Fethiye, Turkey
 

Any suggestions within an hour or two's drive?

Think I'm fine on the archaeological stuff (thanks Mr Bean). Well-briefed about the influence of the ancient Lycians on the US Constitution.

But what - apart from a gazillion raki bars and estates full of cheapo villas - is there dating from after 1790?

Not holidayed in Turkey for 20-odd years. Uninterested in beaches, (but v. interested in good snorkelling). Don't really want to go sailing. Uninterested in non-Turkish food, nightlife, or bars full of Brits on the razzle.

Certainly want to know about archaeological finds made since George Bean stopped writing. Very interested in GOOD (ie kebab-free and veg-intensive) Turkish food, and good Turkish wine (if such there be). Moderately interested in natural history. V interested in not getting burned by sun.

Going for a couple of weeks from mid-June. Why am I going somewhere I know bugger all about? (question many of us often ask ourselves).

Sympathiser's offered us a house to recover from exhausting couple of months' campaigning. Booze is cheap, and a bit of serious pottering round Lycian tombs will set us up nicely. Is there anything else there?

There are good Turkish wines. If you cannot get information any other way, stop by one of the branches of the Cafe Sofra, I like the one in the Shepard's Market in Mayfair, and check with the manager. We got a very good list of suggested wines and prices when last we spent a few days in London on the way to Istanbul. I was also the object of a tongue-in-cheek reminder that, according to Homer, there has been wine cultivation in Anatolya for 3,500 years.

Hello Flanner. So you're a UK politico who's burned out?

2 thoughts from me: you could walk the Lycian Way. It's very quiet in most parts and untouristed. No Brits on the razzle, they couldn't stand the pace.
Or, and this is the reason I went there last year, have you read Birds without Wings? Louis de Bernieres? It's the prequel to Captian Corelli and is set in Kaya which is just outside Fethiye. A deserted Greek village abandoned in 1923 and all that.
Plus just outside Fethiye there is untouched Turkish way of life in the villages. Just set off into the interior and follow your nose.
I was there this time last year and the weather was perfect. Lucky you.

You have good advice already.

Fethiye, kayakoy, Olu Deniz, are major Brit bastions.

So are Kalkan and kas further south and Southeast. In between are some interesting areas which probably were not missed by Bean. For newer stuff, read John Freely's books.

Better places are further North, the Aegean hinterland, where the olive oil based vegetables and unique regional salad greens abound.

You will be far from the area but just in case, check Birgi and Kiraz.

I believe most of Aphrodisias and Sardis were excavated after Bean. So would the temple of Zeus and other ruins of Aizanoi be newer finds.

Quite a bit Eastward, way past Antalya are Anamur (*Anemurium) and yet further the shore and inland sites nearer Silifke, which we found were terrific. there is very little written about them which makes the discoveries you make even more special.

There is a big dogs home at Gocek. As a dog lover maybe you'd like to take them some goodies for the dogs that live there? They are doing an incredible job under very difficult circumstances.
http://www.stichtingaai.nl/english.asp

To add to above, if you rent a car, please carry a few packs of dog and cat food with you when you are traveling the countryside. There will be cats near restaurants and at antique sites, and dogs in the country.


On Wine.

Okuzgozu, Bogazkere and Kalecik Karasi are Turkish redgrapes, and you should try them all. Sultan, Narince and Emir are the whites. I prefer Narince.

Stay with Doluca (especially DLC and Kav), Kavaklidere, Sarafin and Sevilen brands. Some Merlots and combinations are also good. Forget about denizli, sirince, Pamukkale, wines. Corvus, the most expensive Turkish wine is not that good.

And if it's all too much in Turkey, pop across to Rhodes for the day. Only 90 minutes and you can mingle with the cruise ship crowds. There were 5 in last year the day I went.
You can also get to Samos and possibly other Greek islands should Turkey prove too Turkish.

Many thanks for excellent suggestions.

Sounds like another few days' advance reading's going to be needed.

i think that we britons are only allowed to go to marmaris.

Encircled by a turquoise sea ringed with pearly white sands, Fethiye, where paragliders dance in the sky, is the most famous city of ancient Lycia.

Paragliders float slowly in the lavender-blue sky. Their white, orange and yellow wings dance in the wind, which embraces them with passion. The wind struts its stuff again, upping the ante this time. Wings and canopy are fully inflated. Lines taut. The pilot fidgets excitedly in his ‘harness’. Realizing simultaneously that the magic moment has come, man and wind hurtle forward. The pilot rushes at the slope ahead, finally vanishing from view amidst myriad species of pine, sweet-scented flowering bushes and silver-needled cypresses. As the paraglider slowly disappears from view, a very ancient Lycian sun sinks to sleep in the Mediterranean. Before retiring, the day too puts on one last show for man, painting all the lavender-blue sky, the pearly white sand, the night-blue sea and the iridescent green trees on the slopes fire red. Directly opposite us, the tall slender Doric columns and marble pediments of the rock-cut tombs that line the slope metamorphose into glowing embers. The waters of the Ölüdeniz (Turkey’s own Dead Sea) ripple gently in the night air. In the Valley of Butterflies, to whose depths darkness comes a little earlier, flashy red admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Apollo, chrome yellow (Colias) and cabbage (Pieris rapae) butterflies fly helter-skelter back to their colonies, turning and turning amidst the valley’s pink Chaste trees (Vitex agnus-castus). When they have drunk the last water of the day and drifted into slumber, the nocturnal species will emerge. The most famous of them are the Sphingidae and tiger butterflies (Euplagia quadripunctaria) that dart crazily over the rocks, making their evening meal from the moss and lichens that grow there. We can’t see them from where we are but, ensconced on a Bodrum-built goulet anchored in the sheltered waters of Gemile Cove, we know that the rush to find a tasty evening repast has begun. We know too that the tortoises and Mediterranean seals that have made the remote recesses in the sand their home are preparing to sleep under a shower of falling stars. As the tranquil waters of Kabak Cove begin to ripple slightly, the leaves of the oaks that surround this inlet, one of the most beautiful spots in the whole world, begin to whisper too. In the moon’s glow, Kayaköy, the ancient city of Tlos and Saklıkent Canyon prepare to spend another sage-scented night. Likewise Fethiye, lovely host to all this beauty.

http://www.fethiyelook.com

"Encircled by a turquoise sea ringed with pearly white sands, Fethiye, where paragliders dance in the sky, is the most famous city of ancient Lycia"

What complete bollocks.

Telmessos was of trivial importantce, the sea's almost as murky as the sands and if you've seen paragliders dancing recently you really ought to stop swilling down that paint. Raki's much safer.

Now everyone's got a right to churn out unadulterated bullshit.

But nicking the gibberish from a budget airline's inflight magazine (http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-IN...e.aspx?mkl=420) has set a new record for tackiness.

britons are usually happy with marmaris as it's just like home. no need to drink that nasty turkish tea. we britons can get proper english tea in marmaris. in marmaris you can see paragiders dancing in the skies, have fish and chips as delicate as the queen's lace and drink a proper pint with your fat mates. with english footy on the telly, you will think you went to heaven.