There’s no more rewarding and genuine way to explore the world’s most beautiful places than on your own two feet. There are countless walking trails around the world that offer close encounters with nature and culture and one of the most famous is Turkey’s ancient Lycian Way, which has just been ranked as one of the most beautiful hikes in the world by leading British lifestyle magazine, Time Out.
The full Lycian Way takes 30 days to walk but European walk operator, On Foot Holidays, offers a six-night, self-guided holiday along the most spectacular section of the route from the Turkish mountains to the coast, including accommodation and baggage transfers.
The Lycian Way was once a major trading route but is now renowned for the ruins of temples and towns left by ancient civilisations as well as its majestic coastal vistas and secluded beaches.
On Foot Holidays’ inn-to-inn, self-guided hike – ‘Lycia: Mountains and Sea’ – offers spectacular scenery, authentic home cooking and legendary Turkish hospitality. The trip starts with a night in Antalya and takes hikers through remote mountain villages and the classical ruins at Olympos – where Roman baths, sarcophagi and temples are tucked away among wild grapevines and flowering oleander. The route includes a visit to Chimaera, where ‘eternal flames’ burn continuously from methane gases leaking from the rock. The trip ends at Adrasan on the coast and a walk along the wild and lonely coastline to the romantic Kilidonya Lighthouse.
The 70km route covers 6-18km per day and is graded medium-hard in effort, with luggage transferred between hotels each day, lightening the load considerably.
Low in carbon footprint and high in cultural immersion, the hike has been curated for independent hikers who will stay at a series of cabins, bungalows and character-filled hotels along the way.
The ‘Lycia: Mountains and Sea’ walk includes six nights’ accommodation along the route, daily breakfasts, five picnic lunches, five dinners, all luggage transfers between hotels, transport at the start and end of the walk, and all directions, information and maps – printed or in digital version on On Foot Holidays’ new Companion App. The holiday costs from £1005 per person, twin-share (about A$2019 depending on exchange rates).
* On Foot Holidays offers a 10 per cent saving when two of its hikes are booked at the same time for the one European holiday (discount applies to the cheaper holiday only). Conditions apply. A discount of £40 per room is also offered for walkers opting to use a digital walking guide on their phones without printed materials.
