The Dalyan Rivers and Waterfalls journey begins with a scenic drive through the Liquid Amber Forest. A fantastic day out that will combine wading through cool shallow river, walking in the forest, a delicious fresh lunch in Yuvarlakcay and watching the locals (and quite often your guide!) leap off the top of a waterfall! This is a perfect day in the summer, allowing you to cool off in the clean mountain air.
You will be picked up between 09.00 am and 09.30am from your hotel or villa, we will then make our way through the Liquid Amber Forest, where we will have a short stop for photographs. It will take us total 40 minutes to our first stop:
Yuvarlakcay
On our journey here we head through the little villages of Beyobasi to get to the area of Yuvarlakcay. The first part of the journey is a scenic trek through the gorge, where waterproof footwear, sneakers that can get wet or sandals are required. Walk will be partly in water, some parts slippery. We will walk to a number of irrigation channels. These channels transport water from the hills down to the local agricultural areas. Here we will lay down in the channels and gently drift back Turkish style through the water. Like a natural waterslide! Once we have cooled off we head to one of the local restaurants in Yuvarlakcay for lunch.
We have a short, amazingly scenic walk to our tucked away in a forrest Trout Farm Restaurant where we will have lunch. An open buffet of starters, followed by a choice of either fresh trout, chicken, meatballs, slow cooked lamb or stuffed mushrooms. A vegetarian option is also available. Food will be plenty and exceptionally amazing. The restaurant has pools in which to swim , swings you can jump from plunging directly into the beautiful water and is just a beautiful place to enjoy a relaxing lunch chatting to your newfound friends.
Toparlar Waterfall
After lunch we jump back on the bus and head to the Toparlar Waterfall: On arrival there is a 15 -30 minute awe-inspiring walk to Eden, depending on the pace, fitness, age of the group
You can’t dive into the Toparlar waterfall pool without a short walk. There’s no parking lot right next to it! (luckily!) Once you leave the ‘parking lot’ behind, it is hard to believe that the main road is so nearby. You instantly are in another world. At some points the walk is steep but not unmanageable.
You will have to cross the stream on two different occasions. Not a major issue, but this walk, while short, is not suitable for people with mobility issues. Alternatively, you could turn this into a light version of canyoning and keep following the stream below instead of the land trails. Regardless, make sure to wear appropriate footwear, as the terrain is slippery and rocky.
After the walk, diving into that pool and swim in the refreshingly crystal clear cool water probably is the most rewarding during high summer. Watching the locals jump into the water from up high, you may even feel brave enough to jump in yourself. If not find the perfect spot on a rock and dip your toes in the water .
After the Yuvarlakcay and Toparlar waterfall, now all downhill, we will walk back to our minivan. Once on board we will head to our last stop in the town of Koycegiz, this quaint little town sits on the edge of the lake, the vast sprawling lake that meets the delta of Dalyan. On arrival here we will take you to a local ice cream parlour where you can try their famous homemade ice-cream, which is made on the premises. Once you have enjoyed this we will give you a little free time to have a wander along the edge of the lake or through the local shops or you may just fancy having a cool drink or coffee at the side of the lake.
We will then take the 20 min journey back to Dalyan arriving back in resort between 5.00-5.30pm.
Tour Reviews
Rivers and Waterfalls – Where to start on such a magical day.
Volkan picked us up at 9.30am – a short drive through beautiful Turkish countryside to the amber trees that provide medicinal and perfume sap – tried some on a mosquito bite and it worked great.
On to the river walk – I am almost 70 and have a bad hip so had some trepidation about this trip but the whole group were fantastic – if a member of the group struggled everyone helped. We walked upstream, some tricky bits and it was cold, then Volkan said to slow irrigation channels drift back – one look at a young womans face put me off that bit – gather it was icy!!
On to the restaurant – choice of trout(fresh caught) chicken, meatballs and lamb with sides – unbelievably great. There was a swing out to an ice cold pool – if you had the nerve (I did, not the swing i used the ladder to the pool) the water was sooooo refreshing.
Then on to the waterfall – have to admit i nearly gave up getting there the trail is not easy,it is rocky and not easy but if I had not done it this year i would probably never have done it. Once again the group were great , helping each other over hard bits. At the waterfall it was breathtaking – the locals did acrobatic displays that defy belief.
The water was cool and soothing after the heat of the walk and to add to a perfect day Volkan had bought mmelons to slice in the pool to refresh us.
Volkan is the perfect tour guide – knowledgeable, attentive with attention to detail and above all he makes sure everyone is safe,
please check out my other Volkan adventure reviews.
Would really recommend this amazing day out with Volcan’s Adventures. In fact, look forward to doing it all again! Off the beaten track, meeting new friends, sharing fun activities, we were treated to beautiful new places. Our guide kept us laughing throughout. Lunch was a fabulous spread served by the waterfalls of Yuvarlakçay!
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