Hello, 2026!
It’s already the end of the first month of the year, so it’s time for the first monthly news roundup from life in Fethiye…
How was your January? Did it feel like it was lasting forever or have you smashed your way through it?
We like to think we’ve done the latter – but at a nice calm pace, too.
No resolutions – but just getting back into the swing of things. With a bit more commitment to fitness and training.
The Weather
We can’t ignore the fact that January has definitely been a month of weather.
Each winter in Fethiye is different. And, in December, whilst we were still enjoying warm, sunny winter days, a Turkish friend told us we were in a for a proper winter.
He was right! January has thrown all sorts at us.
We’ve had temperatures in minus figures bringing morning frost.
We’ve had heavy rain at sea level that’s fallen as snow in the yayla (highlands) and on the mountains forcing roads to close.
We’ve had high winds, causing trees to fall here in Fethiye. But we got away lightly compared to other places around the Turkish coastline and islands on the Aegean and Mediterranean.
In Istanbul, on one day, all ferries were cancelled – a real rarity. And on the Greek island of Rhodes, just across the water from us, they closed schools on one day for safety reasons.
Towards the end of the month, towns along the D400 road that traces the Mediterranean coast took a battering in overnight storms that engulfed all of us; the Demre area, Finke and Kumluova near the ancient ruins of Letoon now dealing with lots of damage to the large greenhouses that grow produce for the country and beyond.
And in between all that, there’s been some balmy sunny days that seem to pop up from nowhere.
It’s a favourite pastime for lots of us, wondering what’s going on with the weather.
Don’t forget you can keep an eye on what’s going on here in the Fethiye area via our Fethiye weather forecast page.
Çalış Sunday Market
Quite a few weeks ago, now, the stall holders who frequent the Çalış Sunday market were moved off the perimeter and the surrounding side streets of the market square.
This was so that the ground could be resurfaced.
Progress on this has seemed ‘steady’ but, as we’ve just said above, the weather has been a tad all over the place, too.
We do remember, in years gone by that a roof was pledged for the market – which would be great for the traders – and us shoppers, too.
Well, the photo above was the situation on the last Sunday of the month…
The concrete is being laid…and we can see something that looks like it could be fittings for roof columns…?
Let’s see…
On The Blog
Late December and early January are the times where we look at our guides and lists on the blog and make sure they’re all up to date.
Because nothing stays still for too long in Fethiye.
So what’s all fresh and up to date for 2026? Ticked off the list are:
- Our recommendations for the best things to do in Fethiye
- Our guide to Fethiye beaches and bays
- Our guide to the Fethiye area bars and restaurants that we like to frequent. This page has also had a revamp to make it easier to follow
- Our page of important dates for Turkish national holidays and festivals
- Our list of many of the country’s top running events – both road and trail from 5k races to 100+ kilometre ultras. Lots of date changes and lots of new events this year, too, including in our Muğla area. So get your running shoes laced up and ready!
In The Kitchen
January is all about winter comfort foods. So we’ve had a lot of the old faithfuls from our list of Turkish recipes over the last few weeks.
Soğan yahnisi – Turkish pearl onion and beef stew – kicked things off. A real winter comfort food.
We’ve also had a favourite of most people’s – and it was high time we added the recipe to the blog – tavuk güveç or Turkish chicken casserole.
Cabbage Galore
On the market at the beginning of January, we also bought a huge cabbage.
Honestly, the amount of meals we got from it!
And there’s still some in the fridge, now, in a jar, because Barry has ventured into the world of fermentation by making sauerkraut – it’s lovely!
Not before we made a rather large pan of Turkish kapuska with the cabbage though.
And then we got creative with other cabbagey meals. Coleslaw and a couple of other tasty dishes courtesy of the internet.
Pickling & Preservation
And, on the subject of preserving, whilst Barry has been mastering sauerkraut – jars with both white and red cabbage – I made a huge jar of pickled beetroot. Turkish pancar turşusu.
That’s most definitely not still in a jar in the fridge. We get through that far too quickly. Can’t leave it alone!
So, we also added our Turkish pickled beetroot recipe to the blog, too.
And yet another January purchase from the market was another traditional way of preservation.
We bought a new batch of homemade tarhana mix from one of the stalls. So we’re all set up again now for another few months.
Obviously, we christened it straight away and had a big bowl of Turkish tarhana soup with a bit of minced beef added for good measure.
In the world of famous Turkish soups, tarhana is very much a home soup rather than one you will commonly see in Turkish restaurants. We’ve always made it at home.
It is very much loved by most Turkish people.
Fethiyespor
To see Fethiyespor’s current lowly position in the TFF 2. Lig, it is a complete contrast to how they played in the much anticipated match against Galatasaray earlier this month in the Türkiye Kupası.
Fethiyespor lost 2-1 but it could have been a lot worse!
We watched the match on the TV from the comfort of our sofa. And, granted, a lot of the match seemed like Galatasaray against the excellent goalkeeping skills of Arda Akbulut – a penalty-saving machine – but, still, it would be nice to see the club doing better than they are in the league.
Anyway, here are the remaining fixtures for this season. Let’s see what they can do with those matches.
(Breaking news! Fethiyespor have just had a great result today by beating 1461 Trabzon FK at home 4-1!)
Looking To Summer
I’m sitting here, typing this, with the rain absolutely tippling down outside.
And earlier in the month, it was a similar situation when we decided to ask people on our Facebook page whether or not they had already booked their summer holidays and which area they were staying in.
Maybe everyone else was already looking forward to summer because we had a huge response – over 700 replies – with most of those people saying they had already booked.
More organised than we will ever be!
We got a few answers from people who were going to be travelling around different places – lovely.
And then most of the people who took the time to answer are heading over to our neck of the woods around the Fethiye area (Çalış Beach, Ölüdeniz, Hisarönü and Ovacık), Marmaris and İçmeler.
And it was also very noticable how many people said they were going to be in Side for their holidays.
That is an area of the Antalya Province we are yet to explore. But after all of those replies, we’re pondering a trip over in that direction at some point this year…
In Other News
Our little section where we include any other Turkish bits and bobs that have jumped out at us throughout the month.
Izmir Agora Find
Archaeologists have been carrying out excavations at the Izmir Agora for some time. Then, in January, they discovered a large floor mosaic – the first floor mosaic find at the site in over 70 years.
There’s still lots more of it to uncover but it looks to feature Solomon’s Knots which are thought to have been placed there for spiritual protection.
Why Have A House When You Can Have A Palace?
That’s what the creators of the intricately carved stone bird palaces thought when they were designing shelters for the birds of Istanbul and other areas of the country during the Ottoman period.
This fascinating article by our friend, Jennifer Hattam, for BBC Travel means we will definitely be looking up next time we’re in Istanbul!
How have we never noticed these?
Into February
It’s not everyone’s favourite month, February. Trudging through winter and waiting for spring to arrive.
But February is my birthday and – weather permitting, of course – we’re hoping for a first little jaunt of 2026. Let’s see…
And if your weather is as wintery as ours has been and you’re bored indoors, you could always pass on a few minutes with some of our online jigsaws with scenes from Fethiye and beyond.