The Cilician Mountains rise abruptly from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The region is dotted with ancient ruins and medieval castles, but few overseas travellers come this way.

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Map of Cilician Mountains

• 36.08032332.8312111 Anamur at the southernmost point of Asia Minor has banana plantations and Mamure Castle.
• 36.132.9752 Bozyazı is a small beach strip, with Softa Castle on a hilltop 5 km east.
• 36.14520333.3224233 Aydıncık is a quiet coastal town. Monk seals and turtles dwell in its sea caves.
• 36.31964633.8813034 Taşucu is the ferry port for Kyrenia / Girne in Northern Cyprus.
• 36.37826133.9260645 Silifke the largest city is a transport hub. Nearby is Göksu Delta wildlife reserve.
• 36.4534.1176 Narlıkuyu is near Heaven and Hell Caves.
• 36.60570934.3102877 Erdemli is a coastal resort, east edge of the montains as the plains open up.
• 36.33866433.3990138 Gülnar was home of the nomadic Yörük, whenever they weren't being nomadic.
• 36.64583333.43759 Mut is in the mountains, but the Göksu valley means you feel the first breath of the subtropical Med coast.
• 36.64027832.89222210 Ermenek is a small town across the mountains with old stone architecture.

• 36.41833.6651 Göksu Valley descends through the mountains from Mut down to Silifke. This historic transport route is a scenic canyon with citadels dotting the forested heights above.

The Cilician Mountains are part of the Taurus chain, which along with the Alps began forming 100 million years ago, as Africa drifted north and collided with Eurasia. The landscape buckled and the Tethys sea bed was squished upwards to form limestone peaks. That collision is still under way and from time to time the region is roiled by earthquakes, with a violent example on 6 Feb 2023.

These mountains drop sharply to the sea without a coastal plain, and the only flat land is where river valleys flow out and have silted up. So they obstruct east-west transport as much they obstruct north-south, and ancient people got about by boat. A series of harbours grew up along the coast, each with a castle to defend it. Typically the settlement was further inland, to give them a head-start legging it into the mountains if seaborne attack looked formidable. The largest valley, and therefore the best inland access and the most flat land for cultivation, was that of the Göksu River. By that route travellers could pick their way up onto the Anatolian plateau towards Ankara, with the honking of their pack beasts echoing off the limestone bluffs above, and sentries gazing down from fortresses that probably never looked new.

The area is agricultural, growing citrus, olives and bananas. It's never had major industry, including industrial-scale tourism - it's a world away from the resorts around Antalya to the west. Its antiquities are lots of small sites - crumbly castles, overgrown city ruins - that you'll mostly have to yourself, accompanied only by cicada symphonies rising and falling in the heat. A string of little beach resorts have simple hotels, pansiyon guest houses and rudimentary camp sites. The sea is clean because of the lack of river silt. The coast is one of the few remaining Mediterranean habitats for monk seals and turtles, but even here they are losing out to modern incursions.

Climate is typical Mediterranean, with hot dry summers (daytimes 30-35°C) and mild wet winters (12-15°C) with occasional storms. September is the best time for a beach holiday.

Language: People in tourist-related businesses often know English or German, but you need to know a few Turkish basics or have a translation app.

Every mountainous region in the world prides itself on its weird dialect that city slickers don't understand or dislocate their jaws trying to pronounce. Cilician Mountain Turkish resembles Northern Cyprus Turkish, but whether you can be mutually understood depends on whether it's in their financial interests to be understood.

D400 is mostly 4-lane, fairly straight in its eastern half, becoming convoluted west of Silifke. Other roads are two-lane and twisty. Conventional filling stations are common enough and e-charging points are growing.

A swarm of dolmuşes buzzes along the main highways, making multiple stops.

Hitchhiking usually works eventually but there are not many cars on the road, so you could wait an hour or so under a roasting sun. And then they're only going 15 km home from market, so ten minutes later you have to hop out at their turn-off and start thumbing again.

• Göksu Delta is a wetland bird reserve 5 km south of Silifke. Its west side can also be approached from Taşucu.
• Heaven and Hell (Cennet & Cehennem) are a pair of dramatic chasms above Narlıkuyu. Asthma Cave nearby has karstic formations but they're evasive about whether its atmosphere provokes or alleviates asthma.
• Maiden’s Castle (Kızkalesi) is a well-preserved 12th / 13th century castle on an islet off Kızkalesi village, 5 km north of Narlıkuyu.
• Elaiussa Sebaste is the ruins of a Roman city 4 km north of the castle.
• Museums: several towns have one, there's no shortage of ancient artefacts. Erdemli used to have a museum about the nomadic Yörük people, but it sort-of wandered away and nobody can find it.
• Mosques are often modern, as earthquakes have wrecked their predecessors, but they're in the trad style of "Ottoman Baroque".

• Beaches are mostly shingle. But several are sandy and the problem is that these are nesting sites for turtles, so visitor use is in conflict with habitat protection.

Trad Turkish and East Med food everywhere. This region doesn't have the mix of international tourists or chefs to support other cuisines.

Some eating places serve alcohol, there are no free-standing bars.

Ayran is the yogurt-like drink popular across Turkey. Local versions are saltier than elsewhere.

All the towns have convenience stores and may have a shopping centre but there are no large supermarkets.

Small places may not have ATMs and be unable to take card payments, so carry sufficient cash.

Beware traffic and safeguard valuables, same as anywhere else.

The sun is fierce, use sun protection, avoid the midday heat, and drink plenty of water - your perspiration dries so fast you don't realise how much you're losing. Don't take extra salt, the Turkish diet has more than enough.

In summer the forests and undergrowth are tinder-dry. One carelessly discarded cigarette could start an extensive dangerous wildfire.

• Cilician Plains to the east have easier transport and large cities especially Adana. Places such as Tarsus are of Biblical interest.
• Pamphylia to the west is better known as the Costa Antalya, the heavily-touristed strip beyond the mountains.
• Central Anatolia is the plateau north of the mountains. Karaman and Konya are the first major centres you reach; further north is the strange landscape of Cappadocia.
• Northern Cyprus is a short ferry ride from Taşucu. Kyrenia is the charming main port, and a good highway leads to divided Nicosia.

Mersin Province