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Visiting Olympos in December

BySunMed Guide

Visiting Olympos in December

# Olympos in December: Honestly?

Olympos in December is a weird one, and whether you’ll love it or feel slightly cheated depends almost entirely on what you’re after.

The weather is genuinely unpredictable. The Turkish Mediterranean coast in December sits in that awkward shoulder season where you might get crisp, golden days perfect for walking through the ruins, or you might get grey skies, mud, and enough rain to make the river valley genuinely soggy. Pack for both because you’ll probably get both within the same week. Temperatures hover somewhere between 10 and 18 degrees depending on the day. It’s not beach weather. Just accept that going in.

The crowds are essentially nonexistent. The village, which turns into a backpacker zoo in summer with its famous treehouse accommodation scene, is almost completely shut down. Most of the wooden bungalow places close entirely between November and March. The few guesthouses that do stay open are quiet, sometimes eerily so. You might be sharing the ruins with nobody. Genuinely nobody. Just you, overgrown weeds, ancient stone, and the sound of the river.

The ruins themselves are always accessible and honestly look better in winter. The vegetation is less aggressive, the light is softer, and wandering through the Lycian tombs without sweating through your clothes or dodging tour groups feels almost meditative. The beach at the end of the valley is dramatic and completely deserted.

Is it worth it? For certain people, absolutely yes. Photographers, hikers, anyone who finds crowded archaeological sites genuinely stressful, or people walking sections of the Lycian Way will find December quietly brilliant. For anyone hoping for a beach holiday or a social buzzy atmosphere, wrong month, wrong place.

One practical tip: check whether your accommodation is actually open before you travel. Don’t assume. Call directly if you can. Several places list year-round availability online but are essentially locked up with a handwritten note on the gate when you arrive. December Olympos rewards research and punishes assumptions harder than almost anywhere else on that coastline.

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