Living One Month Fethiye Turkey
We picked Fethiye, Turkey to live for one month so we could get our medical wellness check ups, but we stayed because Fethiye is the western gateway to outdoor adventures in Turkey. The local tourism bureau might not think of its hometown that way, but Fethiye is the starting point for the Lycian Way, world-class paragliding at Babadag, and Turkey’s largest gorge, Saklikent. We spent a month hiking, swimming, biking, and living in Fethiye enjoying its beautiful fall temperatures in October and November.

Getting to Fethiye
Sadly, getting to Fethiye isn’t the easiest adventure, but once you know how, you just move through it. The local airport in Dalaman is about an hour away from Fethiye. Local busses (Muttas and Havas) can whisk you away to the main bus terminal in Fethiye called Otogar for about $3.
Where to Stay in Fethiye
We stayed in this wonderful flat right above a chocolate shop just one block from the water. The promenade that runs about 8 miles quickly engrossed us, becoming our daily path in both directions. Our location was perfect for a month, but it’s not where I’d stay if I lived full-time in Fethiye. I’d stay between Çalış Beach and Fethiye in the area filled with villas.

How to Book an Apartment in Turkey
Booking an apartment in Turkey is difficult. There is a new law that has outlawed Booking dot com and Airbnb, although that could change at any time. Although we found our property on Booking originally, the law changed between when we booked and when we arrived. We could no longer see our property’s details on Booking, but we could see it on Airbnb, and mirrored on other local sites.
I’d suggest you use Booking and Airbnb to find the property that you want and then book directly with the host. For those of you in the fabulous Facebook group, Nomad Accommodation Reviews, we talk about this property particularly and the local contact info. Please join that group for more info.
Getting Around Fethiye
The local minibuses called Dulmush (that’s how you pronounce it, not necessarily how it’s spelled) run everywhere all the time. The local main bus stop to our place was next to the mosque. There, we would just ask someone which bus to take, read the LED sign on the incoming buses, or ask the drivers. When entering the bus, we’d tell the driver where we wanted to go and then tap our credit card for the fare. Most fares were less than $1. It was very easy.

Shopping In Fethiye
On Tuesdays and Fridays, we’d go to the very abundant and busy fresh market near the stadium, just a 10 minute walk from our flat. Tuesday’s market has fruit, veg, nuts, spices, dairy and a plethora of fake brand clothing vendors. You can get Nike, Under Armour, North Face and Columbia shirts and jackets for about $2-5 a piece. On Fridays, the market is just fruit and veg.

When walking through the market, we’d try to find a vegetable vendor who sold everything we wanted. We’d pick our selections, they’d bag each item in a plastic bag which they gave out like free nectar to honey bees, and then we’d pay. There was no bargaining on the food items, and the food was cheaper than in the local groceries. Bananas ran about $.65 a pound.
When buying the fake clothing in the market, we bargained the prices. We found the vendor would accept about 60-70% of his original asking price.
10 Fun Things to Do in Fethiye
Now that we’ve gotten the basics down, let’s look at what we actually did while in Fethiye for the month. We arrived Oct 29 and left Nov 22. The average temperature was 72 degrees, but it started a bit warmer in October and got cooler by the time we left. Knowing that the water temps would get chilly, we planned our water adventures earlier in the trip and our more arduous hiking adventures later in the month to enjoy the cooler weather.
We did the following 11 things in Fethiye and recommend every one of them:
Do the Free Fethiye Walking Tour which you can read about here. You’ll visit the old downtown, the fish market, the rock tombs, the Turk statues, and several spots in between, which will get you acclimated to where things are in Fethiye.

Take a day trip in one of the gullets (local-made sail boat) to five or six swimming holes. Includes lunch and takes about 6 hours. We did the one recommended by our friends at Brent and Michael Are Going Places. It cost $22 per person on Kardesler Boat.

Walk to Çalış Beach and take the water taxi back. It runs every 30 minutes. Somewhere around the first week of November, the schedule changes to once an hour. It costs about $1. The ferry goes both directions and is a fun way to see the bay for cheap.

Visit the ghost town of Kayaköy. This was a super fun day where we tromped around a 100-year old ghost town. The entry was $2. You can take a dulmush from the mosque for about $2 each way. Wear closed toe shoes, bring water, and snacks. We were there in mid-November and had the place almost to ourselves. During season, there may be vendors selling snacks and souvenirs. We can’t confirm this.

Hike the Lycian Way. This is a 760 km, multi-day trail that does to Antalya. We picked the trail up in Kayaköy and hiked over the mountain to Ölüdeniz Beach then took the dulmush back to Fethiye. This was a spectacular 8-mile hike where we watched the paragliders pilot over us and land at the beach where we had lunch.

Get to Ölüdeniz Beach, have lunch, and watch the paragliders land all day long. It was thrilling to watch these daredevils pilot onto a landing strip right on the beach. You can paraglide too to by booking through GetYourGuide or Viator. We had lunch, twice, at Kumsal Pide.

Join the local hiking club, Fethiye Wacky Walkers, and enjoy a trek. They have one every Wednesday.

Support the local children by shopping at the wonderful charity shop, FIG. The folks that run FIG also run the Wacky Walkers. Not only did we donate a few items, we purchased a few tops as well.
Hike the Saklikent Gorge in Saklikent Natural Park. This fantastic gorge hike reminded us of the Narrows at Zion National Park. Catch the bus at the mosque ($3), wear your water shoes, and have a blast trudging up the icy river, getting muddy, and bouldering across and under rocks stuck in the gorge. This might have been our funnest day in Fethiye.

Take the ferry to Rhodes. Running daily during season and then round trip on Fridays or overnight on Satuday and Sunday, the ferry to Rhodes is about 90 minutes. We did the Friday roundtrip in late November to a ghostly Rhodes. Many places were closed, and we did the GPSMyCity free walk around Rhodes crowd-free. The ferry was $145 roundtrip for two.

Bonus: Take the cable car up to Babadag Mountain and watch the paragliders take off. This was another thrilling day, not only for the view going to the top of the mountain, but for watching the acrobatics of the paragliders. The ride cost $15. We skimped on an expensive lunch, but did enjoy a beer and an app for $10 each.

Bonus: We ate our best vegan meal at Köşe Kahve Fethiye. I loved the beet hummus, the nut bread, and the fresh avocado decorated with pepper slices and fresh cucumber.

Medical Check Up in Fethiye
The main reason we arrived in Fethiye was to get a medical checkup at Esnaf Hastanesi. We had done a similar scheme in Kuala Lumpur two years prior, so we felt it was time again to get checked up. You can watch the video here about all the details for the check up. In summary, we paid $735 each for a comprehensive health check by 8 specialists including a complete blood panel that covered cancer markers to cholesterol.

How Much Did We Spend in Fethiye for a Month
Our total expenses for Fethiye broke down like this:
Housing (26 nights): $1713
Dining out: $75
Groceries: $375
Transportation (not including ferry and cable car): $25
Activities (see above, including ferry and cable car): $225
Total for 26 nights in Fethiye: $2413
Plus $1700 in medical (exams and scripts) $2413+ $1700.
A Month In Fethiye
We adored our month in this working-class town along Turkey’s turquoise coast. After starting in Izmir, staying in Bodrum, and finishing in Fethiye, our six-week long Turkish adventure ended in the best of the Turkish coast, Fethiye.
Chris Englert, the Walking Traveler, believes walking is the platform for life. Wanderlusting since the age of 5, she’s since traveled all 50 US states and 62 countries. Chris shares her love of walking while traveling via blogs, books, and presentations. A natural storyteller, she invites you along as she explores the world, one walk at a time.
Currently, Chris and her husband, Steve, travel the world, full-time as nomads, with just their two carry-ons. They’ve been traveling since May, 2021.