Lycian Way · Stage 19
Not confirmed open on set dates: Antalya's circular 2026/3 bans entry to the province's forests from 1 May to 31 October 2026 except in listed areas. Its annex exempts the Lycian Way by name only between Geyikbayırı and Çıralı, and adds trekking routes designated by the provincial culture and tourism directorate without listing them, so whether this section is exempt is not published. Ask the Culture Routes Society or the forestry office before you go. Source, read 27 September 2026
By Davazlar and Trysa and through the Demre gorge, avoiding the town, to Belören, as the Society re-routed the way in 2014. Myra and Demre, with the rock tombs and the church of St Nicholas, are an out-and-back of about 11 km in the map's relation; Demre has hotels and buses. Belören is not on the Society's list of beds: a camp site is mapped at the muhtar's house.
Best season: February to May and November (forests close until 31 October). The Culture Routes Society, which keeps the way, recommends spring and autumn, especially February, and says summer is too hot for long walks; it does not recommend mid-December to the end of January. In the fire season the provinces close their forests: Muğla, which holds the way from Ovacık to the Eşen near Kumluova, bans entry to its listed forests from 1 June to 31 October 2026 with no exception for the trail; Antalya bans forest entry from 1 May to 31 October 2026 and exempts the way by name only between Geyikbayırı and Çıralı; whether other trekking routes are exempt is not published. Springs can dry from August, and the Society says to purify water from June to the end of October. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 27 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
Hoyran Wedre, on the Society's list, which puts it about an hour off the line by Kılıçlı; OpenStreetMap maps it at the village on the line. Phone first. Kapaklı, 3.5 km back, has four places on the list.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 600 m (read 22 September 2026). TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
Stage end · overnight
Town
Not on the Culture Routes Society's list of beds. OpenStreetMap maps a camp site at the muhtar's house: phone before you rely on it, or carry a tent. Demre, with hotels and buses, lies down the gorge off the line.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 600 m (read 22 September 2026). TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
No walking time is published for this leg. Our estimate for the stage is 6 h 54, computed from the mapped line and its climbing.
Make it your trip
Almost every village on the main line has a pension or a village house that takes walkers, but most close from December to February and some in November: book each night ahead in autumn, and phone the village houses. Stretches with no beds: Belören to Finike (33 km, one long day), Göynük to Hisarçandır over Üçsöğüt (one room at Elmayanı, per the Society's list), and the pass below Tahtalı.
The classic west: Faralya and Kabak, the Seven Capes to Bel, the coast by Gavurağılı, Letoon, Xanthos, Patara and Kalkan, and over the plateau to Kaş. Ten walking days, a village every night.
Plan this journeyTwo days along the Kekova coast by Limanağzı, Boğazcık and Aperlae to the harbour village of Üçağız.
Plan this journeyThe inland line of 2017 by Kapaklı and Hoyran, above Demre, to Belören.
Plan this journeyThree days: the coast to Karaöz, round Cape Gelidonya to Adrasan, and over Musa Dağı by Olympos to Çıralı.
Plan this journeyFour days over the mountains: the Chimaera and Beycik, the pass below Tahtalı, Gedelme and Göynük, and the long high day to Hisarçandır. The hardest stretch of the way, with few beds.
Plan this journeyOne day by the Karabel pass and Trebenna to the official end at Geyikbayırı, and the bus to Antalya.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (36 m) and high point (757 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (36 m) and the highest point (757 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good |
| High point, day / night | 11°/3° | 12°/3° | 15°/5° | 18°/8° | 23°/12° | 28°/16° | 31°/19° | 32°/19° | 28°/15° | 23°/11° | 18°/7° | 13°/4° |
| Low point, day / night | 16°/7° | 17°/7° | 19°/8° | 22°/11° | 27°/15° | 32°/19° | 35°/22° | 35°/22° | 32°/19° | 27°/15° | 22°/11° | 18°/8° |
| Rain, mm | 186 | 109 | 68 | 43 | 30 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 18 | 61 | 83 | 180 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 9 h 56 | 10 h 51 | 11 h 54 | 13 h 05 | 14 h 04 | 14 h 37 | 14 h 25 | 13 h 35 | 12 h 28 | 11 h 20 | 10 h 17 | 9 h 43 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Muğla bans entry to its listed forests from 1 June to 31 October 2026, including Kayaköy–Ölüdeniz, Babadağ, Faralya and the Butterfly Valley, and Dodurga as far as the Eşen, with no exception for the trail; walking there in that period needs the district governor's permission. Antalya bans forest entry from 1 May to 31 October 2026 except in listed areas: it exempts the Lycian Way by name only between Geyikbayırı and Çıralı, and exempts designated trekking routes without listing them, so the status of the way from the Eşen to Çıralı in that period is not published. The fine for breaking an order is 3,705 TL in 2026. Both provinces issue a new order each spring.
Antalya: forest-fire order 2026/3The Society lists pensions and village houses by stage; it says that except on three high stretches there is a bed every night. Most pensions close from December to February and many in November. Book ahead, and phone the village houses at Alınca, Gey, Bel, Hoyran, Gedelme and Hisarçandır.
Culture Routes Society: accommodation by stageSprings and wells can dry from August, and the Society says to purify water from June to the end of October. Fill up in the villages; the Gelidonya, Tahtalı and Üçsöğüt stretches have none.
Culture Routes Society: independent trekkersThe trail passes through Xanthos (€3), Patara (€15), Olympos (€10) and, on the coast variant, Phaselis (€10). Sites open at 08:00 and close between 18:45 and 21:00 in season; winter hours are shorter.
Ministry of Culture: site feesRed-and-white marks, kept current on OpenStreetMap by the Society, which warns of fake marks between Kaş and Boğazcık and at Beycik. Forest law bans overnighting in state forests outside designated places (4,293 TL in 2026), while the Society says walkers find plenty of camping spots near water: ask in the villages, and light no fires.
Culture Routes Society: route updatesGetting there
Travel around Hoyran to Belören.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Muttaş shuttle 48-25 runs between Dalaman airport and Fethiye bus station, about an hour, to meet the flights. From Fethiye, minibus 3-40 runs to Ovacık and Ölüdeniz every 7 to 8 minutes from 06:50 to 00:30, and minibus 3-42 to Faralya and Kabak hourly from 07:00 to 18:00, back from 08:30 to 19:30.
Muttaş: Fethiye to ÖlüdenizCoaches run Fethiye to Kaş about 19 times a day (2 hours) and Antalya to Kaş about 21 times (4 hours). Minibuses link Kaş and Kalkan all day, and Kaş and Demre every 30 to 60 minutes. Üçağız has minibuses and boats from Kaş in season; out of season it is a taxi from Demre.
Culture Routes Society: transportCoastal coaches (Batı Antalya Tur and others) stop at Finike, Kumluca, Adrasan and the Olympos and Çıralı junctions on the main road. Minibuses run Kumluca to Adrasan all year (last about 17:00 to 18:00 in winter) and the Olympos junction to Olympos every two hours from October to May, hourly in summer; Çıralı is 7 km from its junction, by taxi or a summer minibus.
Batı Antalya TurBus 600 runs from Antalya airport to the bus station every 30 minutes. Bus 515 runs from the bus station to Hisarçandır from 07:50 to 19:15, and bus 521A from the bus station to Geyikbayırı three times a day (06:00, 12:30, 17:30). Buses KA07 and TA08 run from the bus station to Göynük, Kemer and Tekirova from 06:20 to about midnight.
Antalya airport: bus 600Take your trip with you
Prepare each section while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out; there is no signal on much of the coast path.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
The Culture Routes Society, which waymarked the way and keeps it, speaks of about 760 km with its variants. This guide follows the main line on OpenStreetMap (relation 51855, which the Society names as its up-to-date route; planet of 21 September 2026), 443 km from Ovacık to Geyikbayırı, cut at the villages where the Society lists beds, and at Belören, where it lists none but which splits the 56 km from Hoyran to Finike. Its accommodation list of February 2026 numbers them by its guidebook's stages, which it does not publish online, so the stage numbers here are this guide's own. The line takes the coast by Gey and Gavurağılı, the inland line of 2017 by Kapaklı and Hoyran, and Tahtalı by Beycik and Yayla Kuzdere. The variants by Sidyma, by Andriake and Myra, by Phaselis and Tekirova, the Lyra Way round Tahtalı and the alternative end at Sarısu are described, not drawn. Distances and climbs are measured on this line; the Society publishes none online.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 27 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Culture Routes Society: the Lycian WayMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation