The Turkish coastline doesn’t get the same press as the beaches of Croatia or islands of Greece, but it should.  The marriage of the crystal clear aqua colored water with the dramatic cliffs and numerous islands dotting the horizon ensures that around every corner is a vista worthy of a postcard.

I arrived into my first stop on the coast, Fethiye, fresh off a 13 hour bus ride from Göreme, and settled into my new home, the justifiably revered V-Go hostel.  I didn’t spend a lot of time documenting the city, which to my eyes, had a nice harbour but otherwise was somewhat unremarkable.  However, the real value to staying in Fethiye is the plethora of activities available nearby.

One of the most under-appreciated sites is that of Kayaköy, the ghost town.  This Greek style town has been abandoned for almost 100 years now and is completely open to the public to hike and climb through, unrestricted.

There are many clues that this town is built for tourism and everything is based around the ocean.  There are maybe 30 boats that go on similar daily routes visiting the local sites such as butterfly valley, the blue cave, and the cold springs.

But lets not say this is without advantages!  After a long day in the sun and a mediocre lunch on board your boat, there is nothing better than smells of banana and nutella wafting through the air.  This enterprising couple rows (there is no motor onboard) between the boats selling their freshly made turkish pancakes – delicious!

Fethiye is all about the water though, so let us not waste any time before getting to photos of that beautiful blue ocean and the accompanying beaches!

The town of Fethiye’s value is in all the interesting things that can be done using Fethiye as a home base – go on a sailing trip, go hiking in the mountains, visit some of the nearby beaches, parasailing.  It’s a fantastic stop for backpackers as there is lots of infrastructure built around single foreign travellers looking for a good time, so if this is you, don’t skip it!