Fethiye, Ölüdeniz and Kaş: getting there, paragliding from Babadağ, Butterfly Valley and the Lycian Way

Ölüdeniz is reached via Fethiye. From Dalaman Airport, buses run by Muttaş, the transport company of the Muğla provincial municipality, go there. Under its tariff published in May 2026, the ride to Fethiye bus station (59 km) costs 300 TL, and to Hisarönü, a village between Fethiye and Ölüdeniz, 540 TL. The last stretch from Fethiye to the lagoon is covered by dolmuş minibus. The town makes a convenient base: trips to Saklıkent Gorge, Butterfly Valley and Mount Babadağ also start here, while Kaş lies further east, already in Antalya Province, and needs a day of its own.

Fethiye as a base: an evening in town

An evening walk is enough for Fethiye itself. Above the rooftops, the façade of the Tomb of Amyntas is cut into a sheer cliff; by the waterfront run the covered lanes of the Paspatur Old Bazaar; and for dinner people head to the fish market, where the fish is chosen at the counter and cooked in the small restaurants around it. On a hillside a few kilometres from the centre stands Kayaköy, a Greek village its residents abandoned after the population exchange of 1923. The history and practical details of each place are on their own pages; this article leads further, to the sea and the mountains.

Ölüdeniz: the Blue Lagoon and the minibus from Fethiye

Minibuses to Ölüdeniz leave from central Fethiye: according to the Turkey Travel Planner guide (updated in July 2025), the stop is by the Erasta shopping centre. In Muğla Province these minibuses charge by distance, as set out in the general Muttaş tariff. So the exact fare is best read on the card reader, and timetables for the province's lines are on ulasim.muttas.com.tr.

The name Ölüdeniz covers both the open beach by the village and the enclosed lagoon behind a sandbar, which is what people call the Blue Lagoon. The lagoon is part of the Ölüdeniz–Kıdrak Tabiat Parkı nature park. It is managed by the 4th Regional Directorate of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks (DKMP) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; in May 2026 the directorate announced a tender to operate the park.

The entry fee for the Blue Lagoon could not be officially confirmed. That entry is charged is clear from a decision by the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye (TİHEK) on a visitor's complaint. Local press reported new prices for pedestrians and cars from May 2026, but as of 7 November 2026 the ministry's pages show no tariff, so no figure is given here: it will be shown at the entrance.

Babadağ: the cable car and paragliding

Mount Babadağ rises above the lagoon. Its cable car opened in 2021, according to the Anadolu Agency. The lower station stands on Ölüdeniz's main street at 226 metres, with stations higher up at 1,200 and 1,700, and a chairlift leads to the summit. From the 1,700 station, the operator says, you can watch paragliders take off, and newspaper reports name another take-off site, at 1,900 metres.

As of 7 November 2026, the cable car website lists a return ticket at 950 TL for everyone aged 7 and over. Students and guests with disabilities pay 700 TL on showing a document; children under 7 ride free but are not allowed on the chairlift. The ticket is valid only on the day of purchase. If the upper stations are closed because of the weather, it is valid only up to the 1,200 level and there is no refund; if the ride is cancelled entirely because of wind, severe cold or a power cut, the ticket is refunded.

How much a paragliding flight from Babadağ costs cannot be stated precisely. Tandem flights are sold by private operators, there is no single tariff, and the operator sites that could be opened published no price as of 7 November 2026. Figures from reseller sites are not quoted here. When comparing offers, check whether the price includes the drive to the take-off, photos and video, and which company actually operates the flight.

Is paragliding safe: what is known as of November 2026

No article can guarantee that a flight is safe. There are no public official accident statistics for Babadağ and no ranking of operators, so below is only what the sources confirm.

• Pilot qualifications. In March 2021 the trade outlet haber.aero reported that tandem pilots without a professional certificate under the national standard 19UY0400-5 would not be allowed to fly commercially from Babadağ, and that the local association Fethiye Güç Birliği was preparing to issue the certificates. Whether this rule is in force now could not be confirmed; you can ask to see the pilot's document before the flight.
• On 2 June 2026, according to the İHA news agency, a tandem that had taken off from the upper site lost control and fell into the forest near the 1,200 site. The pilot and a passenger from Russia were injured and taken to hospital.
• On 26 August 2026, as the newspaper Evrensel reported, a pilot and a tourist from China died after falling onto rocks shortly after take-off. The cause had not been established on the day of publication; an investigation was opened.

The practical conclusion is modest: fly with the company named in the booking, listen carefully to the pilot's briefing, and do not get into the harness if you have doubts about the weather or the operator.

Butterfly Valley: access from the sea

Butterfly Valley is a cove with a pebble beach between cliffs about 350 metres high. According to GoTürkiye, Türkiye's official tourism portal, the valley has been declared a nature reserve; it is home to the Jersey tiger moth and about 80 other butterfly species, which are most visible in summer.

There are no roads into the valley: it can be reached by sea or on foot. Boats leave from the beaches of Ölüdeniz. A footpath descends a steep slope from the village of Faralya, and in 2017 the kaymakam (district governor) of Fethiye called it dangerous and ordered it closed with signs and barriers, CNN Türk reported. Whether the path is open now could not be confirmed as of 7 November 2026, so the reliable route is the boat. No entry fee for the valley itself could be found on official sites.

The Lycian Way: where to start

The Lycian Way is Turkey's first long-distance walking route. It was researched and waymarked in 1999 by Kate Clow, a British researcher who lives in Turkey. According to her society, Culture Routes in Turkey, the 760 km trail takes about 35 days and ends at Geyikbayırı near Antalya.

It begins near Ölüdeniz, in the village of Ovacık (Hisarönü). The first stage leads to Faralya, above Butterfly Valley, the second to Kabak Bay, and much further on the route passes through Kaş towards Kekova. The waymarks are red and white stripes on rocks and trees, roughly every 50 metres; a red cross means you should not go that way. Culture Routes advises walking in spring or autumn, from February to May or from September to November: summer is too hot for long stretches on foot. You need not walk the whole trail to try it: the first stage is enough for a start.

Saklıkent Gorge and Tlos: how to get there

Saklıkent Gorge is a canyon about 300 metres deep and a national park since 6 June 1996. About 4 km of it can be walked, and only after April, once the meltwater from the Taurus Mountains has gone; the far sections open only at the low water of summer, and the whole gorge requires canyoning gear and skills. No official entry tariff could be found on the ministry's sites as of 7 November 2026.

From Fethiye, Muttaş line 5-13 "Saklıkent – Fethiye" runs to the gorge via Kayadibi; its timetable is on ulasim.muttas.com.tr. Ancient Tlos is often added on the same day.

What to see in Kaş

Kaş lies about 110 km south-east of Fethiye; according to Turkey Travel Planner, intercity buses from Fethiye bus station take about two hours. The town grew on the site of ancient Antiphellos, the harbour of Lycian Phellos. Above the sea stands a Hellenistic theatre that now hosts jazz concerts, and a Lycian tomb stands right in town. From the theatre you can see the Greek island of Kastellorizo (Meis in Turkish), about 6 km offshore. A daily ferry goes there, but it is a trip to Greece with its own entry rules, and they are worth checking in advance.

Kaş is one of Turkey's main diving destinations: more than 15 dive centres by the harbour take divers to about 50 dive sites, including six deliberately sunk ships. Each centre sets its own training and health requirements, and these should be read before signing up. Between Kaş and Kalkan lies Kaputaş beach, and further east, in the Demre area, is Kekova: a group of islands and coves with sunken ruins and a castle above the village of Kaleköy. Boats to Kekova leave from Kaş and from the village of Üçağız, about a 40-minute drive from Kaş.

Boat trips and gulets: Fethiye and other harbours

The gulet is a classic wooden yacht that Turkey associates with Bodrum. A holiday on one is called the Blue Voyage (Mavi Yolculuk): the boat is chartered whole, for your own group, and you choose the route yourselves. According to GoTürkiye, the name was coined by Turkish writers and poets in the late 1950s.

No official source ranks the "best" boat trips. GoTürkiye describes four Blue Voyage regions, and choosing between them means choosing a coast:

• Bodrum, where the Blue Voyage began; the Aegean coast is covered in a separate article on Bodrum.
• Marmaris and Datça: the coves of the peninsula and Sedir Island.
• Göcek and Fethiye: gulfs with islands, moorings near Ölüdeniz and Gemiler Island; the one-day 12 Islands tour of the gulf also leaves from Fethiye harbour.
• Kaş and Kekova: sunken ruins, Kaputaş beach and coves towards Antalya.

For a trip of several days, compare the route, the size of the boat and what the charter includes; day boats from Fethiye, Ölüdeniz and Kaş are sold on the spot, and operators do not publish their prices on official pages.

Photo: Tolga Kanik · CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oludeniz_Lagoon_in_Fethiye.jpg)