Things to Do in Olympos, Turkey
Olympos is not a town in the usual sense. It is a strip of green canyon between a crumbling Lycian city and a long pebbled beach, and the people who come here stay in wooden treehouses rather than hotels. I arrived not quite sure what to expect and left convinced it was one of the more unusual corners of the whole Turkish Mediterranean coast. There is no set itinerary for a place like this, and that is part of the charm, but the list below is everything worth your time after a fair few visits over the years.
Wander the Lycian ruins
The ancient city of Olympos spreads through the trees along the river that gives the valley its life. Ruined walls, doorways and the outlines of baths, temples and a theatre are scattered between fig trees and ferns, with rock tombs climbing the hillside behind them. I loved that the site feels wild and unmanaged, with no ropes and no ticket gates forcing you down a single path, so you can follow the river to the sea and make up your own route as you go. Start early, before the heat of the day and before the tour groups arrive, and you will have the mystery of the place almost entirely to yourself.
Visit the flames of Mount Chimaera
The single biggest draw here is the eternal fire of Yanartas, the ancient Mount Chimaera, which has been burning out of cracks in the rock for thousands of years, long before the city below ever existed. The walk up from the coast is steep and rough, a real climb through forest that goes on longer than it looks, but the payoff is extraordinary. As dusk falls, dozens of small flames flicker across a rocky slope while the scent of natural gas hangs in the cooling evening air. Go at night, when the flames really show against the dark, bring a torch and proper shoes, and let the Lycians’ sacred fire do the rest. It is eerie, ancient and completely unlike anything else on this stretch of coast.
Swim the beach and the canyons
The beach at Olympos is wide, dramatic and backed by cliffs, split in two by the river mouth, and it is a superb place for an unfussy swim. Because the whole valley sits inside a protected coastal park, the shoreline feels far emptier and wilder than most of the coast around it, and the endangered loggerhead turtle nests here, which I found quietly moving to witness. My favourite escape, though, was heading up into the wooded canyon behind the ruins, where the water runs clear and cool and the noise of the tourist strip disappears completely. A few calm hours paddling in the rock pools and watching turtles appear in the river made that my best afternoon of the entire trip.
Stay in a treehouse
The famous treehouses along the main valley track are part of the whole experience, and I would not skip them. Wooden cabins and open air dormitories sit among the orange groves and vines, with hammocks strung between the trees and long shared tables set for dinner underneath strings of lights. They are basic, and many still have only cold showers, but the whole valley gathers here in the evening and the nightly campfire, the echoed singing and the simple sharing of food are surprisingly good. If you want peace, book a private cabin a little away from the main music. If you want the classic backpacker buzz, pick one of the livelier places near the valley entrance.
Eat the local food
There is no grand restaurant dining in Olympos, and that is exactly the point of the place. The treehouses each run their own kitchen, and the menus are short and honest: lentil soup, fresh grilled fish, gozleme folded on the griddle and endless salad picked from the valley gardens. I ate some of the best simple Turkish food of my whole trip here, sitting under strings of bulbs with the river murmuring a few metres away. Add a bowl of thick local honey yogurt and a pot of black tea, and you have a perfect evening that needs no plan at all.
My best tip
Give Olympos more than one single night. So many people sweep in for an afternoon, hike the Chimaera and leave, but the place truly needs a full day and night to reveal itself. Sleep in a treehouse, lose yourself in the ruins at sunrise before the heat arrives, swim the river and the beach, and end the day watching the flames flicker to life on the mountainside. Do that, let the pace drop, and you will understand why so many travellers end up staying a week and never quite wanting to leave.
