Marmaris Excursions or a Hire Car? Do 10 Popular Tours with Your Own Car

Short Answer: Which Excursions Can You Do by Car, and Which Not?

We have put the popular Marmaris excursions and how to spend the same day with a hire car into one table. The distances come from the detailed guides we have written for each place.

Tour or Car? How to Decide

• The tour's advantage: you are picked up at your hotel, you don't need to know the road, a guide explains, and on many tours the boat and lunch are part of the programme.
• The tour's drawback: times and stops are fixed; passengers are collected from several hotels, and you reach the popular places at the same time as everyone else.
• The car's advantage: you leave early and arrive before the crowds, stay where you like and skip what you don't; one car covers several trips over the whole week.
• The car's drawback: you find the road and the parking yourself; the driver gets tired on long drives.

Instead of a Jeep Safari: the Bozburun Peninsula by Car

Most Marmaris jeep safaris include Turgut Waterfall, Kızkumu and village stops; the route and content vary by operator. You can see the same views from paved roads in your own car: Kızkumu is about 28 km from Marmaris and Turgut Waterfall about 10 km from there; a full-day loop that also takes in Selimiye, Bozburun and Söğüt is about 105–120 km.

• What the tour adds is off-road tracks, water fights and group fun; if that is what you want, take the jeep tour.
• With a hire car, stay on paved roads; the dirt tracks used by jeep tours may not suit an ordinary car.
• Go to Kızkumu early in the morning; it gets busy in the afternoon.
• For the route and stops see our Bozburun Peninsula guide.

Instead of a Dalyan Boat Tour: Drive to Dalyan, Take the River Boat There

Dalyan tours usually include the river boat, the Kaunos rock tombs, the mud baths and İztuzu Beach. Dalyan is 83–84 km from Marmaris, about 1 hour 15–25 minutes; you can drive to Dalyan and board a river boat there. The day trip comes to about 200 km in total.

• Kaunos is on the far bank of the river; you cross by rowing boat or car raft.
• İztuzu is about 12 km by road from Dalyan; in the turtle season the beach is closed at night.
• For details and the route see our Dalyan guide.

Cleopatra (Sedir) Island: Drive to the Jetty, Then Take a Boat

There is no road to Cleopatra (Sedir) Island; boats leave from Çamlı or Akyaka. From Marmaris to the Çamlı jetty it is about 18 km and 22 minutes by car. If you stop in Akyaka on the way back, the Marmaris–Çamlı–Akyaka–Marmaris loop is about 70 km.

For Cleopatra Beach, the ancient theatre and the walls on the island see our Akyaka and Cleopatra Island guide.

Marmaris Bay Boat Trip: Here the Boat Is Better

The daily bay trips leaving Marmaris harbour also stop at bays that are hard or impossible to reach by road; you don't need a car that day. Spend your boat-trip day without a car and hire one for the other days.

We have collected the beaches and bays you can drive to (İçmeler, Turunç, Kızkumu and others) in our Marmaris bays and beaches guide.

Pamukkale and Ephesus Tours: Day Trip or Overnight?

Pamukkale is 198–207 km from Marmaris and Ephesus 205–218 km. A same-day return means 396–412 km or 410–436 km; that goes over the 300 km daily limit and the day runs past 10 hours. If you want to see them in a single day, a coach tour makes more sense.

If you go by car, stay a night: 2 days are enough for one place and 3 days for both; seeing both together comes to 597–624 km in total. For the routes see our Pamukkale and Ephesus guide.

Rhodes Trip: No Car, Return It at the Port

Rhodes is about 1 hour by catamaran from the Marmaris passenger port. Hire cars cannot leave Turkey; you don't need a car on your Rhodes day.

If you stay overnight on Rhodes, you can end the rental at the port and start it again there when you come back; the port is a free delivery point. On a day trip it is easier to leave the car at your hotel. For documents and times see our Marmaris–Rhodes guide.

Datça, Fethiye and Köyceğiz Tours: Easier by Car

• Datça and Knidos: Datça is about 70 km from Marmaris, 1 hour – 1 hour 15 minutes; Knidos is about 35 km further. To see the bays at your own pace, see our Datça guide.
• Fethiye and Ölüdeniz: Fethiye is about 130 km and Ölüdeniz about 137 km; both together come to about 277 km return. Adding Saklıkent makes it about 344 km, over the limit; split it over two days. Details in our Fethiye guide.
• Köyceğiz: Köyceğiz is 62 km away; Toparlar Waterfall, Köyceğiz and Yuvarlakçay fit into half a day at 157–159 km. Routes in our Köyceğiz guide.

Car Hire Tips for a Week of Trips

Frequently asked questions