Turkey
Kaş
Lycian tombs glow orange at sunset above a harbour where sea kayaks launch toward sunken ruins.
At dusk, the Lycian rock tombs carved into the cliff above Kaş turn the colour of burnt honey, and the harbour below fills with the clatter of returning dive boats and the scent of charring octopus. The town sits on a headland where the Taurus Mountains meet the Mediterranean, compact enough to walk end to end in fifteen minutes, deep enough to hold you for a week.
Kaş is the Lycian Coast's most complete small town — a working harbour ringed by Lycian tombs, Ottoman-era houses, and a growing community of dive operators, kayakers, and long-stay travellers. Sea kayaking tours from the harbour reach the sunken city of Kekova in approximately 90 minutes. Dive sites around the peninsula include ancient amphora fields on the seabed at depths of 28 metres. A 15-minute ferry connects Kaş to the Greek island of Kastellorizo (Meis), making a same-day international crossing possible on a whim. The town has resisted large-scale resort development — no building exceeds two storeys, and the weekly market still draws locals from the mountain villages above.
Solo
Kaş attracts the kind of independent traveller you actually want to meet. Dive ancient amphora fields in the morning, kayak toward sunken ruins in the afternoon, and eat alone at the harbour knowing solitude here is a choice, not a condition.
Couple
Courtyard restaurants lit by lanterns and jasmine, a harbour that glows at sunset, and a day trip to a Greek island by ferry — Kaş offers intimacy without isolation. The rooftop pensions above the harbour are some of Turkey's best-kept secrets.
Friends
Dive together, kayak to Kekova, take the ferry to Greece for lunch, and finish at the harbour with grilled octopus and cold beer. Kaş packs more shared experiences per square kilometre than anywhere on the Lycian Coast.
- Sea kayaking tours from the harbour reach the sunken city of Kekova in approximately 90 minutes.
- Lycian rock tombs are cut directly into the cliff face above the main square — visible from the harbour cafes.
- A 15-minute ferry connects Kaş to the Greek island of Kastellorizo (Meis), making a same-day international crossing possible.
- Dive sites around the peninsula reach depths of 28 metres and include ancient amphora fields on the seabed.
Grilled octopus tentacles charred and curled on a plate beside rocket and pomegranate seeds.
Slow-cooked lamb tandir in a courtyard restaurant lit by lanterns and jasmine-scented air.
Morning markets selling fat Kaş tomatoes, wild thyme honey, and wheels of tulum cheese.
Jericoacoara
Brazil
Windswept dunes where the sun melts into the sea from a natural stone arch.
St Ives
England
Light so luminous it lured a century of painters to this harbour of turquoise shallows.
Tulpar-Köl
Kyrgyzstan
Alpine pools at 3,500 metres that mirror a 7,000-metre peak at dawn like shattered glass.
Philae Temple
Egypt
A temple rescued from rising waters, reassembled stone by stone on an island in the Nile.
Mount Ararat
Turkey
Turkey's highest peak rises alone from the plain, perpetually snow-capped and steeped in flood mythology.
Hasankeyf
Turkey
A 12,000-year-old Tigris settlement now partly drowned by a dam — cave dwellings and minarets half-submerged.
Cappadocia
Turkey
Hundreds of hot air balloons drift through a forest of stone pillars at dawn.
Ephesus
Turkey
Marble streets still grooved by Roman chariot wheels lead to a library that held 12,000 scrolls.