Whether your ideal vacation involves sunbathing on a Mediterranean beach, trekking in rugged mountains, exploring ancient ruins, or learning about a rich culture spanning more than five thousand years of history, Türkiye (Turkey) has something to captivate every kind of traveler.
From sand-hemmed coves to the snow-capped summit of 5137m (16,854ft) Mt Ararat, Türkiye serves up an
abundance of natural landscapes, alongside fascinating ancient sites, energetic cities, tantalizing food and plentiful opportunities for adventure.
However, you’ll never cover everything there is to see and do in just one vacation. To help you whittle down the list, here’s our pick of the best things to do in Türkiye to get you started.
1. Tour the ancient city of Ephesus
The well-preserved streets of ancient Ephesus offer a fascinating taste of what daily life was like for the ancient Greeks and Romans who inhabited this city for hundreds of years. Alongside grand civic buildings, you can tour the remains of ordinary shops and schools, temples and even public toilets.
Highlights of the site include the intricately carved facade of the Library of Celsus – once the third-largest library in the world, after the libraries at Alexandria and Pergamum – plus a huge open-air theater, a Roman bathhouse and numerous monumental fountains and gateways.
Planning Tip: It’s worth paying the separate admission fee to view the Terraced Houses – a collection of luxurious residences once occupied by the Roman elite. The interiors are full of mosaics, frescoes and marble worthy of an episode of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”
2. Soak in a Turkish bath
In the days when homes lacked indoor plumbing, hamams (bathhouses) played a crucial role in Turkish society, both as a place to get clean and a place to socialize. Today, they’re typically a special-occasion treat, visited more often by tourists than locals, but a trip to a hamam is still a luxury worth indulging in.
A visit typically includes a scrub and massage by a same-gender attendant, but you can also opt for a slow, revitalizing steam bath. The interiors of these traditional spas are usually marble-lined and lit by skylights set into the domed roof.
The grandest hamams – such as the Hürrem Sultan Hamamı, the Cağaloğlu Hamamı and the Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamamı in Istanbul – are a treat for the eyes as well as the body. In the old Ottoman capital of Bursa, hamams such as Eski Kaplıca and Yeni Kaplıca feature pools fed by the area’s natural thermal springs.
3. See Cappadocia from above and below
First thing in the morning, the skies above Cappadocia fill with hot-air balloons that take visitors soaring above the area’s canyons, fairy chimneys and other fantastical rock formations. Even if you don’t fancy a flight, it’s worth getting up early to see the colorful aerial display from the ground.
For a more (ahem) down-to-earth experience, follow labyrinthine tunnels many stories below the ground at ancient underground cities such as Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı, where thousands of Byzantine-era residents took shelter from invaders for months at a time. In addition to living quarters, these subterranean settlements included facilities to stable animals, cook, worship and even make wine.
Planning Tip: Balloon trips typically leave at sunrise to catch the best light, so be ready for an early start. Book ahead and note that flights can be canceled due to high winds or heavy rain.
4. Feast on a fish meze
A rakı-balık meal is a quintessential Turkish custom, particularly in Istanbul and along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. The name explains this popular dining experience – rakı is a strong anise-flavored liqueur typically mixed with water and ice, and balık is fish. These lavish spreads typically start with an assortment of meze dishes, which are often the real stars of the show.
Intended for sharing, meze plates feature creative combinations of vegetables, herbs and seafood, often topped with yogurt or cooked in locally pressed olive oil. If you do manage to save room for the main course, popular fish choices include grilled levrek (sea bass) and çipura (sea bream), or lightly fried istavrit (mackerel), barbun (red mullet) and hamsi (anchovies).
5. Shop in Türkiye’s colorful bazaars
Despite the proliferation of modern shopping malls and supermarkets, traditional bazaar culture remains strong in Türkiye. Most historic town centers will have at least one çarşı – a maze-like traditional marketplace with vendors selling everything from cheap souvenirs to handmade leather and metal crafts. Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar (known as the Kapalı Çarşı, or “covered marketplace” in Turkish) is one of the world’s most famous markets, but the bazaars in Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa are arguably more atmospheric and authentic.
Equally important to local life is the pazar, an open-air market for fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, food products, clothing and household goods. Depending on the town or city neighborhood, these local markets might be set up in the street under rigged-up tarps, in an emptied parking lot or garage, or in a purpose-built market hall.
Held in different areas on set days of the week, these local markets are cheap and lively places to buy staples and seasonal fruit and veg, and discover which ingredients locals are using in their kitchens at home.
Planning Tip: Bring an appetite – larger pazars, such as the weekly market in the resort town of Fethiye, feature stalls selling gözleme (stuffed flatbreads) and other tasty local dishes to sate hungry shoppers.
6. Cruise turquoise waters on a gület
Few experiences are more relaxing than a multi-day cruise aboard a gület (traditional wooden yacht), plying the vivid blue waters of Türkiye’s southwestern coastline between Bodrum and Antalya. You can while away long, sunny days swimming in secluded coves, reading or playing tavla (backgammon) on deck, eating fresh-caught fish, drinking rakı as the sun sets and sleeping out under the stars.
If you get tired of blissfully lazing around, you can always hop ashore along the way. Interesting stops include the ancient ruins of Knidos, the dramatic Crusader Castle in Kaleköy and Kaş with its cool cafe-restaurants.
Planning Tip: Gület holidays are easy to arrange with international tour companies, but you can also book day trips and longer cruises locally in resorts such as Bodrum, Antalya and Dalaman.
7. Admire architectural splendor in Istanbul
The rulers of the city once known as Byzantium and Constantinople left their mark on Istanbul. The soaring dome of the Hagia Sophia still leaves visitors awestruck a millennium and a half after its construction, while the towering Aqueduct of Valens and the vast subterranean Basilica Cistern attest to the impressive engineering know-how that the Romans used to supply the ancient city with drinking water.
With a prime position overlooking the confluence of the Bosphorus, Golden Horn and Marmara Sea, the legendary Topkapi Palace evokes the might of the Ottoman Empire at its peak, with lavishly decorated royal apartments, a treasury dripping with jewels and a kitchen that could feed 4000 people.
Istanbul’s minaret-studded skyline was a gift from the Ottomans as well. The architecturally refined Blue Mosque gets the most attention, but visitors shouldn’t miss the tiny, tile-bedecked Rüstem Paşa Mosque and the graceful Süleymaniye Mosque, perched atop one of the old city’s seven hills. History buffs can dig into the different cultural eras in Istanbul by exploring its wealth of museums.
8. Hike the Lycian Way
For a more active way to explore the Turquoise Coast, consider hiking a section of the Lycian Way, a long-distance trekking path stretching 540km (335 mi) from Fethiye to Antalya. Best walked in spring or fall, the sometimes challenging trail winds along spectacular coastal cliffs, through bucolic villages and beach towns, past ancient ruins and up into the mountains in the hinterland.
Most sections of the trail offer accommodation in small pensions as well as places to stop and camp. Highlights along the way include the secluded valley of Kabak, the long sandy beach at Patara, the massive rock tombs of Myra, the ruins of ancient Olympos and the Chimaera, or “burning rock,” at Çıralı.
Planning Tip: If you want to see more of Türkiye’s incredible landscape on foot and escape the crowded tourist spots, extend your trip and spend some time exploring the country’s stunning array of national parks.
9. See incredible ancient mosaics
Tiny colored cubes of glass, ceramic or stone were used during the Greek, Roman and Byzantine eras to make amazingly detailed tableaux depicting mythological tales, heroic battles, lavish banquets and other scenes. Later Byzantine mosaics created shimmering visions of the saints on the domes of medieval Christian churches.
Splendidly preserved examples can be seen in situ on the floors of grand palaces and villas at ancient sites, but some of the most impressive mosaics are displayed in museums such as the Gaziantep Zeugma Mosaic Museum, the Hatay Archaeology Museum and the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum in Şanlıurfa.
Planning Tip: Don’t overlook the mosaics inside Türkiye’s Byzantine-era basilicas – those inside the Hagia Sophia and Kariye Mosque in Istanbul are particularly spectacular.
10. Linger over a leisurely Turkish breakfast
It’s hard to think of a better way to fuel up for a big day of sightseeing than with a Turkish breakfast spread (serpme kahvaltı) – a fabulous fusion of sweet and savory. Start with the nibbles – olives, cheeses, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and perhaps a slice of sucuk (beef sausage) and some spicy pepper paste along with your eggs.
Next, satisfy your sweet tooth with myriad pastries, homemade jams and a decadent swirl of honey and thick cream (kaymak). Different parts of the country have their own additions. Sample fresh herbs along the Aegean coast, cornmeal cooked with melted butter and cheese (called mıhlama or kuymak) in the Black Sea region, and fermented cheese and hot peppers in Hatay. Endless small glasses of sweet, black tea are served as standard.
11. Watch the sunrise from atop Mt Nemrut
The surreal sight waiting at the summit of Nemrut Dağı is a testament to both the extent of the power that can be wielded by one ruler and to its inevitable decline. In the 1st century BCE, the Hellenistic king Antiochus I of Commagene had massive statues of deities, mythic beasts and other figures erected on top of a rocky peak as a monument to his own greatness. Earthquakes over the centuries toppled the heads of these statues from their bodies and they now sit scattered around a stark, remote landscape – a reminder of how even the mighty fall.
Planning Tip: Tour groups typically bring visitors to the ruins at sunrise or sunset, but if you stay overnight at one of the simple lodgings set below the summit, you can experience both.
12. Imagine the beginnings of human civilization
Türkiye is home to some of the world’s most important Neolithic sites, which are still yielding new insights – and raising new questions – about how humans lived more than 10,000 years ago. In the center of the country near Konya, the excavations at Çatalhöyük have provided clues about early “urban” life, when people started to transition from a nomadic lifestyle to living in settled agrarian communities.
In the southeast, outside of Şanlıurfa, the findings at the ritual complex of Göbeklitepe – thought to be the world’s first place of worship – have transformed our understanding of when humans began to develop religious beliefs and practices.