Stage 2 · Route 2
Ovacık to Faralya: the first real day of the Lycian Way
Updated: 2026-09-07
This is the day on the postcards. The trail leaves the Ovacık trailhead as a dirt road, turns into a stony mule path, and within an hour you are looking down on the Ölüdeniz lagoon with paragliders drifting past at eye level. It is also the day that sorts out who packed too much, because the climb is steady and there is no shade until the pine woods above Kozağaç.
GPS-measured at 12.8 km with 765 m of ascent and 735 m of descent, about five and three-quarter hours of walking. The guidebook calls it 13 km.
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- Distance
- 12.8 km
- Ascent
- 765 m
- Descent
- 735 m
- Time
- 5.5–6 h
- Grade
- Moderate
- Terrain
- A long climb out of Ovacık onto the shoulder of Babadağ, then a high traverse above the sea and a stepped descent to Faralya. Slopes of around twenty percent on the northern section.
- Sleep at the end
- Faralya has a cluster of pensions used to walkers; several stay open into November
- Water
- Fountains at Kozağaç and Kirme; carry two litres from Ovacık
- Getting there
- Dolmuş Fethiye–Ovacık to start; from Faralya, minibuses to Fethiye from the stop on the upper road
- From Kaş
- Faralya is roughly 3 h from Kaş by bus via Fethiye
Highlights
- Ölüdeniz lagoon from a thousand feet up
- Paragliders launching from Babadağ above you
- The cliff-edge villages of Kozağaç and Kirme
- Butterfly Valley opening below Faralya
How hard is the Ovacık to Faralya stage?
Moderate, with one caveat: the northern half is sustained at eighteen to twenty percent, which is steeper than most of the coastal trail. Walkers who start the trail here in good shape find it a long but ordinary mountain day. Walkers who start it in July find it brutal, because the climb faces the afternoon sun. Leave by eight.
The path is well marked and busy in spring and autumn. You are unlikely to be alone on it, which is a comfort on a first day.
Faralya and Butterfly Valley
Faralya sits on a shelf two hundred metres above Butterfly Valley. The descent into the valley from the village is a scramble with fixed ropes and has killed people; the sensible way to see the beach is by boat from Ölüdeniz. The village itself is a handful of pensions and small restaurants, and in season most of them will have other walkers at the table.
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
Can I get down to Butterfly Valley from Faralya?
There is a roped scramble from the village. It is steep and exposed and there have been fatal falls. Most people take the boat from Ölüdeniz instead.
Is there water on the Ovacık to Faralya stage?
Village fountains at Kozağaç and Kirme, roughly two-thirds of the way. Nothing before that, so leave Ovacık with at least two litres.
Can I do this as a day walk and go back?
Yes. Walk to Faralya and take the minibus back to Fethiye or Ölüdeniz from the stop on the upper road. Check the last departure time at your pension the night before.