Some 46km southeast of Fethiye along the D400 is the turn-off for Pınara and its spectacular ruins. Pınara was one of the six highest-ranking cities in ancient Lycia, but although the site is vast, the actual ruins are not the region's most impressive. Instead, it's the splendour and isolation that makes it worth visiting. Rising high above the site is a sheer column of rock honeycombed with rock tombs; other tombs are within the ruined city itself.
The Royal Tomb, has fine reliefs, including several showing walled Lycian cities. With its photogenic mountain backdrop, Pınara's theatre is in good condition, but its odeon and temple to Aphrodite (with heart-shaped columns) are ruined. On the latter's steps, note the graffiti carved by its builders: an enormous (and anatomically correct) phallus.
Half-hourly dolmuşes from Fethiye (₺7, one hour) drop you at the Pınara turn-off, which is 5.5km from the site. In summer, taxis wait at the turn-off, charging ₺40 to ferry you to the site, wait and bring you back.
