A Circular Walk Of Aşıklar Tepesi, Fethiye

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A few posts ago, we mentioned about going to Antalya at the beginning of March to take part in Runatolia – a 10k run.

I’ve pounded the Fethiye running track all of five times now and my shins are sore – I’m not cut out for a life of athletics – so we decided a bit of cross-training was called for.

A circular walk from our home, along the high road of Fethiye, back down and along the harbour to home again.

After walking along the harbour, we passed the dolmuş station, crossed the road and cut through one of the many gaps between the high street shops.

The steep uphill roads and alleys take you through old Fethiye – a few whitewashed houses, old ladies sitting and chatting along the roadside.

These alleys and roads will bring you out onto the main road that joins the Kayaköy road and you have a choice of left or right. Turn right and continue to climb towards the castle ruins.

Behind you are the Fethiye Lycian rock tombs and views over the town. No time to admire these today.

We were cross training – and there are always a few goats along the way and some smaller Lycian tombs to take in.

Out of breath, we finally reached the site of the castle.

Anyway, on with the power walking. Well, once we’d got up the hill to the foot of the castle, this was photo-taking time so there wasn’t much power walking going on, to be honest.

Continue straight ahead, keeping the sea to your right, and you’ll start to make a gradual descent.

The views over Fethiye are fabulous, especially at this time of year.

Follow the road, lined by a turreted stone wall and terraced, wooden seating areas.

Some of these have seen better days but they still make for a good photo.

Today, the road back towards ground level had beautiful, winter’s morning views and vistas over Fethiye marina and harbour.

There are footpaths and steps that will lead you directly down to ground level of the 1st Karagözler or Paspatur but we wanted to enjoy the views from the road and take the longer route.

Eventually, you come to a 3-way junction. Look uphill to the left and you can see one of the Karagözler hotels; Pırlanta.

This was where it all began for us; the hotel we stayed in on our first holiday to Turkey.

How I used to walk up and down this hill in my high heels (this is just the second half of the incline and there were no steps at the time) I just don’t know.

But, this was getting on for 20 years ago. I was younger and more enthusiastic in those days.

Take the road, not up the hill but to your right, and you will continue steeply downhill. Bear left at the bottom and you will see another of the Karagözler hotels; the Yacht Boheme Hotel.

Take a right here and you can walk along the Karagözler and Fethiye marina, towards Paspatur and back to the dolmuş station.

In our case, we continued along the harbour and walked back home.

• To begin this walk, walk up the hill from the dolmuş station and turn left. After 200 metres or so, you’ll see a road sign, pointing to the right for Kayaköy. This is a more obvious route if you don’t want to find a route through the streets.
• A round trip from the dolmuş station and back, via Paspatur will only take you take you about an hour. However, you can make this little stroll last as long as you like by stopping off.
• This walk, and others, features on our page of strolls and walks around the Fethiye area.

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