuine) clothing. Fethiye is steeped in history, as you walk through the pretty cobbled streets of the Old Town you just have to look up to see the Lycian rock tombs resting high on the hillside above the harbour. The harbour is home to many traditional wooden ‘gulet’ boats and international yachts that visit during the summer months, a few stars have even been spotted wondering around the many shops and bars at the harbour front.

Hisaronu

The lively tourist resort of Hisaronu is just a 5 minute taxi or bus ride from Oludeniz. A larger resort set high on the mountain road, it offers those that like nightlife a great party atmosphere. Hisaronu has only recently become a destination for tourists and was born from the popularity of Oludeniz itself. The long main road through the centre plays home to all manner of restaurants, bars, shops and nightclubs. Open 24 hours the resort appears not to sleep during the summer months.

Kayakoy ‘Ghost Town’

For those that want a true taste of Turkish life a trip to Kayakoy is a must. The Kayakoy valley is a million miles away from your average bustling holiday resort. Just 10 minutes from Olu Deniz by car or bus, Kayakoy is famed as the inspiration for Louis de Bernieres novel— Birds without Wings. Following a forced population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1926, the former Greek village lay abandoned. Having at one point had a community of 20,000, the intervening years have seen the towns stone buildings crumble and ruin leaving a fascinating and eerie atmosphere hence the term ’ghost town’. The valley itself is today a maze of rustic, single track roads leading to traditional restaurants, BBQ houses and pensions. A handful of traditional Turkish and seafood restaurants can be found and one or two bars are now present at the foot of the ruins. In all, Kayakoy offers you a great place to explore traditional village life.