Buildings
Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque), Istanbul
Fatih, İstanbul
Built between 1609 and 1616, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is famous for its six minarets, its cascading domes and the more than 20,000 blue İznik tiles th…
Travel tips in Turkey
Tours and activities
Bosphorus ferry cruise, Istanbul
Fatih, İstanbul
The strait dividing Europe from Asia, lined with palaces, Ottoman wooden mansions (yalı) and fortresses.
Natural features
Cappadocia hot-air balloons and fairy chimneys
Nevşehir
A landscape of rock pinnacles ('fairy chimneys'), valleys and cave dwellings in central Turkey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Historic sites
Ephesus
Selçuk, İzmir
One of the best-preserved ancient cities in the Mediterranean, once the capital of Roman Asia Minor with up to 250,000 people.
Historic sites
Göbekli Tepe
Haliliye, Şanlıurfa
The world's oldest known monumental temple, built around 9600 BC by hunter-gatherers, thousands of years before Stonehenge, with huge T-shaped stone …
Shopping
Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
Fatih, İstanbul
One of the oldest and largest covered markets in the world, begun in 1461.
Historic sites
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Fatih, İstanbul
Built as a cathedral by the Byzantine emperor Justinian in 537, later a mosque, then a museum, and again a mosque since 2020, with a vast dome that s…
Historic sites
Mount Nemrut
Kâhta, Adıyaman
A mountain top at 2,134 m where King Antiochus of Commagene built a tomb mound in the 1st century BC, with huge stone heads of gods and kings now sca…
Natural features
Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon and Babadağ paragliding
Fethiye, Muğla
Ölüdeniz is one of Turkey's most famous beaches: a long curve of shingle beach and a sheltered lagoon of turquoise water, backed by pine-covered moun…
Natural features
Pamukkale Travertines and Hierapolis
Pamukkale, Denizli
Pamukkale ('cotton castle') is a hillside covered in dazzling white terraces of travertine, formed by calcium-rich hot springs flowing down the slope…
Historic sites
Topkapı Palace, Istanbul
Fatih, İstanbul
The palace of the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years, on a point above the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, with courtyards, pavilions tiled in Iznik…
Historic sites
Ani ruins
Digor, Kars
The ruined medieval Armenian capital on the closed border with Armenia, once a city of 100,000 people, with the remains of churches, a cathedral and …
Historic sites
Antalya Old Town (Kaleiçi)
Muratpaşa, Antalya
The walled old town of Antalya, with Ottoman houses, Hadrian's Gate, a Roman harbour and the Yivli Minaret, above the turquoise Mediterranean.
Historic sites
Aphrodisias
Karacasu, Aydın
A Roman city famous for its school of marble sculpture, with a superbly preserved stadium for 30,000 spectators, a monumental gateway (the Tetrapylon…
Historic sites
Basilica Cistern, Istanbul
Fatih, İstanbul
A vast underground Byzantine water reservoir built in the 6th century, with 336 marble columns rising from the water, dimly lit, and two Medusa heads…
Historic sites
Derinkuyu Underground City
Derinkuyu, Nevşehir
An underground city carved into the soft rock up to 85 m deep, with stables, wineries, chapels and ventilation shafts, which could shelter thousands …
Historic sites
Gallipoli Peninsula
Çanakkale
The battlefields of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, where Allied forces, including Australians and New Zealanders, fought the Ottomans.
Food and drink
Kebapçı İskender, Bursa
Bursa
The restaurant where İskender kebab was invented, run by the same family since 1867.
Walks and treks
Lycian Way and Kaputaş Beach
Kaş, Antalya
A long-distance trail of about 540 km along the Mediterranean coast from Fethiye to Antalya, past Lycian tombs, ruins and beaches.
Historic sites
Rumi's Mausoleum and the Whirling Dervishes, Konya
Meram, Konya
The tomb of the Sufi poet Rumi (Mevlana), under a green-tiled dome, now a museum and a pilgrimage site.
Historic sites
Safranbolu
Safranbolu, Karabük
A town of well-preserved Ottoman timber-framed houses, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, once a stop on the caravan route.
Historic sites
Sumela Monastery
Maçka, Trabzon
A Greek Orthodox monastery clinging to a cliff face 1,200 m up in a forested valley near Trabzon, founded in the 4th century, with frescoes in the ro…
Places to stay
Venus Hotel, Pamukkale
Pamukkale, Denizli
A family-run hotel in Pamukkale village with a garden courtyard and pool, a short walk from the travertine terraces.
Historic sites
Bodrum Castle
Bodrum, Muğla
A castle built by the Knights of St John in the 15th century, partly from stones of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders.
Places to stay
Hotel Dört Mevsim, Pamukkale
Pamukkale, Denizli
A family-run hotel in Pamukkale village, about six minutes' walk from the entrance to the white travertine terraces and the ruins of Hierapolis.
Historic sites
Troy
Çanakkale
The ruins of the legendary city of the Trojan War, with nine layers of settlement over 4,000 years, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.