Stage 10 · Route 9 (Bezirgan)
Kalkan to Bezirgan: the inland climb that replaces the coast
Updated: 2026-09-07
People assume the trail follows the sea from Kalkan to Kaş. It does not; the cliffs there belong to the road. Instead the route turns its back on the coast and climbs to the plateau, and this is the first of four inland stages that make up the roughly 55 km between the two towns. It is a hard morning: 10.3 km at a steady fifteen percent, 845 m of ascent.
Bezirgan rewards it. The village keeps its wooden granaries on stilts, which are the same shape as the rock tombs you saw at Xanthos and Patara, because the Lycians carved their tombs to look like their barns.
Want this walked with bags moved and beds booked? Plan it with us ↓
- Distance
- 10.3 km
- Ascent
- 845 m
- Time
- 4–4.5 h
- Grade
- Hard
- Terrain
- A constant fifteen percent climb out of Kalkan onto the plateau, through scrub and pine to the upland village of Bezirgan.
- Sleep at the end
- Bezirgan has a few pensions and apart-rooms that take walkers; ask ahead
- Water
- Fountains in Kalkan and Bezirgan; the section between is reported dry and poorly marked near the cistern
- Getting there
- Dolmuş between Bezirgan and Kalkan otogar; taxi otherwise
- From Kaş
- About 45 min by road via Kalkan
Highlights
- Kalkan bay shrinking below you all morning
- Bezirgan’s wooden granaries, a Lycian design still in use
- The plateau air after the coast
Is the inland route worth it, or should I bus to Kaş?
Honestly, it depends what you came for. The inland stages are quiet, high and empty of other walkers, with the ruins of Phellos as the prize on the third day; they are also long, short of water and short of beds. Walkers on a tight schedule commonly take the bus from Kalkan to Kaş in thirty minutes and spend the saved days on the Kaş peninsula, which has more ruins, more coves and a bed every night.
If you want the plateau without the full commitment, the Gökçeören to Çukurbağ day over Phellos can be reached by taxi from Kaş.
Plan this with us
Tell us your dates, how many of you there are and how far you like to walk in a day. We reply within a day with a plan and a price from a licensed local agency — guided or self-guided, luggage moved, beds booked. No payment on this site.
Questions people actually ask
How long is Kalkan to Kaş on the Lycian Way?
About 55 km over four inland stages via Bezirgan, Gökçeören and Çukurbağ. Some third-party sites list it as a single 54 km stage; it is not walkable in a day.
Is there a bed in Bezirgan?
Yes, a small number of pensions and apart-rooms. Contact them in advance in spring and autumn; the village is small and they fill.