We visited Patara ruins and beach, staying at St Nicholas Pension in Gelemiş April 2024.

Patara is located 50 miles (81Km) east of Fethiye and 11 (17Km) miles west of Kalkan. Buses run regularly from Fethiye Otogar which will drop you off on the main road D400 from here you can either walk into the village of Gelemiş about 2 miles or you can catch a Domus which will take you through the village and onto Patara beach and ruins. The Dolmus also runs regularly from Kalkan to Patara.

From Gelemiş you can walk along the cobbled road to Patara beach through the ruins.
From Gelemiş village to the beach it is approximately half an hours walk (1.6 miles, 2.6Km).
There is a charge to enter the area which, at the time of our visit was 15 Euro per person.
There is no longer a separate ticket for visiting the beach only.

Patara was a province in the Lycian kingdom in Turkey, later becoming a part of the Roman Empire.
As well as being the birth place of St Nicholas (Santa Claus), Patara was an important port for traders.

Along the road from the ticket office the first monument you will come across is the triple arched Arch of Mettius Modestus. Walking past this you come to the harbour baths and then to my favourite place which is the Palm Grove of Leto.
The main section at Patara includes:-
An ancient theatre with setting for an estimated 6000 people.
The Bouleuterion (Assembly hall) which served as the city’s meeting place and which has been fully restored.
The Harbour street connects the agora in front of the Bouleuterion to the inner harbour. The street is well preserved. The colonnade on the east consists of granite columns and the west is marble columns. Behind the colonnade is different sized shops.
Down a dirt path from harbour street is the Patara lighthouse built by emperor Nero, it is thought to be one of the oldest lighthouses in the world and is currently being restored.
There is a lot to explore in Patara!

The beach is approximately 11miles (18Km) long and is an important nesting site for the Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta Caretta).

With shallow waters, soft golden sands and waves big enough play in the beach is a great destination for families.
We visited on a calm day but due to the beach being very long and exposed it can get very windy.
Near to the cafe there are toilets , changing rooms and showers. If you need to shelter from the sun, beds and umbrellas can be rented here also

We stayed at St Nicholas Pension in Gelemiş a comfortable Pension that does excellent food.
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The exchange rate at the time of our visit was approx £1 =40Tl

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