As well as Fethiye’s own historical attractions, right inside the city, the area surrounding Fethiye has many excellent attractions too. Not only is there more ancient history to discover, there are extremely beautiful places to visit, including one of Turkey’s most photographed destinations.

 

Oludeniz is a popular tourist destination in its own right, but it’s close enough to Fethiye that you could just visit for a day trip, and you’ll be glad that you took a day out of your Fethiye holiday to do so! The main feature of this small town is the stunning lagoon, protected from the sea by a sweeping narrow peninsula that features beautiful beaches on either side. Standing admiring the picture perfect turquoise blue waters against the white sandy beach you probably wouldn’t argue if someone told you this was somewhere in the Caribbean! Watch out for all the paragliders making their way off the steep mountain, or even join them for some of the best paragliding in the world!

 

About 20 miles from Fethiye, and less than half that distance from Oludeniz, is Butterfly Valley. Here you’ll find a scenic canyon opening up onto a beach and a bay, and on top of the canyon a small village. It’s a very scenic place and was named Butterfly Valley because of the large number of butterflies seen here through most of the year.

 

Situated around 30 miles from Fethiye is Saklikent Gorge. This too is a beautiful place and well worth a day trip while on holiday in Fethiye. It’s located up in the mountains above Fethiye and the steep sides of the gorge make this a refreshingly cool place to visit on a hot summer’s day. You could take a picnic with you or make use of one of the basic restaurants here.

 

The ancient city of Tlos is the oldest city in the Lycian region of Turkey and was also known to be one of the most important religious centres. It dates back to before 2000BC and like the rock tombs you’ll see when on holiday in Fethiye there are Lycian rock tombs here too. Other ruins include a Roman amphitheatre and an Ottoman era castle.

 

Xanthos and nearby Letoon are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their cultural importance. There’s an amphitheatre, columns and other ruins at Xanthos, whilst Letoon offers three temples dedicated to Leto, Artemis, and Apollo.