{"id":537,"date":"2013-06-27T16:22:01","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T16:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.duffssuitcase.com\/?p=537"},"modified":"2013-06-27T16:22:01","modified_gmt":"2013-06-27T16:22:01","slug":"the-best-views-on-turkeys-turquoise-coast-yediburunlar-lighthouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/duffssuitcase.com\/the-best-views-on-turkeys-turquoise-coast-yediburunlar-lighthouse\/","title":{"rendered":"Escaping the crowds on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

In two weeks of travelling in Turkey, I marvelled at some pretty spectacular vistas, from the minaret-encrusted skyline of Istanbul to panoramas over Cappadocia on a hot air balloon ride<\/a>. The pinnacle of my viewing pleasure came at the end of a \u00a0tiny winding road through a countryside seemingly devoid of tourism: hamlets of a few houses and miniature mosques, terraced fields of olive trees, some donkeys and the occasional farmer. At the end of a bumpy gravel track we reached the edge of a towering cliff to find Yediburunlar Lighthouse<\/strong> and its magnificent perch overlooking rocky mountains plunging into the sea several hundred metres below.<\/p>\n

With only eight rooms and nothing else for miles around, Yediburunlar (which is not, in fact, a lighthouse) turned out to be just the kind of place we were looking for – a remote, off-the-beaten track homely, intimate spot with none of the tacky package tourism look of the resort towns on the coast an hour’s drive away. People come to Yediburunlar to hike in the mountains (there are guided walks on part of the famous Lycian Way), yoga retreats, or like us – to escape the crowds.<\/p>\n

Our wood-panelled room in a stone cottage was comfortable and cosy, with a fireplace for winter and Turkish carpets (with the magnificent views from both the room and the bathroom – my best shower view ever), and the grounds were lovely – a terraced garden filled with fragrant fig trees, herbs and flowers and a swimming pool flanked by hammocks and couches.<\/p>\n

It didn’t matter that there were no restaurants around to eat at because the food at Yediburunlar was fantastic. Dinner was a buffet of delicious homemade vegetarian food – we loved the aubergine moussaka, purslane salad with pomegranate and walnut dressing and homemade pasta with yoghurt and tomatoes, as well as the creamy backed rice pudding for dessert. Breakfast was a similarly gourmet affair of cheeses, fruit, yoghurt, honey, eggs, olives and halva (my absolute favourite).<\/p>\n

It was hard to leave – we wish we’d had a week to do nothing here except eat, sleep, read, hike and stare out at the views from a swinging hammock.<\/p>\n

Double rooms from\u00a0\u00a0\u20ac85,\u00a0www.yediburunlarlighthouse.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t