Aegean Coast Escape

Drive south to Bodrum, around three and a half hours via the coast. Stay in Yalikavak if you want the high end marina mood, or in Turkbuku for boutique hotels in a quieter cove. The town centre of Bodrum itself is busy but worth one walk for the castle.

Settle in, swim before sunset. The water in this part of the Aegean is the clearest of the Turkish coast, mineral blue rather than turquoise.

Dinner in a small cove restaurant. Try levrek (sea bass) or cipura (sea bream), both line caught locally and best grilled simply with olive oil and lemon.

Take a boat. Bodrum's gulets, the wooden Turkish sailing boats, are the way to see the peninsula's coves. Karaada (Black Island) and Akvaryum Bay are the standard stops, with mud baths in a thermal cave on Karaada that are actually fun.

The shared six-islands boat is the budget option; a private gulet costs more but is worth it if you can split it with a group. Check current rates when you book.

Lunch is on board, usually grilled fish caught at one of the swim stops. Back to the marina by late afternoon.

Evening, walk the marina. Bodrum is at its best after dark, when the cafes along the waterfront fill up and the white houses on the hill catch the moonlight. Second night in Bodrum.

Drive south to Datca, around three and a half to four hours. Or take the seasonal car ferry from Bodrum to Datca in summer, which is a third of the time and more enjoyable. Pre-book vehicle ferry tickets weeks in advance for summer travel. Space is limited and walk-on passengers fill quickly.

Datca peninsula is the quiet one. Less developed, fewer hotels, fewer restaurants, more genuine. The town itself is a sleepy harbour, a few good fish places, a lazy waterfront.

Settle in, walk the harbour, swim. Stay in Datca town or one of the cove hotels nearby. Tomorrow is for ruins.

Drive to Knidos at the western tip of the Datca peninsula, around an hour through pine forest. This was a Greek port city in antiquity, famous in its time for the marble Aphrodite statue by Praxiteles, the first life sized female nude in Greek art. The statue is gone but the city's foundations remain, two harbours flanking a peninsula, with steep stone steps connecting them. Allow two hours and good shoes.

Lunch at one of the small fish restaurants near the Knidos harbour, then back to Datca by sunset.

Quiet dinner in town. The peninsula is for slowing down, lean into it. Second night in Datca.

Drive east to Fethiye, around three and a half to four hours. The road climbs through pine and overlooks the sea on the way. Fethiye is the largest of the southern Aegean towns, with a working harbour and a real local population that does not entirely rely on tourism.

Oludeniz blue lagoon is twenty minutes south of town and the famous photograph. The lagoon itself is a national park, ticketed, with calm shallow water and the contrast of pine forest behind. The strip of beach outside the lagoon is free and just as good for swimming.

Late afternoon, take the cable car up Babadag, the mountain above Oludeniz where paragliders take off. The stations run up to around 1700 and 1800 metres, with the summit higher still, and the views over the entire Lycian coast on one side and the inland valleys on the other are the longest in the region. There are restaurants at the cable car stations, having a meal up top with the view is worth it.

Alternatively, this is the day to paraglide if you want to. Tandem flights launch from Babadag and land on Oludeniz beach. You can book through the operators along the Oludeniz seafront or the links below.

You can also spend the day on the water. Fethiye is a boat town, and a day cruise around the bay and the nearby coves is one of the best ways to experience this coast. Dinner in Fethiye, walk the marina. Stay in Fethiye centre or out on the Oludeniz strip.

For an evening out, the beach clubs around Oludeniz and the Kayakoy coves are the move in season. Sea Me Beach has the lively party atmosphere, DJs after dark and a bohemian setting on the bay. So Beach, in the Kucuk Boncuklu cove near Kayakoy, leans more toward food and music, with a beachside restaurant and live sets against the sea.

If you have time before your flight, drive to Kayakoy, the abandoned Greek village above Fethiye. The population was exchanged in 1923 and the houses have stood empty since, slowly losing roofs to weather. Walk through it as the morning light hits the stone. From Kayakoy you can continue down to Gemiler Bay nearby for a last swim and a short coastal walk, but only if the timing works.

If you have a full extra day instead, the Tlos and Saklikent combination inland is a good one. Tlos is an ancient Lycian city with rock cut tombs in a cliff, and Saklikent is an eighteen kilometre canyon, walkable in summer when the water is low, the river icy even in August. Bring water shoes, the riverbed is rocky, and lunch at one of the riverside places suspended over the stream.

Dalaman airport is about fifty minutes from Fethiye centre, with direct flights to most of Europe. Allow at least ninety minutes for the drive if you are coming from Saklikent.