"Olympos" Olympos by June.b

I flew in to Antalya and compelled to stay for a couple of night which turned out to be fine as I was able to wander around the Kaleici and took in some sights in Antalya.

From Antalya centrum, I took the tramvay to the main bus terminal, jumped on a minibus on the way to Olympos.

The minibus from antalya will not actually take you right on the Olympos pension houses or the main town. The bus dropped me off at a roadside (or highway-side?) cafe and restaurant. No worries here as the guys at the cafe will tell ou to wait for the dolmush (van) that will take you to the main town. Tea, cofffee, meals are available at the cafe, so I just sat there at one of the chairs and sip a hot cup of tea. There are I think 2 of us tourists and a local family waiting there for the van that took quite awhile - probaly more than half an hour.

The ride from the main highway to Olympos was I think about half an hour and the van actually dropped me off at the front of the pension house I booked. All of the pension houses line up along the street that leads to the Olympos ruins and beach, so definitely the van will pass by any place you would want to stay at in Olympos.

Olympos is pretty much a laid-back relaxing place, no big buildings, in fact most place to stay are wooden bungalows and tree houses. I think it's a preserved area and no big resorts or hotels.

Two main things to see and do -- wander inside the forest to see the scattered ruins of a once ancient town or city, and that automatically end with the pebbled beach.

• Pros:Less touristic, laid-back, quiet beach and mountains
• Cons:Not much to do but relax.
• In a nutshell:Live it, leave it, love it!