The Classic 10 days
City, valleys, coast — the trip most first-timers dream of.
Where to go in Türkiye
43 destinations and 426 places, each with ticket prices, opening hours and closing days checked on the operators' own pages.
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MarmaraIstanbul
Two continents, one ferry ride apart. The historic peninsula holds most of the famous sights within walking distance; ferries do the rest.
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Central AnatoliaCappadocia
Tuff valleys, cave churches and whole towns dug underground. Most sights sit within half an hour of Göreme; the underground cities are a short drive south.
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MediterraneanAntalya
An old walled harbour town with Roman cities on its doorstep, long beaches either side and the Lycian coast to the south-west.
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AegeanEphesus & Selçuk
The best-preserved Roman city of the Aegean, with the market town of Selçuk at its feet; Kuşadası on the coast is twenty minutes away.
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AegeanPamukkale
White terraces of warm spring water with a Roman spa town on top, above the valley of Denizli.
LaodiceaPamukkale travertines and HierapolisAntique Pool+4 more
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AegeanBodrum
A whitewashed harbour town around a crusader castle, with bays and resorts spread along the peninsula.
Bodrum CastleMausoleum of HalicarnassusAncient Theatre of Bodrum+11 more
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MediterraneanFethiye & Ölüdeniz
A busy harbour town with Lycian tombs in its cliffs, the lagoon of Ölüdeniz over the hill and the gorges of the Xanthos valley inland.
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AegeanÇeşme & Alaçatı
The breezy tip of the İzmir peninsula: an Ottoman castle town, the stone lanes of Alaçatı and clear, cool water.
Çeşme Castle and MuseumAlaçatı old townAltınkum Beach+3 more
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AegeanKuşadası & Didim
Beach towns on the southern Aegean with three of the great Ionian cities a short drive inland.
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MarmaraBursa
The first Ottoman capital, spread along the foot of Uludağ: tiled mosques, silk inns and a mountain above the rooftops.
Grand Mosque of BursaKoza Han and the old bazaarsGreen Mosque and Green Tomb+10 more
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MarmaraEdirne
The second Ottoman capital, near the Greek and Bulgarian borders, crowned by Sinan's greatest dome.
Selimiye MosqueÜç Şerefeli MosqueSultan Bayezid II Complex Health Museum+7 more
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MarmaraÇanakkale, Troy & Gallipoli
A lively university town on the Dardanelles, with Troy on one side, Gallipoli across the water and Assos and the islands to the south.
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MarmaraAyvalık & Cunda
An olive-oil town of stone houses and converted churches, an island of fish tavernas across the causeway, and Mount Ida behind the gulf.
Ayvalık old town and Cunda IslandŞeytan Sofrası viewpointAyvalık old town+3 more
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MarmaraŞile & Ağva
Where Istanbulites go for a weekend by the sea: sandy Black Sea beaches, a striped lighthouse and a river village with boats and breakfasts.
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MarmaraSapanca
A freshwater lake ringed by forest, where Istanbul and the Gulf come for long breakfasts, lakeside walks and a weekend in a bungalow.
Kırkpınar lakesideSapanca lakeshoreRüstem Pasha Mosque+2 more
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MarmaraAvşa, Marmara Island & Erdek
Where generations of Turkish families have spent their summers: sandy island beaches a sea-bus ride from Istanbul and a long beach coast on the mainland.
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Marmaraİğneada & Kıyıköy
Forest, lakes and long empty beaches on the Black Sea in the far north-west of Türkiye.
Aya Nikola MonasteryKıyıköyİğneada Floodplain Forests National Park+1 more
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AegeanMarmaris, Datça & Dalyan
Pine-covered peninsulas where the Aegean meets the Mediterranean: a big resort bay, a long quiet peninsula and a river delta with royal tombs in its cliffs.
Kaunos and the Dalyan rock tombsİztuzu BeachMarmaris harbour and old town+8 more
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AegeanUrla & Sığacık
Olive groves, vineyards and two Ionian cities between İzmir and Çeşme, with a harbour village inside its castle walls.
Klazomenai and its ancient olive-oil worksSığacıkTeos+3 more
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AegeanBergama, Dikili & Foça
One of the great cities of the ancient world on a hill above Bergama, with an easy-going stretch of Aegean coast below it.
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MediterraneanLake Salda & Sagalassos
Blue lakes in the mountains behind Antalya: a Mars-like white shore, a Roman city in the clouds and an old town on a lake peninsula.
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MediterraneanMersin coast: Kızkalesi & Silifke
The quiet eastern end of the Turkish Mediterranean: a castle in the sea, chasms in the limestone hills and the old city of St Paul.
Heaven and Hell sinkholesKızkalesiTarsus and St Paul's Well+9 more
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Central AnatoliaAnkara
Türkiye's capital: a government city with one of the world's great archaeology museums and an old quarter under its castle.
Museum of Anatolian CivilizationsArslanhane MosqueAnkara Castle and the old quarter+8 more
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Central AnatoliaKonya
The Seljuk capital and the city of Rumi, with one of the world's oldest towns on the plain outside.
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Central AnatoliaEskişehir & the Phrygian Valley
A lively student city of painted Ottoman houses, and south of it the rock-carved monuments of the Phrygians.
Odunpazarı old quarterOdunpazarı Modern MuseumMidas Monument+7 more
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Central AnatoliaHattuşa (Boğazkale)
The capital of the Hittite Empire, spread over rocky hills, with its sacred rock gallery and a sister town nearby.
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Central AnatoliaAmasya
A river town in a narrow gorge, with royal tombs carved into the cliff above its timber houses.
Tombs of the Kings of PontusYalıboyu riverside housesAmasya Museum+2 more
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Central AnatoliaSivas & Divriği
A Seljuk city on the high plateau, and a remote mountain town with the most extraordinary stone carving in Anatolia.
Gök MedreseGreat Mosque and Hospital of DivriğiSivas Archaeological Museum+2 more
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Central AnatoliaIhlara & Aksaray
A green gorge of painted churches west of Cappadocia, a cliff monastery at its mouth and a great Seljuk inn on the old road.
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Black SeaTrabzon
A busy port city of the old Empire of Trebizond, with a cliff monastery and a mountain lake within two hours' drive.
Sümela MonasteryHagia Sophia of TrabzonAtatürk Pavilion+5 more
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Black SeaRize & Ayder
Tea terraces on every slope, a torrent of a river crossed by stone bridges, and meadows high under the Kaçkar peaks.
Fırtına Valley and ZilkaleAyder plateauKaçkar Mountains National Park+3 more
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Black SeaArtvin
Deep forested valleys on the Georgian border: mountain lakes, wooden villages and medieval churches in the gorges.
Karagöl-Sahara National ParkMacahel (Camili) valleyBorçka Karagöl+2 more
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Black SeaSafranbolu & Amasra
The western Black Sea: a timber Ottoman market town, a little walled harbour and deep canyons in the forest.
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Black SeaSamsun, Sinop & Ordu
Three coastal cities of the central Black Sea: Anatolia's northernmost harbour, the port where the War of Independence began, and a hazelnut town under its hill.
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Black SeaKerpe, Kefken & Akçakoca
Pine forest meets the Black Sea: sheltered bays, rock shelves and long dark-sand beaches between Istanbul and Ankara.
KerpeKefken and the Pink RocksAkçakoca Genoese Castle and beach+2 more
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Eastern AnatoliaKars & Ani
A frontier town of basalt and Baltic-style stone houses on a high plateau, with the ghost city of Ani forty minutes away.
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Eastern AnatoliaVan, Lake Van & Mount Ararat
A vast blue soda lake ringed by volcanoes, with an island church, an Urartian citadel and, to the north-east, Ararat.
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Eastern AnatoliaErzurum
A high, cold city of Seljuk stone, cağ kebab and ski slopes, and the crossroads of the east.
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South-EastŞanlıurfa
The city of Abraham's pools and a bazaar that never really modernised, with the world's oldest temples on the hill outside.
GöbeklitepeŞanlıurfa Archaeology Museum & Haleplibahçe MosaicsBalıklıgöl+3 more
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South-EastMardin & Midyat
A hillside town of carved golden stone looking over Mesopotamia, and beyond it the Syriac villages and monasteries of Tur Abdin.
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South-EastGaziantep
A big, busy city with one of the world's great mosaic museums and a food culture that UNESCO recognised.
Zeugma Mosaic MuseumOld bazaars and food of GaziantepGaziantep Castle+3 more
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South-EastDiyarbakır
A black-basalt walled city on a bluff above the Tigris, with gardens that have fed it for thousands of years.
Great Mosque of DiyarbakırDiyarbakır city walls and Hevsel GardensTen-Eyed Bridge+5 more
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South-EastMount Nemrut & Malatya
A king's tomb mound on a 2,100-metre summit, reached at dawn from Kahta in the south or Malatya in the north.
Region guides when to go, is it worth it, all places
Where to stay 13 areas
Ready-made routes across the country
Aegean & Lycian 9 days
Ruins, travertines and turquoise water, mostly by train and bus.
Aegean Tour Our tour · 7–9 days
Ephesus, the white terraces of Pamukkale, three Ionian cities, Bodrum's castle and the stone lanes of Alaçatı — a loop from İzmir.
Mediterranean Tour Our tour · 8–10 days
Antalya's old town and Roman theatres, a mountain city in the Taurus, Lycian tombs, Kaputaş and the Ölüdeniz lagoon — along the coast from Antalya to Fethiye.
Antalya Short Break Our tour · 4–5 days
One hotel in Kaleiçi and day trips out: Perge and the theatre of Aspendos, Side's temple by the sea, Termessos in the mountains and the Düden falls.
Eastern Mediterranean Our tour · 5–6 days
Alanya's castle and caves, a cave lake on the coast road, the castle in the sea at Kızkalesi, the Heaven and Hell sinkholes and St Paul's Tarsus.
Black Sea Tour Our tour · 8–10 days
The cliff monastery of Sümela, the lake village of Uzungöl, the Fırtına valley and the meadows of Ayder, then the forests of Artvin on the Georgian border — from Trabzon to Erzurum.
Eastern Anatolia Tour Our tour · 7–8 days
Van's Urartian fortress, the carved church on Akdamar, a volcano's crater lake, Ishak Pasha Palace under Mount Ararat and the ghost city of Ani — from Van to Kars.
South-East Tour Our tour · 8–9 days
Mosaics and food in Gaziantep, Halfeti on the Euphrates, Göbeklitepe and Şanlıurfa, sunset on Mount Nemrut, Diyarbakır's walls, Hasankeyf, the monasteries of Tur Abdin and Mardin — across Upper Mesopotamia.