Discover Fethiye, a gateway to turkey sailing trips. Explore turquoise bays, the Blue Lagoon, Butterfly Valley and historic sites like Letoon, Tlos and Kayakoy. Learn about blue cruise charters Fethiye and plan your turkey sailing holiday.
Vibrant yet peaceful, Fethiye is the kind of Turkish Riviera resort you’ll want to revisit. As the biggest town in Muğla province, this former Lycian city of Telmessos sits where the Aegean and Mediterranean meet. Its ancient roots and spectacular setting make it a favourite stop on many turkey sailing holidays.
Today the town is a major hub on the Turquoise Coast. Many turkey sailing trips start or finish here, and you’ll also hear these cruises described as blue voyages. Each year the two large harbours fill with Turkish gulets, private yachts and superyachts. Travellers from all over the globe choose Fethiye for their blue cruise charters Fethiye, heading out on traditional wooden gulets to explore the bays and coves that ring the Gulf. Calm, turquoise waters backed by pine covered hills delight sea lovers. Whether you’re cruising around the Gulf of Fethiye or exploring the Ölüdeniz area – also known as the Blue Lagoon – the scenery is unforgettable when you set sail on blue cruise charters Fethiye.
The bays around Fethiye are among the most celebrated along the Turkish coast. Young adventurers from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Europe often visit them on their sailings. Favourite moorings include Bedri Rahmi Bay, Cleopatra’s Bath, Tersane Island and St Nicholas Island, the latter dotted with stone houses and monasteries. Just 20 minutes by road from town, Ölüdeniz (Blue Lagoon) offers superb swimming and sunbathing at Belcekız, Kumburnu and Kıdrak beaches. It’s also one of the world’s top paragliding spots, with around 60 000 tandem flights a year from Babadağ. The lagoon itself is a protected area, so gulets and yachts drop anchor outside; guests on Blue Cruise tours can still swim at the entrance and even leap from nearby cliffs. Further along the coast you’ll find Kabak Bay and Butterfly Valley – a dramatic gorge with cliffs rising 350 metres and home to more than 80 butterfly species at certain times of the year. Other stops include Şövalye Island opposite Fethiye harbour, Samanlık Bay, Aquarium Bay and Red Island.
Fethiye is easy to reach: Dalaman Airport is only about 40 minutes away and offers numerous direct flights from Europe and the UK during the summer, making the town an ideal gateway for turkey sailing holidays.
Amazing Historical sites in Fethiye where the Mediterranean and the Aegean meet...
Letoon lies roughly 40 minutes from Fethiye and about four kilometres south of Xanthos. This important sanctuary honoured Leto, Apollo and Artemis, and archaeologists have uncovered remains of an early Christian church here.
This ancient city was an important pilgrimage centre in Lycia. Myth links it to the hero Bellerophon and his winged horse Pegasus. The necropolis boasts well preserved house type tombs carved into the cliffs.
Once a thriving Greek town, Kayaköy now has more than 1 200 deserted homes and several churches dating back to the 1700s, giving it the nickname “ghost town.” It was abandoned after the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923 and features in Louis de Bernières’ novel Birds Without Wings.
Fethiye’s Roman era theatre, opposite the harbour, could seat about 5 000 people. The archaeology museum in Fethiye houses collections from the Lycian, Hellenistic, Roman and Ottoman eras.
Set on a plateau south east of Fethiye, this UNESCO listed site contains hundreds of rock cut Lycian tombs.
A short drive from Fethiye, the pretty harbour town of Göcek is another popular starting point for blue cruise holidays. Despite its small size, it boasts six marinas that draw thousands of visitors each year. Along the quay there are plenty of cafés, casual eateries and upscale restaurants that look out over the Mediterranean Sea. Like Fethiye, Göcek is a launch pad for gulet cruises; you can charter a whole boat for a private voyage or join a scheduled sailing adventure. For more information and to plan your trip, visit www.gulet-cruises.com.
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