Dolmus to Patara Beach

[suehugh]

Please can anyone tell me if thre is dolmus to Patara beach from Fethiye. Last Year we asked the Man at the dolmus station and we ended up on a dolmus but it was organised tour for Turkish tourists. This ws a wonderful experience, but we were only their for a short time and it was the end of the beach with the stream running down from the mountains.

[amca]

Possible; bus from otogar heading for kalkan, kas etc and after about 1 hour the driver will let you off to get dolmus down into patara.
Possible; dolmus bus from small  bus station behind eren spot/garage direct.

[marina]

Sue, we did exactly the same thing a few years ago.  Intended going to Patara for the day and ended up on a tour.  Enjoyable as it was it wasn't really what we wanted.

However, a couple of years ago we did manage it.  We stayed in Patara village for a couple of nights and had a full day on the beach.

You need to go to the main Otogar in Fethiye, not the dolumus station, and make enquiries about a bus to Patara.  This will more than likely be the bus to Kas/Kalkan but will stop off at the top of the road into the village of Patara and a dolmus will be waiting to take you down into either the village or the beach.  

Coming back just get the dolmus up to the main road again and ask one of the many people who are usually hanging around there for the bus to Fethiye.

If you are going though, it really is worth thinking about spending a night in one the of the hostels/hotels in Patara village, it's so very different to the tourist areas.  

Good luck.

[suehugh]

Thank you Marina and Amca.

Marina can you recommend a hotel in the village, as we think we might like to stay overnight
Sue

[marina]

Hi Sue,

We stayed at the Patara Golden Pension which is set right on the corner of the road down to the beach and the road into the village so the dolmus stops right outside.  It's a pretty basic pension but the rooms are very clean and quite spacious, we had a lovely big bathroom.  The people who run it are very friendly, we even got an email in the December after we'd stayed there wishing us Merry Christmas.  

However, if you are looking for a bit more from your accommodation they have a sister hotel (both are, or were, owned by the Mayor of Patara) and this is just outside the main village, but Patara is small so don't worry about that.  The Lighthouse is bigger and has a good size pool which visitors to either hotel can use.  

They both have websites for you to check out and book through if you want.
www.pataragoldenpension.com   or   www.pataragoldenlighthouse.com

Patara village is totally different to all the commercialised resorts in Turkey but we think it's worth a visit and at least an overnight stop.  You then get to spend more time down at the fantastic beach  

[suehugh]

Thank you so much Marina

I will look at both of the hotels, I think you are right it would be a shame not to staty over night.

Sue

[big a]

the delfin hotel is a great place to stay with very friendly staff and on the beach road jimmys is a must for food and drink and to hear all the local gossip

[col]

The St Nicholas Pension is also a lovley little place to stay and they have a sister hotel a few minutes walk away where you can use the pool. The pension is just minutes from the village centre and the dolmus pass by and Jimmy's is just a short walk up the hill.
Worth checking the times of coaches from the main cross roads for the return back to Fethiye.
I was there last year late May and ended up with an hour and a half wait on the main road for the next coach back.

[marina]

Probably a good idea to check on times col.  Think we might have been lucky, we only waited about 10 minutes for the bus on the main road but obviously could have been a lot longer.

[suehugh]

Thank you so much for all your help.
:D:D
Sue