Hello from… Türkiye’s Turquoise Coast—aka the Turkish Riviera—where I’ve slowly made my way from Antalya (less than 90 minutes’ flight from Istanbul) to Fethiye, along a stretch of stunning Mediterranean coastline. Think impossibly blue water, ancient Lycian cities hiding in the pines, charming beach clubs, gorgeous wines you’ve never heard of, and lunches that cost less than a cocktail in Saint-Tropez. The beaches could hold their own against the Côte d’Azur, the archaeological sites rival Greece’s, and yet there’s not a cruise ship—or much of an international crowd—in sight.
Where we stayed… We began at RuinAdalia Hotel in Antalya, a tranquil hideaway tucked into the winding streets of Kaleiçi Old Town, just steps from the 1,900-year-old Hadrian’s Gate. The hotel is literally built over an archaeological site, with ancient remains accessed from beneath the property as a private museum for guests—which feels appropriately Turkish: history is rarely something you merely go visit here; you sleep, eat, swim, and occasionally park your car on top of it.
From there we headed into the mountains to Olympos Mountain Lodge, an intimate six-room property surrounded by forest and positioned between the ancient cities of Phaselis and Olympos. We ended in Fethiye at Yacht Boheme Hotel, whose earthy palette, textiles, and relaxed harbor setting made it exactly the kind of place I wanted to collapse after several days of hiking over ruins and enthusiastically throwing myself into the Mediterranean.
The best meal(s) we had… were at Olympos Mountain Lodge, where chef Mehmet Ali Börtücene relocated his acclaimed supper club from Ankara to this remote mountain hideaway. His tasting menu draws heavily from the surrounding landscape—produce from nearby ethical farmers, wild herbs and greens foraged in the mountains, and preservation traditions particular to this corner of the Med. It recently earned two toques in Gault & Millau 2026’s Chef’s Table category, and rightly so. Breakfast the following morning included tiny jars of house-made jams and local honey, cheeses, breads, fruit, eggs, and my favorite, a bitter orange marmalade particular to this stretch of the Turkish coast.
A very close second was lunch on a boat in Gökkaya Bay, where our captain grilled fresh fish off the back of the vessel while his wife kept appearing with plates of mezzes, glasses of wine, and tea. I could have happily remained there indefinitely.
And we drank a lot of Turkish wine. The excellent wine list at Olympos Mountain Lodge sent me down a rabbit hole when I realized how rarely I’d encountered Turkish bottles outside of the country. Türkiye is one of the world’s oldest wine-producing regions, yet relatively little of its wine makes it onto shelves abroad. Naturally, this means I now require another trip devoted to Turkish wine—particularly since several of its wine regions overlap rather conveniently with Cappadocia, Ephesus, and Troy. Research!
The most fun things we did… We walked from Alacasu Bay to the ancient city of Phaselis, along a coastal trail through fragrant pine forest, with Lycian tombs scattered beside the path so casually they began to feel like discarded Legos. At one point I spotted a fragment of ancient pottery sitting on top of a ruin and had a very Indiana Jones “It belongs in a museum!”moment. Minutes later, while congratulating myself on my sensible hiking attire, I caught my favorite leggings on a razor-sharp piece of limestone. Our guide silently produced a Band-Aid. Apparently, I was not his first archaeologically induced casualty.
At Olympos, we walked straight off the beach and into a 2,000-year-old city. Couples lounged on the shore holding hands and friends played cards while, just beyond them, temples, theaters, bathhouses, and tombs disappeared into the forest. I loved the strange collision between this century and the 2nd.
But my favorite day may have been hiking through old olive groves to Gökkaya Bay, boating over the sunken city of Kekova, and looking down through astonishingly clear water at ancient docks beneath the hull. We eventually stopped at an ancient shipyard, where I immediately put on a snorkel and free-dived down to touch stones still laid out across the seafloor in an orderly grid. The nautical-history nerd in me was beside herself.
We ended our drift along the coast in Fethiye, but I found myself wanting to keep going: to Bodrum’s storied beach clubs, Çeşme’s historic villages, the ruins of Ephesus, and whatever little beach, archaeological site, bottle of wine, or plate of mezze happened to be around the next bend.
What I packed… I lived in my Roma Schostal Originals Night Shirts as dresses—they are incomparable for easy beach days and then sliding right into dinner. I also felt right in tune with the goddesses in my white tunic dress from Aman in Lamu, Kenya.
A thing or two I learned… History here isn’t particularly interested in staying behind ropes. We walked beside tombs in olive groves, scrambled through half-wild ancient cities, sailed over submerged docks, and swam above stones laid by people thousands of years ago. Also, always carry a swimsuit in Türkiye. These ancient ruins have a habit of appearing beside extraordinarily swimmable water.
The best thing I’m bringing home… Turkey’s nationally protected pine-resin honey, which is particularly fascinating because it isn’t made from flower nectar, but from the honeydew that is secreted from the Marchalina hellenica insect, which feeds on the sap of certain pine trees. It’s a powerful antioxidant and has a lower sugar content than the more common flower honey we are all used to. I loved its minerally depth of flavor so much I spent the duration of the trip trying to hunt some down, until our guide was able to procure some from a local farming family who we joined for lunch at their home.
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