Turquoise Coast drives

Expert guide to the Turquoise Coast

1. Overview

2. Attractions

3. Restaurants

4. Beaches

5. Drives

6. Events

Although the vast majority of visitors come to southwest Mediterranean Turkey to enjoy its sublime coastline, few fail to be impressed by the Taurus Mountains, which soar to dramatic heights behind.

Head for the hills

The best way to get a feel for these striking mountains is with a hire car, as the minibus services, the life-line of the often remote communities dotting the hills and valleys, seldom suit the needs of the visitor. Up here you’ll find timeless mountain hamlets, raggedly-dressed shepherds driving huge flocks of goats across pristine mountainsides, stands of cedar trees, roadside shacks set-up to sell gözleme (a kind of stuffed chappati cooked over an upturned wok-style dish, best washed down with the salted yoghurt drink, ayran) plunging canyons and, certainly between November and the end of May, snow-capped peaks.

• The best hotels in Belek

Kaş to Kalkan

One particularly exhilarating Taurus Mountain drive begins in the former Greek fishing village of Kaş. Head east on the modern coastal highway towards Antalya but then turn left following signs for Elmalı. Initially dippng into a lush valley peppered with pomegranate orchards the road soon turns into a steeply rising series of bends to the Karaovabeli Pass at 5,118 feet. 

Keep going through dramtic upland scenery before turning left, across a new dam wall to the sizeable mountain village of Gömbe, huddling in the shadow of the second highest peak in Lycia, 9,921 feet Akdağ (The White Mountain).  There are some simple restaurants here, or the brave (in dry weather only) can attempt the rough track leading to pretty Yeşilgöl (Green Lake), 6,000 feet up on the slope of Akdağ.

Retrace your steps from Gömbe towards Kaş but instead of continuing down the way you came fork right towards Sütlüğen, a mountain town at nearly 6,000 feet which has a handful of basic cafes, a tea house and not much else except friendly locals. The road heading west from here towards the coast at Kalkan boasts even more spectacular mountain scenery than that between Kaş and Gömbe. 

It eventually switchbacks steeply down to join the coast at Kalkan (where there are plenty of posh eating places), giving fabulous views over the corruscating sea and tiny offshore islets. If there’s time you could round off your mountain adventure with a dip in the sea off the picturesque, gorge-backed beach at Kaputaş, between Kalkan and Kaş.

This is a full day’s outing so make sure you fill up with fuel in Kaş (though there are petrol stations en route) and know where the spare tyre and jack are in case of a puncture. Hazards include the steep inclines and sharp bends without crash barriers, the odd lunatic hurtling past you and kicking up gravel (you pay for broken windscreens) and livestock crossing the road at random. But overall, these roads are little used and the open road a sheer joy.