Stage 7 · Route 7
Karadere to Xanthos: Letoon, the capital of Lycia, and an easy day
Updated: 2026-09-07
An easy day that happens to contain the most important ruins on the whole trail. Letoon was where the Lycian League met and worshipped; Xanthos was its capital and the city whose people burned themselves rather than be taken, first by the Persians and again by Brutus. The walk between them is farm lanes and greenhouses, flat and hot, and mercifully short.
The guidebook gives 16 km. Letoon to Kınık is a measured 5.4 km.
Want this walked with bags moved and beds booked? Plan it with us ↓
- Distance
- 16 km
- Time
- 4–5 h
- Grade
- Easy
- Terrain
- Flat delta farmland and greenhouse lanes, past Letoon to the hill of Xanthos above Kınık.
- Sleep at the end
- Pension in Kınık; more choice in Patara village 15 minutes away by dolmuş
- Water
- Village taps throughout
- Getting there
- Kınık is on the Fethiye–Kaş bus line; buses every hour or so in season
- From Kaş
- About 1 h 15 min by bus
Ghost cities on this stage
- Letoon — the federal sanctuary of Lycia, three temples to Leto, Apollo and Artemis in a marsh, and a UNESCO site. Entry about €3 for foreign visitors on the 2024 ministry list.
- Xanthos — the capital of Lycia, twice destroyed by its own citizens rather than surrender, and the source of the tombs now in the British Museum. UNESCO listed; entry about €3.
Highlights
- Letoon’s temples standing in water
- The Harpy Tomb and the theatre at Xanthos
- A proper village with shops and a bus stop at Kınık
Plan the ruins into the day
Both sites have ticket gates and opening hours, and Xanthos in particular repays an hour. Leave Karadere early so that you reach Letoon before the heat and Xanthos before the afternoon closes in. If you are walking in high summer, consider taking the dolmuş across the delta and spending the saved hours in the ruins instead; nobody will think less of you.
Fees quoted here are foreign-visitor prices from the 2024 and 2026 published lists and change every March. Turkish residents use the Müzekart.
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
Is Xanthos worth visiting?
Yes. It is the capital of the civilisation the trail is named after, and the theatre, pillar tombs and the Roman street are all in one compact hillside above Kınık.
Can I reach Xanthos from Kaş for a day?
Easily. The Fethiye bus stops at Kınık, and the site is a short walk uphill from the village. Our <a href="/experiences/saklikent-gizlikent-jeep-safari/">Saklıkent jeep day</a> also passes it.