Türkiye Travel Blog: Places to visit
In-depth guides, practical tips, itineraries and fun facts about travelling in Türkiye. Everything you need to know before, during and after your trip.
Süleymaniye Mosque: Mimar Sinan's Masterpiece Above the Golden Horn
Suleiman the Magnificent's mosque is the most serene in Istanbul and Mimar Sinan's finest work. What to see inside, the
Sümela Monastery: Clinging to the Cliff Above the Black Sea
A five-storey façade stuck to a cliff in a Black Sea forest, centuries-old frescoes and a story that begins with two mon
Deyrulzafaran and Mor Gabriel: The Syriac Monasteries of Mardin
Just outside Mardin, two monasteries still hold their services in Aramaic, the language of Jesus: one from the 5th centu
Theodosian Walls: Walking the Walls of Constantinople and Yedikule
Six and a half kilometres of 5th-century triple walls that withstood a thousand years of sieges until 1453. Where to see
Göreme Open-Air Museum: Cave Churches, Frescoes and the Dark Church
A valley of rock-cut monasteries with frescoes painted a thousand years ago. Which churches to see at the Göreme Open-Ai
Ephesus Archaeological Museum, Selçuk: the Many-Breasted Artemis
The two statues of the goddess of Ephesus, Eros on a dolphin, the bust of Socrates and the frescoes from the Terrace Hou
Istanbul Archaeology Museums: the Alexander Sarcophagus and More
Three museums in a garden beside Topkapı: the Alexander Sarcophagus, the oldest surviving peace treaty in the world and
Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, Ankara: Çatalhöyük to the Hittites
Beneath Ankara’s citadel, a 15th-century Ottoman bazaar holds the best summary of ten thousand years of Anatolia: the se
Troy Museum, Çanakkale: the Steel Cube That Explains Nine Cities
Before you set foot on the walls of Troy, a four-storey museum puts the nine stacked cities in order, shows the gold Sch
Mevlana Museum, Konya: Rumi's Tomb and the Whirling Dervishes
Beneath a dome of green tiles lies one of the most widely read mystic poets in the world. What to see at the Mevlana Mus
Antioch (Antakya): Hatay Mosaic Museum and St Peter's Cave Church
The city where the disciples were first called Christians is home to a cave church on the mountainside and a museum with
Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep: the Gypsy Girl and the Euphrates
A gaze made of mosaic tiles that has become one of the faces of Türkiye, and dozens of Roman floors saved in a race agai
Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul: The European Palace of the Last Sultans
On the shores of the Bosphorus, the palace that replaced Topkapı in 1856 looks like Versailles with a sea view. The grea
Topkapı Palace: What to See, the Harem and How to Beat the Queues
Four centuries of sultans in four courtyards above the Bosphorus. What to see at Topkapı Palace, why the Harem is worth
Paşabağ and Devrent: Cappadocia's Most Famous Fairy Chimneys
The three-capped fairy chimneys of Paşabağ, a stylite monk's hermitage and the camel-shaped rocks of Devrent: two short
Pergamon: the Acropolis, the Steepest Theatre and the Asclepieion
A Hellenistic capital on a mountaintop, with a vertiginous theatre, a library that rivalled Alexandria's and, down on th
Perge, Antalya: the City of Columns Where St Paul Preached
A vast, flat Roman city on the edge of Antalya, with a colonnaded avenue split by a water channel, an almost complete st
Cleopatra’s Pool, Pamukkale: Tips for a Swim Among Roman Columns
A swim in naturally fizzy thermal water among the columns and capitals of a Roman temple that an earthquake tipped into
Priene, Miletus and Didyma: a Day Trip to Three Ionian Sites
Three Greek cities half an hour apart and almost free of crowds: Priene and its perfect street grid, the great theatre o
Side, Antalya: the Temple of Apollo at Sunset and the Seaside Theatre
A fishing village that grew up inside a Roman city, with the columns of a Temple of Apollo at the water's edge and a hug
Şirince: the Fruit-Wine Village 8 km from Ephesus
After the ruins, a village of white houses among the vineyards where you taste fruit wines and have lunch under the vine
Tarsus: St Paul's City, Cleopatra's Gate and What to See
The city where St Paul was born, and where Cleopatra sailed in to meet Mark Antony, can be seen in half a day: a well, a
Aspendos Theatre, Antalya: the World's Best-Preserved Roman Theatre
A 2nd-century theatre with its stage building still standing, where opera is still performed in summer and a whisper in
Maiden's Tower (Kız Kulesi): Legends, Boat Trip and Bosphorus Views
An islet 200 metres off the Asian shore, a princess and a snake, and the best sunset in Istanbul. How to reach the Maide
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