Demre, Myra & Kekova Sunken City Tour from Avsallar

An early start from Avsallar

Demre lies far beyond Antalya, so the coach leaves before dawn; we confirm your exact pickup time after booking. The tour runs on Wednesdays and Sundays. After a breakfast break near Antalya the road turns south-west into Lycia, and as you approach Demre the plain fills with greenhouses full of tomatoes.

The Lycians governed themselves through a league of cities in which the larger towns had more votes – an arrangement Montesquieu later praised as the model of a good confederate republic. Myra was one of its leading cities. In the Church of St. Nicholas you see frescoes, mosaic floors and the sarcophagus linked to the 4th-century bishop whose legend grew into Santa Claus; sailors carried his relics off to Bari in Italy in 1087. Close by, Lycian tombs shaped like timber houses are cut into the cliff of Myra above a Roman theatre with carved stone masks – according to the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul changed ships here on his way to Rome. After lunch at a local restaurant a boat leaves Üçağız for about an hour along Kekova island: in the clear water lie walls, stairways and foundations of a town that sank after an earthquake, and on the shore the castle of Simena watches over the village of Kaleköy. In the evening the coach brings you back to Avsallar.

Good to know

• The tour runs on Wednesdays and Sundays; the boat trip depends on sea conditions.
• Cover your shoulders for the church – a light scarf is enough.
• Choose the package with or without entrance fees for Myra and the church; drinks are always extra.
• The sunken city is protected, so you see it from the boat – swimming above it is not allowed.

Pickup and drop-off at your hotel in Avsallar, the air-conditioned coach, a professional guide, lunch and the boat trip to Kekova are included; you pay on the tour day. Up for a journey with an overnight stay? See the 2-day Pamukkale and Salda Lake tour from Avsallar.