12 unmissable things to do in Türkiye

04.12.2024 - 18:15 / lonelyplanet.com

Dec 4, 2024 • 9 min read

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.

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.”

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.

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