Golden Hour Without the Gridlock: Six Sunset Spots Around Hisarönü (and One You Can Walk To)

Fethiye's promenade does a lovely line in sunsets. It also does a lovely line in elbows, selfie sticks and coach parties disgorging at 7:45pm sharp. If your idea of a good evening involves a cold drink and a horizon you can actually see, Hisarönü and the coast around it offer a better trade: slightly less glamour, considerably more elbow room.

Think of this as a map rather than a ranking. Pick the one that matches your energy level, your transport and how much you fancy paying for a drink.

Read the light before you choose

The sun drops behind the ridge to the west of Ölüdeniz rather than sliding straight into the sea, which means the colour arrives earlier than people expect and lingers later on the lagoon side. Roughly: mid-June sunset around 8:30pm, late August around 7:50pm, mid-October around 6:30pm, and April somewhere near 7:45pm. Turn up 45 minutes before to watch the whole show, and stay 15 minutes after for the pink.

1. The lay-by above Ölüdeniz — the five-minute wonder

The road climbing towards Babadağ passes a wide pull-off with the entire bay laid out below you, paragliders drifting down like laundry. There's usually a tea stand, a couple of taxis and nothing else. A glass of çay costs about a pound. It's ten minutes by taxi from Hisarönü, or a sweaty 25-minute uphill walk if you're feeling virtuous. If you only catch one sunset all holiday, catch this one.

2. Belcekız beach, north end

Fifteen minutes on the dolmuş, then walk past the paraglider landing zone to the quieter end of the beach. Buy an Efes from one of the beach cafés — £3-ish — and settle on the pebbles. Two notes: stay well clear of the landing zone, because canopies come in fast and low at dusk, and bring cash, since the smaller kiosks won't take a card.

3. Kumburnu and the lagoon spit

There's a small entry fee to the lagoon, and it buys you a spit of land with water on both sides. The sun disappears behind the headland here rather than over open sea, so the after-glow is the main event. Considerably calmer than the main beach and a good bet if you've got children in tow.

4. The Babadağ cable car

For the full alpine-without-the-alps experience. The lower station sits at 1,700m and the top at 1,960m, and sunset slots sell out — book a day or two ahead rather than turning up hopeful. Expect roughly £18–22 return depending on which station you ride to. Take a hoodie; it's a good ten degrees cooler up there, and the wind doesn't negotiate.

5. Gemiler beach

West-facing, modest, and overlooked by most of the resort crowd. The little island offshore carries the ruins of St Nicholas's church, which gives your sunset shots something to sit against other than water. No dolmuş of its own, so it's a taxi or a car, roughly 25 minutes. Bring cash for sunbeds.

6. The Faralya and Kabak cliffs

The dramatic option. Forty minutes' drive south, the land falls away into dark green coves and the sun drops with absolutely nothing in the way. You'll want a car or a pre-booked taxi, and a torch for the walk back if you're staying for dinner. Not a spontaneous decision; a very good one if you plan it.

And the one you can walk to

A handful of terrace bars on the Ovacık road above Hisarönü face the right way, with views over the rooftops towards the bay. You won't get the postcard, but you will get a £2.50 pint, a five-minute walk home and no taxi negotiation at midnight. For a first evening, that's hard to argue with.

What an evening actually costs

A cold Efes lands somewhere between £1.60 and £2.80 depending on how touristy the menu is. A cocktail is £7–9, a glass of house wine £4–5, and a rakı with a bit of meze £6–8. Two rounds plus a snack for two people sits comfortably in the £25–35 bracket. Beach kiosks are the budget end; hotel terraces and cable-car-station cafés are the other end.

Getting there and, more importantly, back

Dolmuş fares between Hisarönü and Ölüdeniz are small change — a pound or so — and in July and August the last ones run until around midnight or shortly after. In spring and autumn that final departure comes much earlier, so ask the driver on the way out rather than assuming. Taxis after dark are roughly £10–14 each way; agree the fare or check the meter before you set off.

Walking back up from Ölüdeniz at night is about 40 minutes, and for long stretches there's no pavement. With a torch and company it's fine. In flip-flops after three drinks, less so.

A few local notes

• The sunset call to prayer is part of the evening here. A moment's quiet is appreciated.
• Ask before photographing waiters, stallholders or anyone else who is at work rather than on holiday.
• The paraglider landing zone is a working area, not a viewpoint.
• Sunbeds belong to the café behind them. Buy a drink and nobody minds.
• Leave ten per cent on the table.
• Keep the chatter down on the walk home. Ovacık is a village with people asleep in it.
• Nobody should be swimming at dusk on an unlit beach. The lifeguards clock off long before the sun does.