Over the past few days I slept in a tent on the beach on the Turkish Riviera, surrounded by the towering cliffs of Butterfly Valley (Kelebekler Vadisi), under the brightest shooting stars, and next to the crashing waves of the clearest blue water that I have ever seen.
I spent my days sunbathing on the cliffs, diving in when I got too hot, and watching the sailboats and fish go by me below until the sunset. Absolutely living in a daydream.
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Butterfly Valley Overview
Around 20 minutes south of Ölüdeniz, Butterfly Valley sits between the gigantic cliffs of Mount Babadağ with a beautiful beach at the bottom that descends into the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea.
Along the Turkish Riviera is the ancient Lycian Way, now serving as a multi-day hiking trail, Camino type idea, running right along the cliffs above Butterfly Valley.
Ancient Lycia was once a large, thriving city, and all throughout the area you will find ruins of tombs and cities carved into the cliffs from thousands of years ago. I spent a lot of time sat on the cliffs, looking out and imagining war ships passing by in the distance, Alexander The Great roaming the area, and everyone else centuries ago that once swam on the same shores.
Years ago, the valley was filled with a (documented) 105 species of butterflies-hence the name. Boats bringing tourism apparently ramped up through out the 1970’s, and in 1995 the government here declared the valley a preserved site in effort to protect the butterflies, while working with the owners of the campground as well. Unfortunately as the years have gone on and as tourism has continued to evolve, the species have all disappeared, either becoming extinct, or migrating elsewhere.
Tourism is very warranted here, it is absolutely stunning. But with such an influx of the huge tourist boats coming in from the surrounding beach towns, it can go from silence or chill music and still water, to blaring music and waves of people jumping off of boats in a matter of minutes.
What I will say is this: though it can get hectic during the peak of the afternoons, it is so worth it to stay here for the slow beautiful early mornings, evenings and nights. Laying on the pebble beach, watching the sun disappear into the sea, and then the sky lighting up with constellations is worth dealing with the loud music and chaos for a little bit. How could I be annoyed when I myself am a tourist as well.
Best Time Of The Day To Visit Butterfly Valley
With such a beautiful place, also comes a good amount of people wanting to visit-especially during the summer months on the Riviera. If I could give you any piece of advice about Butterfly Valley, it’s going to be this one: if you are only going to make a day trip, make an effort to go in the late afternoon into sunset. It can be quite busy when every boat tour shows up at once in the late morning into the afternoon, and the beauty of the valley is too unbelievable to miss out on when it is peaceful and still.
Day-Trips & Boat Tours To Butterfly Valley
It is also important to book the right boat trip to Butterfly Valley. There is a public boat that goes back and fourth from Ölüdeniz a couple of times a day if you just wanted to get dropped off in the valley for a bit, this is also the boat that you will take if you decide to camp overnight.
There are also boat tours that will take you to a few different places around the area, including the valley. A popular option for people vacationing are these huge pirate ship looking boats, that take you from place to place, while blaring music plays and an open bar is flowing. I would urge you to skip out on these, I cannot recommend taking a small boat or private tour if you can enough.
You can take these little tours from Ölüdeniz and Fethiye, and even if you do end up staying put in Butterfly Valley for a while, I would still suggest taking a day out to see the coves and hidden beaches.
Camping In Butterfly Valley
Most people visit Butterfly Valley for a day trip at most, but camping in the valley beneath the stars every night is an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I would wake up for sunrise to swim in the still, clear water as the sky lit up, followed by a lovely breakfast and coffee before a few hours of laying out in the early morning sun. .
Family owned and run with the help of volunteers, the main campground is mixed with some standard camping tents, small bungalows, and then some fancier, larger, ‘glamping tents’.
All of the tents (and the valley as a whole) have electricity from a generator, a light, and a big mattress and sheets for you. The bungalows and fancier tents will have some more space and a fan as well.
Booking a stay here in a tent includes both breakfast and dinner, every meal was extremely good as I am still getting into the Turkish cuisine here. The women making and serving the food were so sweet as well! Staying at the camp here in Butterfly Valley has been an amazing experience, the owners and employees take such great care of both the land and the campers.
I did not spend too much time in my tent, as if I was not sitting on the cliffs or on the beach, I was sitting in the hammocks or exploring around.
The campground hosts activities everyday, like hikes, paragliding, both sunrise and sunset yoga, and more. You can rent the kayaks, and paddle boards as well. Snorkeling and diving is also super popular here with all of the rock formations and pretty little fish :). There are multiple simple, but nice and clean bathrooms and showers that are built up on the campground too.
Booking during the peak season will cost you from $40/night. You can book your stay at the campground here.
HOW TO GET TO BUTTERFLY VALLEY
Getting to Butterfly Valley without a day-trip boat tour is easy and as straight forward as it gets.
BY BOAT:
First, you will have to get to Ölüdeniz, around 30 minutes outside of Fethiye. There are buses to and from Öludeniz and Fethiye, as well as the surrounding towns for less than $2, every 5 minutes.
From Öludeniz you will take the shuttle boat to Butterfly Valley. The table to get your tickets is right on the beach, next to the bus stop at the end of the little beach town strip. A ticket will cost you €12 for a round trip.
The boat schedule is:
From Ölüdeniz: 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 6pm
From Butterfly Valley: 9:30am, 12pm, 2pm, 5pm
If you happen to miss the last boat ride, you can schedule a boat ride up until midnight with the owners of the boat.
BY HIKING:
It is possible to hike straight down the valley from the road above, but it is very steep and dangerous-people have died doing this hike so if you do not have good shoes, and lots of bags, huge heads up. All of the paths are marked, and a majority of it is seriously rock climbing with ropes and makeshift steps. It will take around 50 minutes to get down or up by foot.
THE BEST TIME TO VISIT BUTTERFLY VALLEY
With a mild Mediterranean climate and the years getting progressively hotter, especially in this part of the world, come mid-May it will already be very warm, but with colder water still.
The summer season brings peak tourism, all the way until now in September. Prices are higher, temperatures are WAY higher, and there will be many more people around you.
October and November are hot as well, with cooler nights. September through late October would be my recommendation, but you are going to get the heat no matter what. There has been no rain currently in September, ‘rainy season’ is apparently around December and January.
I truly dream about this little corner of Turkey every single day. My time spent here is something I will remember forever and sometimes I fear that I will never find places on the Mediterranean that compare to Butterfly Valley and the Turkish Riviera.
Madigan Murphy 