Finike
Finike is a Turkish Mediterranean town in Lycia, known as Phoenix in ancient Lycian times.
Understand
A Phoenician trading port since the 5th century BC, the area has been inhabited since much earlier than that. Nowadays the remains of this long history are being excavated and can be visited. Tourism, although a large source of income in the summer, is not particularly developed, especially when compared to places like Antalya or even the much smaller and closer Kemer.
Citrus production is big business here and the town's name is quite a synonym for oranges for many Turks. This can easily be recognized by the large number of hotels and pensions with names that are variations of orange (Portakal) and by the 1 orange monument as you enter the city coming from the east.
Get in
Finike lies on highway D400 and can easily be reached by bus from Antalya, Kaş or any other city along the coast. Buses arrive and depart from the 1 otogar.
Get around
There are local buses starting from the otogar. The price is usually around 3TL. Taxis are ubiquitous and reasonably priced.
See
- 2 Limyra (northeast of the city; take the road to Yuvalılar and then the Saklısu exit. There are local buses from the otogar going to Yuvalılar that can drop you off at the exit. From there it's 15 minutes walking). Ancient Lycian city ruins by a small river with many tombs nearby and a theatre. You can bathe on the river and hike the nearby trail with many more ruins. Make sure to explore all the tombs on the hill path northwest of the main site. 10 TL (for part of the ruins).
- 3 Arykanda (30 km north along road D635. Take the bus (11 TL, 40 minutes, every hour) to Elmalı and say you want to go to Arykanda. The exit is easy to miss. From the exit it's 20 minutes uphill on foot to the site. The site itself is on a steep slope. There is limited parking near the ruins). Ancient Lycian city ruins distributed among 5 terraces on a slope, reasonably well preserved. The ruins are from the 5th century BC, complete with 2 agoras, theatre, odeon, stadium, 2 necropolis and several bath houses. The theatre is in very good condition. (Free?).
Do
There is a long stretch of beach, east of the port, with a mixture of sand, dirt and pebbles.
West of the city you can find many secluded beaches along the serpentine road to Demre.
Buy
Eat
Drink
Sleep
- There are many hotels and pensions along the D400 highway right east of the city and facing the beach. The price and quality of these places vary wildly.
- 1 Hotel Finike Marina, Kale Mahallesi Şerbetçi Bulvarı Marina Girişi No 50 (across the marina), ☏ +90 242 855-57-58, info@hotelfinikemarina.com. 3 star hotel.
Connect
Finike and the coast road have 4G from all Turkish carriers. As of June 2023, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.
Go next
| Routes through Finike |
| Marmaris ← Demre ← | W  E |
→ Olympos → Antalya |
| Fethiye ← Demre ← Goncatepe ← | W  E |
→ Gelidonya → Olympos → Antalya |