Kayseri
Erciyes
- Season
- When snow allows
- Ski pass
- from 120 TL (1 ride, 2025-2026)
- Pistes
- 41 · ~65.1 km
- Airport
- Kayseri Airport 24 km straight line
Winter · checked 30 Sep 2026
Winter in Türkiye
Ski resorts from Uludağ to Sarıkamış, the sleeper train across the snowy east, hot springs and frozen lakes — with season dates, ski-pass prices and train fares only where the operator publishes them.
Key winter dates
- 26 Oct 2026Touristic Eastern Express tickets go on sale
- 15 Nov – 15 AprWinter tyres compulsory for commercial vehicles on intercity roads
- 21 Dec 2026First Touristic Eastern Express leaves Ankara, 13:55
- 12 Mar 2027Last Touristic Eastern Express leaves Kars
Ski resorts
Seasons open when the snow allows, so most resorts publish no fixed dates. Ski-pass prices appear here only when the resort operator itself publishes them; everything else is marked “Not verified”.
Erzurum
Palandöken
- Season
- When snow allows
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Erzurum Airport 13 km straight line
Erzurum
Konaklı
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- 11
- Airport
- Erzurum Airport 19 km straight line
Bursa
Uludağ
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Bursa Yenişehir Airport 41 km straight line
Bolu
Kartalkaya
- Season
- Typically 1 Dec – 31 Mar
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Ankara Esenboğa Airport 113 km straight line
Kars
Sarıkamış
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- 9 · ~25 km
- Airport
- Kars Harakani Airport 50 km straight line
Isparta
Davraz
- Season
- When snow allows
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- 12
- Airport
- Isparta Süleyman Demirel Airport 35 km straight line
Kastamonu
Ilgaz (Yurduntepe)
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- ~5.6 km
- Airport
- Kastamonu Airport 28 km straight line
Kocaeli
Kartepe
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Bursa Yenişehir Airport 63 km straight line
Antalya
Saklıkent (Antalya)
- Season
- Typically 10 Dec – 10 Apr
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Antalya Airport 42 km straight line
Erzincan
Ergan
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Erzincan Airport 11 km straight line
Sivas
Yıldız Dağı
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Sivas Airport 34 km straight line
Gümüşhane
Zigana
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Trabzon Airport 51 km straight line
İzmir
Bozdağ (İzmir)
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport 83 km straight line
Ordu
Çambaşı
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Ordu-Giresun Airport 39 km straight line
Denizli
Denizli Ski Centre
- Season
- Not verified
- Ski pass
- Not verified
- Pistes
- Not verified
- Airport
- Denizli Çardak Airport 69 km straight line
Not included yet: Hesandin and Keltepe (Karabük) — we could not confirm their location on OpenStreetMap or find an operator page. Airport distances are our straight-line calculation between two OpenStreetMap points, not road distance.
Photo: Phil Richards / Eastern Express
The daily Doğu Ekspresi links Ankara and Kars via Kayseri, Sivas, Erzincan and Erzurum. In winter the Touristic Eastern Express adds sleeper-only trains with sightseeing stops: 21 Dec 2026 – 12 Mar 2027, 35 trains each way.
Compartment for two: 16,500–20,000 Ankara → Kars, 15,000–18,000 Kars → Ankara (Turkish lira; the operator's table prints no currency sign). Sales open 26 Oct 2026.
Hot springs
Thermal towns are at their best on a cold day. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's list of licensed facilities has 128 with “termal” or “thermal” in their name, type or class; the most are in Afyonkarahi̇sar (15), Balikesi̇r (11), Deni̇zli̇ (11), Bursa (10).
Afyonkarahisar (city district) 9Sandıklı 3Pamukkale–Karahayıt 11Bursa (Osmangazi, incl. Çekirge) 8Yalova Termal 7Kızılcahamam 3Balçova 2Pasinler 0
Snowy landscapes
Nevşehir
Cappadocia under snow
Some winters bring snow to the fairy chimneys; balloon flights still go when the weather is calm. Museums keep their winter hours.
Photo: Shinae Hyun / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized
Bolu
Abant Lake
A forest lake in the hills between Bolu and Mudurnu, at its most beautiful under fresh snow.
Kars
Ani
The ruined medieval capital on the Armenian border: cathedral, churches and walls on a windswept plateau above a gorge.
Kars / Ardahan
Çıldır Lake
A high lake on the Kars–Ardahan border that freezes solid in winter, when horse-drawn sleighs cross the ice.
Kars
Sarıkamış Scots pine forest
Snow-loaded Scots pines around Sarıkamış, and the memorial landscape of the 1914–15 winter battle.
Trabzon
Uzungöl
A lake village in a steep Black Sea valley; in winter the wooden houses and the mosque stand in deep snow.
Bolu
Yedigöller National Park
Seven small lakes in a deep beech forest north of Bolu, famous for autumn colour and quiet snowy days.
Driving, flying and snow days
Winter tyres
From 15 November to 15 April, winter tyres are compulsory on intercity roads for all commercial vehicles carrying passengers or goods: every tyre on cars, vans and minibuses, and every tyre on the driven axles of lorries and coaches.
Governors can move the dates for roads inside their province by up to a month earlier and a month later, so check the province's announcements before a mountain drive.
For private cars the Ministry recommends, but does not require, winter tyres.
Snow chains do not replace winter tyres. Studded tyres count as winter tyres on icy ground. The Ministry advises carrying chains, wheel chocks and a tow rope anyway.
Hiring a car? Ask the rental company whether the car has winter tyres and chains; we have not checked the rental firms' rules.
Source: Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, checked 30 Sep 2026Flights in bad weather
Snow and fog can delay or cancel flights to eastern airports such as Kars, Erzurum and Erzincan. Check your airline first; the State Airports Authority (DHMİ) runs the airports.
Snow days
Snow days close schools and sometimes public offices by province decision. Our sister site nezamannekadar follows these decisions (in Turkish).
Snow-day news on nezamannekadar ↗ (in Turkish)