Holiday colony amid pines Population: 3,600
It’s hard to know what to say about Hisarönü-Ovacik, the extraordinary aberration you come upon high in the hills amid the pine forests above Fethiye when driving towards Ölüdeniz or Kayaköy.
Back in the 1980s the authorities realised that beautiful Ölüdeniz was in danger of being developed to death and hit on the idea of moving future new building work up into the hills. Hotels, shops and bars were soon proliferating, followed in due course by housing for those who decided to grab the holiday lifestyle with both hands. Hisarönü is the commercial centre, Ovacık the residential extension but really you’d be hard put to slip a paper between them these days.
Did they make the right decision? Everyone will have their own thoughts on that topic. Let’s just say that those who love nature, the environment, history and tradition, let alone those who love “the real Turkey”, are in for a nasty shock. Hisarönü is a sometimes amusing, sometimes terrifying glimpse of what a truly globalised world might mean, with Antepli Ali dishing up Indian curries to his largely British clientele and every famous brand-name up for grabs albeit with an “ironic” twist.
Eating
The one reason I have been known to pause here is when I’m feeling nostalgic about “British” food. You can get excellent fish and chips at Codswallop and reasonable imitations of Indian and Chinese meals in many of the restaurants, sometimes the same ones. This is also one of the few places in Turkey where sinking your teeth into a pork chop is a reasonable aspiration.
Sleeping
Lots of choice, not much of it worth bothering about.
Yakamoz. Tel: 0252-616 6238
Transport info
Frequent minibuses run between Fethiye town centre and Hisarönü, continuing on to Ölüdeniz and/or Kayaköy. 
