Notice Akören’s dry-stone terraces
Look for stone farming terraces around Akören’s church remains. The field report describes walls built without mortar that also shelter other species. Photograph a terrace during you…
Read the story ↗COUNTRY GUIDE / 96 cities and places
Türkiye.
A little closer.
924 discovery ideas · 131 sourced stories. Choose a place, explore its details and find an experience to try.
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Behold the carved portals of the Divriği Great Mosque
UNESCO interprets the variety of these carved stone portals as evidence of different groups of craftsmen. The complex also includes a hospital commissioned by Turan Melek beside the …
Read the story ↗Birdwatching at Sultansazlığı
Sultan Marshes is no uniform lake: freshwater reedbeds, saline lakes and salt steppe share the Develi plain. These different habitats support different birds. Ask staff for a current…
Read the story ↗Climb Bayburt Castle
Bayburt Castle’s name Çinimaçin is linked to the tiles that decorated its walls. A small surviving fragment helped guide the production of new tiles during a recent renewal project. …
Read the story ↗Climb to Harput above Elazığ
A neighbourhood once lived inside Harput Castle: excavations uncovered homes, shops, a school and a deep water cistern. View the remains from the visitor route and imagine an ordinar…
Read the story ↗Climb up to the Sümela Monastery
The arches in front of Sümela belonged to a water-supply system: water from springs to the south was distributed through the courtyard fountain and channels. On your ascent, look for…
Read the story ↗Cities and places
- Adana9 discovery ideas
- Adıyaman6 discovery ideas
- Afyonkarahisar7 discovery ideas
- Ağrı3 discovery ideas
- Ahlat1 discovery ideas
- Aksaray3 discovery ideas
- Akyaka1 discovery ideas
- Amasya5 discovery ideas
- Ankara20 discovery ideas
- Antalya37 discovery ideas
- Ardahan4 discovery ideas
- Artvin6 discovery ideas
- Assos1 discovery ideas
- Aydın11 discovery ideas
- Ayvalık3 discovery ideas
- Balıkesir77 discovery ideas
- Bartın4 discovery ideas
- Batman1 discovery ideas
- Bayburt2 discovery ideas
- Bilecik2 discovery ideas
- Bingöl3 discovery ideas
- Bitlis4 discovery ideas
- Bodrum1 discovery ideas
- Bolu10 discovery ideas
- Bozburun1 discovery ideas
- Bozcaada2 discovery ideas
- Burdur3 discovery ideas
- Bursa15 discovery ideas
- Çanakkale17 discovery ideas
- Çankırı4 discovery ideas
- Çorum18 discovery ideas
- Dalyan1 discovery ideas
- Denizli4 discovery ideas
- Diyarbakır5 discovery ideas
- Düzce6 discovery ideas
- Edirne26 discovery ideas
- Elazığ4 discovery ideas
- Erzincan3 discovery ideas
- Erzurum7 discovery ideas
- Eskişehir4 discovery ideas
- Gaziantep10 discovery ideas
- Geyikbayırı1 discovery ideas
- Giresun5 discovery ideas
- Göreme1 discovery ideas
- Gümüşhane3 discovery ideas
- Hakkari5 discovery ideas
- Hatay6 discovery ideas
- Iğdır1 discovery ideas
- Isparta7 discovery ideas
- İstanbul169 discovery ideas
- İzmir64 discovery ideas
- Kahramanmaraş4 discovery ideas
- Karabük4 discovery ideas
- Karaman4 discovery ideas
- Kars6 discovery ideas
- Kastamonu4 discovery ideas
- Kaş1 discovery ideas
- Kayseri13 discovery ideas
- Kırıkkale3 discovery ideas
- Kırklareli20 discovery ideas
- Kırşehir4 discovery ideas
- Kilis1 discovery ideas
- Kocaeli4 discovery ideas
- Konya11 discovery ideas
- Kütahya3 discovery ideas
- Malatya4 discovery ideas
- Manisa3 discovery ideas
- Mardin7 discovery ideas
- Mersin8 discovery ideas
- Muğla46 discovery ideas
- Muş4 discovery ideas
- Nevşehir12 discovery ideas
- Niğde3 discovery ideas
- Olympos1 discovery ideas
- Ordu4 discovery ideas
- Osmaniye4 discovery ideas
- Rize13 discovery ideas
- Sakarya3 discovery ideas
- Samsun2 discovery ideas
- Siirt6 discovery ideas
- Sinop4 discovery ideas
- Sivas5 discovery ideas
- Şanlıurfa14 discovery ideas
- Şırnak3 discovery ideas
- Tekirdağ27 discovery ideas
- Termessos1 discovery ideas
- Tokat3 discovery ideas
- Trabzon5 discovery ideas
- Troya1 discovery ideas
- Tunceli3 discovery ideas
- Urla3 discovery ideas
- Uşak3 discovery ideas
- Van7 discovery ideas
- Yalova22 discovery ideas
- Yozgat4 discovery ideas
- Zonguldak4 discovery ideas
Eat real Adana kebab in Adana
Try the original Adana kebab with its proper mince and tail-fat ratio at one of the main establishments — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Try şalgam and bici bici in Adana
Classic tastes: red turnip juice and the summer dessert bici bici — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Find the ‘baby’ above Bebekli Church
The statue above Bebekli Church depicts Mary. Its resemblance to a baby gave the church its local name. In Tepebağ, look up, find the detail behind the name and photograph it from ou…
Read the story ↗Adıyaman
See discoveries (6) →Tour the Cendere Bridge and Arsameia
A column is missing at Cendere: the one honouring Geta was removed when his brother Caracalla sought to erase his memory. Count the columns, then find the king shaking hands with Her…
Read the story ↗Find the eagle that named a royal women's tomb
Karakuş is a funerary monument for women of Commagene's royal family. Its local name comes from the eagle atop the southern column. Follow the visitor path around the mound, spot the…
Read the story ↗Pause in the city whose water drew caravans
Perre was more than rock-cut tombs: historical accounts praised its water, and caravans and armies stopped here to rest. Explore the ancient city in Örenli and look for the Roman fou…
Read the story ↗Afyonkarahisar
See discoveries (7) →Crispy bread, honey and Afyon clotted cream
Try Afyon's famous thick clotted cream with honey and bread at an early-morning breakfast — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Taste Afyon sausage from the producer
Do a sucuk-pastrami tasting across several classic brands — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Spend 2 nights at the Afyon thermal hotels
A weekend wellness break at Sandıklı, Gazlıgöl or Ömer Termal — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Ağrı
Remember the author of Mem û Zîn in Old Bayezıt
The tomb of Kurdish poet Ahmed-i Hani, author of Mem û Zîn, stands near Ishak Pasha Palace in Doğubayazıt. Discover this literary connection on a visit to Old Bayezıt; study the tomb's exterior and photograph an architectural detail without including visitors.
Story and sources →See the İshak Paşa Palace in Doğubayazıt
A tree appears in Ishak Pasha Palace's stone decoration: the cypress, a symbol of long life. While visiting the palace in Doğubayazıt, examine the plant reliefs on its monumental gateway; find the cypress motif and photograph a detail.
Story and sources →Climb Mount Ararat (5,137 m)
Ascend Turkey's highest summit on a 4-5 day licensed climbing program — and photograph it.
Ahlat
Visit the Ahlat Tombstones
Two faces of an Ahlat tombstone can reveal different lives: eastern inscriptions identify the deceased, while an artisan's name on the western face identifies its maker. Compare faces visible from the visitor path and photograph a lettering pattern or plant motif. Not every stone preserves all this information.
Story and sources →
Aksaray
Walk parallel to the river in the Ihlara Valley
A 14 km walk along the Melendiz Stream, passing rock-carved Byzantine churches — and photograph it.
Walk into Sultanhanı caravanserai
The largest Seljuk caravanserai in Turkey, built so a caravan could sleep, stable its animals and pray inside one set of walls — the little mosque sits on columns in the middle of the courtyard. Photograph the courtyard mosque.
Stand on ten thousand years at Aşıklı Höyük
In Aşıklı’s dense neighbourhoods, adjacent houses had separate walls, and new homes rose over earlier ones, accumulating layers of village history. While exploring the reconstructed houses, look for narrow gaps and photograph them. Use the information panels to distinguish reconstructions from original remains.
Story and sources →
Akyaka
Camp at Akyaka Forest
Camp around the Akyaka forest area — and photograph it.
Amasya
See discoveries (5) →Follow the Ferhat water channel
A channel cut through solid rock to bring water to the city, and the story attached to it is the one every Turkish child knows: Ferhat cutting through the mountain for Şirin. The roc…
View discovery ↗Climb to the Royal Rock Tombs in Amasya
The ancient writer Strabo also described these rock tombs as belonging to kings. Follow the visitor route up to the Pontic tombs cut into Harşena's limestone; examine the carved faça…
Read the story ↗Spend a night in a waterfront house in Amasya
Stay at one of the historic mansion-hotels on the bank of the Yeşilırmak — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Ankara
See discoveries (20) →Walk the citadel walls above Ankara
The old fortress crowns the hill over Ulus, its Byzantine and Seljuk walls built partly from re-used Roman stone — column drums and inscriptions set sideways into the rampart. Climb …
View discovery ↗See the Midas tumulus at the ancient city of Gordion
Gordion's ‘Midas Mound’ has a surprising name: the tomb predates Midas's death and probably belonged to his father. If open, follow the tunnel to view the wooden burial chamber. Phot…
Read the story ↗Eastern Express journey Ankara-Kars
An approximately 30-hour sleeper-train journey; snow scenery and old stations — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Antalya
See discoveries (37) →Watch a performance at the Aspendos Theatre
Catch a show at the Opera-Ballet Festival in the world's best-preserved ancient theatre, still in use since Roman times — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗See the Fluted Minaret and Hadrian's Gate in Kaleiçi
Live amid ancient history intertwined with Ottoman fabric; pass through the gate Hadrian had built in AD 130 — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Olympos ancient city + Yanartaş (Chimaera)
From Olympos beach to the ancient city; at night watch the flames of Yanartaş burning out of the ground — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Ardahan
Taste highland honey in Ardahan
The hives go up to two thousand metres here, where the flowering season is short and the flora is entirely alpine — which is why the honey is dense and barely sweet. Buy a comb straight from a producer and photograph it.
Watch the Atatürk silhouette appear at Damal
At Damal, sunlight and shadow create a shape resembling Atatürk’s profile on Karadağ. In June–July it briefly becomes distinct under suitable light. Watch from the viewing area; photograph it a few minutes apart to compare its changing shape. Check local viewing times and weather before visiting.
Story and sources →Horse-drawn sled on the frozen Lake Çıldır
Go ice fishing Eskimo-style with a horse-drawn sled on the frozen lake surface in winter — and photograph it.
See Şeytan Kalesi above the gorge
The castle sits on a rock spur with the Karaçay gorge falling away on three sides, and no one is certain who built it — Urartian, Georgian and Armenian foundations are all argued for. Photograph it from across the gorge.
Artvin
See discoveries (6) →Tour the Karagöl and Şavşat highlands
A reflection photo at Borçka Karagöl; wooden houses and lush forests on the Şavşat plateaus — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Enter the Macahel Valley
Tour Macahel, one of Turkey's most pristine valleys, home to one of the world's purest honeybee species — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Find a sundial on a church wall
A sundial marks the south wall of Dolishane Church in Hamamlı village, Artvin. This detail recalls how a stone façade could also tell time. From an area open to visitors, look for th…
Read the story ↗Assos
Glamp in Assos (Kozluyali)
Glamp in Assos at Kozluyali — and photograph it.
Tour the ancient city of Aphrodisias
Behold the extraordinary craftsmanship of the imperial statues and the theatre; the Sebasteion friezes are unique among their contemporaries — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗See the Temple of Apollo in Didim
One of the largest temples of antiquity — a colossal scene with its unfinished column capitals — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Stand in the ancient city of Priene
Climb to the Temple of Athena in this old city built on a Hippodamian grid — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Ayvalık
Camp in Cunda Island
Camp near Cunda Island and Ayvalik — and photograph it.
Climb to the Ayışığı monastery on the Cunda cliffs
On the far, wild side of Cunda a ruined Greek monastery stands on a cliff above the sea, its name — Moonlight — from the nights when the sea below it turns silver. The road out is dirt and the last part is on foot. Reach the ruin at dusk — and photograph it.
Eat papalina where the Ayvalık boats land it
Papalina is the small sardine of the Ayvalık straits, fried whole and eaten by the plateful with a squeeze of lemon; the fishermen have their own name for it and the meyhanes along the harbour build the evening around it. Order a plate as the first course — and photograph it.
Balıkesir
See discoveries (77) →Devil's Table Sunset
Climb the volcanic hilltop of Şeytan Sofrası, 8 km south of town, where the Aegean islands scatter below and the sun melts into Lesbos across the water — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Ayvalık Toast
Order the legendary Ayvalık tostu in the Tostçular Çarşısı — sujuk, tulum cheese and tomato pressed golden in a crusty roll — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Cunda Waterfront Fish & Meze
Settle at a seafront table along Cunda's harbor promenade for grilled fish and Aegean meze, watching the fishing boats and the Ayvalık strait glow at dusk — and photograph it.
Read the story ↗Bartın
Sea-view terrace meal in Amasra
An evening with a Black Sea salad and fresh seafood, with a view of Amasra Castle — and photograph it.
Find the Kuşkayası Road Monument
Kuşkayası’s two inscriptions record that Gaius Julius Aquila funded this roadside resting place himself. The heads of the human figure and eagle have not survived intact. From the visitor path, examine the reliefs and inscription positions; photograph a detail without climbing the rock.
Story and sources →Walk the karst forest of Küre Mountains
One of Europe's best preserved karst landscapes: the limestone is riddled with canyons and sinkholes, and the forest above it has never been logged commercially. Photograph a sinkhole with the forest around it.
See tel kırma embroidery in Bartın
Tel kırma is worked by pressing flattened metal thread into fabric with a needle and no knot — the pattern is held by tension alone. It developed here and is still taught here. Watch a piece being worked and photograph it.
Batman
See the old-city ruins of Hasankeyf
The Great Palace in Hasankeyf’s Upper City is thought to have begun as a Roman garrison before becoming a palace; no construction inscription survives. From the open visitor route, observe its thick walls and buttress towers and photograph a defensive-looking detail. Check site access before visiting.
Story and sources →
Bayburt
Climb Bayburt Castle
Bayburt Castle’s name Çinimaçin is linked to the tiles that decorated its walls. A small surviving fragment helped guide the production of new tiles during a recent renewal project. From the open visitor route, find and photograph colourful details, distinguishing renewed decoration from original historic material.
Story and sources →Tour the Baksı Museum (Bayburt)
See the museum that won the 2014 Council of Europe Museum of the Year, blending contemporary art with handicrafts, on a village hilltop overlooking the Çoruh Valley — and photograph it.
Bilecik
Explore Bilecik's courthouse turned museum
At Bilecik Museum, the building has a story alongside its exhibits: rebuilt after the war, it served as a courthouse and prison until 1995 and opened as a museum in 2007. Photograph a doorway or courtyard detail during your visit and record how the same place changed purpose.
Story and sources →Visit the Ertuğrul Gazi Tomb in Söğüt
On the land where the Ottomans were founded, tour the tomb of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman Gazi, and Söğüt — and photograph it.
Bingöl
Reach the Çir waterfall
The water comes over a wide rock lip in a single sheet and the valley below stays cold even in August. The road in is rough enough that you will probably have it to yourself. Photograph the sheet of water.
Taste Karlıova highland honey
Three mountain ranges meet in this district and the pasture between them flowers for only a few weeks, so the hives are moved up and brought down inside one short season. Buy a jar from the beekeeper and photograph it.
See the Bingöl Floating Islands
Reeds and intertwined plant roots support Solhan's floating islands; the trees above can catch the wind and move these natural rafts. From the shore viewing area, photograph an island with a fixed shoreline landmark, then compare the same view later. Record it even if you notice no movement; stay off the islands.
Story and sources →
Bitlis
Eat büryan cooked in a pit
The lamb is hung on a hook inside a stone-lined pit, the mouth is sealed with dough, and it cooks in its own steam for hours with nothing added. It is eaten in the morning and it sells out by noon. Photograph the pit being opened.
See the hot and cold lakes of the Nemrut Caldera
Take a day trip to see the two crater lakes — one hot, one cold — in Bitlis's volcanic caldera — and photograph it.
Find the El Aman caravanserai
A sixteenth-century caravanserai on the old road between Bitlis and Tatvan, built with a hamam inside the walls — travellers arriving off the pass could wash before they slept. Photograph the vaulted hall.
Go to the Ahlat Seljuk Cemetery
Ahlat's tombstones also remember their makers: inscription studies at Meydan Cemetery have identified 32 artisans' signatures. From the visitor path, photograph a stone's lettering alongside its ornament. Rather than guess unreadable letters, sketch a motif you can see and add it to your memory; do not touch the stones.
Story and sources →
Bodrum
Paraglide over Bodrum & Milas
Paraglide over the Bodrum and Milas coastline — and photograph it.
Gölcük Nature Park and the Aladağ plateaus (Bolu)
The best spot near İstanbul for autumn colors — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Autumn at Yedigöller National Park (October-November)
Yedigöller's lakes formed when landslides blocked valleys. Water seeping through Nazlıgöl's bed reappears as a waterfall to the northeast, giving it the name Waterfall Lake. On an au…
Read the story ↗Carriage ride and walk around Lake Abant
A 6.5 km walk around the lake or a horse-carriage tour within the nature park — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Bozburun
Glamp in Bozburun
Glamp around Bozburun peninsula — and photograph it.
Bozcaada
Cultural Journey: Bozcaada Route
Follow the Bozcaada Route journey — and photograph it.
Camp in Bozcaada
Camp on Bozcaada and explore vineyards and beaches — and photograph it.
Burdur
Swim on the white sand of Lake Salda
Enter the turquoise lake with hydromagnesite sand that NASA calls 'Turkey's Maldives' (protected area) — and photograph it.
Tour the ancient city of Sagalassos
Sagalassos's Antonine Fountain was rebuilt like a giant stone puzzle: around 3,500 fragments were reassembled into roughly 400 blocks. Its restoration, completed in 2010, also brought water back. From the visitor path in the Upper Agora, look for joins in the stonework; photograph a detail and the whole fountain.
Story and sources →Visit the Ancient City of Kibyra
The stadium seated ten thousand and stands almost intact, but the real thing is on the floor of the Odeon: a giant Medusa head in coloured marble inlay. Nothing else of that scale survives in the technique. Photograph the Medusa.
Breakfast in an Ottoman village in Cumalıkızık
A morning spread-style village breakfast in the UNESCO-listed timber-and-adobe Ottoman village — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Visit the Cumalıkızık village market
Visit the Cumalıkızık village market in Bursa — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Eat İskender kebab in its homeland
Try the classic İskender on a copper tray where the kebab was invented — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Çanakkale
See discoveries (17) →See the ancient city of Troy and the Trojan Horse
Tour the remains of the city's 9 superimposed layers and the modern museum in a single day — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Sunset in the ancient city of Assos
Assos was one of the cities where Aristotle lived and taught in the fourth century BCE. If sunset falls within visiting hours, photograph the sea and evening light from the visitor p…
Read the story ↗Cross the Dardanelles on the longest suspension bridge in the world
Opened in 2022 between Gelibolu and Lapseki, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge has a main span of 2,023 metres, the longest anywhere, with towers painted the red and white of the flag. It re…
View discovery ↗Çankırı
Ski the pine slopes of Ilgaz
The runs here cut through black pine rather than opening above the treeline, so you ski inside the forest for most of the descent. It is the closest real snow to Ankara. Photograph the trees from the piste.
Zipline at Mount Ilgaz
Zipline at Mount Ilgaz in Çankırı — and photograph it.
Descend into the Çankırı Salt Cave
Walk the underground salt galleries; see the asthma-therapy area among brick-cut salt walls — and photograph it.
Find the two snakes at the Taş Mescit
The hospital here was founded in 1235; the school of hadith known as Taş Mescit was added beside it later. Find the facing heads of the two intertwined snakes in the building's relief and photograph them. The snake around a cup at Çankırı Museum is a separate object: distinguish these two motifs of the same medical heritage in your memory.
Story and sources →
Hattusa Ancient City
Walk the ramparts of the Hittite capital, passing the Lion Gate and the Great Temple of this UNESCO World Heritage site — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Yazılıkaya Rock Sanctuary
Stand before the open-air chambers where 83 Hittite gods are carved into living rock just outside Hattusa — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Tour the Hittite capital at Hattusa
Tour the Lion Gate, the Earth Gate and the Yazılıkaya open-air temple with a guide — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Dalyan
Explore the Dalyan River
Explore the Dalyan River delta in Mugla — and photograph it.
Denizli
Paragliding over Pamukkale
Do a tandem paraglide seeing the travertines and ancient Hierapolis from above — and photograph it.
Swim in the Hierapolis Antique Pool
Swim in the hot-water pool where Roman columns have sunk (Cleopatra's Pool) — and photograph it.
Tour the ancient city of Laodicea
Laodicea's wool and garments appear in Emperor Diocletian's price edict of AD 301. Think about that textile trade as you explore; examine the church mosaics from the visitor path and photograph a pattern. How would it look on fabric? Add your idea to your memory.
Story and sources →Walk barefoot on the Pamukkale travertines
Stay on the white terraces until sunset; tour the ancient city of Hierapolis above — and photograph it.
Diyarbakır
See discoveries (5) →Walk atop the Diyarbakır Walls
Walk a section of the Diyarbakır Walls, the world's second-longest continuous walls after the Great Wall of China — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Walk in the Hevsel Gardens (UNESCO)
Tour the UNESCO World Heritage gardens, cultivated for thousands of years, between the Diyarbakır Walls and the Tigris — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Eat stuffed ribs (kaburga dolması) in Diyarbakır
Try lamb ribs stuffed with rice and spices at the long-established restaurants inside the walls — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Visit Saklikent Waterfall (Duzce)
Visit Saklikent Waterfall in Duzce — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Stand by the lake on the Topuk Plateau
Take a peaceful plateau break near İstanbul, with a forest lake and wooden buildings — and photograph it.
Read the story ↗See the Güzeldere Waterfall
Tour the waterfall plunging 150 m, along with a forest walk in the surrounding nature park — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Edirne
See discoveries (26) →Hear the music that treated patients at Bayezid II's hospital
Built in 1488 on the Tunca, the darüşşifa treated mental illness with music, running water and scent five centuries before anyone called it therapy. The domed hall where musicians pl…
View discovery ↗Watch the sun set from the Meriç bridge
The 1847 stone bridge over the Meriç is where Edirne goes in the evening: twelve arches, a marble kiosk in the middle, tea gardens on the bank and the sun going down over the water t…
View discovery ↗Tour the Selimiye Mosque
Read inside and out the UNESCO-listed building Mimar Sinan called 'my masterwork.' — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Elazığ
Climb to Harput above Elazığ
A neighbourhood once lived inside Harput Castle: excavations uncovered homes, shops, a school and a deep water cistern. View the remains from the visitor route and imagine an ordinary day here; photograph the plain and record one everyday detail. The story of milk in the mortar is a legend.
Story and sources →Go down into the Buzluk ice cave
The provincial tourism authority lists Buzluk Cave as closed; do not plan a descent without official confirmation of reopening. Ice formed here in summer was once carried by animals to Harput for sale. Once visits resume, photograph the ice from the permitted route and record the old ice trade in your memory.
Story and sources →See the underwater basilica of Lake Hazar
See the hidden underwater church ruins by diving or, thanks to the clear water, from the surface — and photograph it.
Eat orcik in Elazığ
Walnuts are threaded onto a string, dipped again and again into thickened grape must, and hung to dry until they set into a dark stick. It is made at the end of the grape harvest and it keeps all winter. Photograph one hanging.
Erzincan
Cross the Dark Canyon and the Stone Road in Kemaliye
Kemaliye's Stone Road is the work of generations: residents began with hand tools in the 1870s, and it was completed with state support in 2002. Check current road conditions locally before planning the passage. At a permitted stopping place, photograph rock meeting tunnel; record what the builders passed to the next generation.
Story and sources →Paraglide over Munzur Valley
Paraglide over Munzur Valley National Park — and photograph it.
See the Girlevik Waterfall
Tour the Girlevik Waterfall, cascading in summer and turning to ice formations in winter, by season — and photograph it.
Erzurum
See discoveries (7) →Eat cağ kebab, try it in Oltu
Try cağ, Eastern Anatolia's horizontal döner kebab, in a traditional setting in Oltu or central Erzurum — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Have a prayer-bead made at an Oltu-stone workshop
Have the master make your own prayer beads or ring from the jet stone found only in this region — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗See the Twin-Minaret Madrasa
The Twin Minaret Madrasa hosted more than lessons: after repairs under Murad IV, it served for a time as a cannon workshop. Compare the two sides of the portal: the eagle and leaves …
Read the story ↗Eskişehir
See the Yazılıkaya-Midas Monument in the Phrygian Valley
Yazılıkaya's Midas name comes from Midai in the Phrygian inscription at the upper left. The central doorway-shaped niche held a statue of the goddess Matar during ceremonies. From the visitor path, locate the inscription and niche; photograph the façade without touching the rock and record the story behind its two names.
Story and sources →Meerschaum Museum in Odunpazarı
Watch the hand-carved works of world-famous Eskişehir meerschaum and buy from the masters — and photograph it.
Gondola on the Porsuk Stream in Eskişehir
Tour the city from the water on a European-style gondola-boat ride — and photograph it.
Take a photo in front of Odunpazarı's colorful houses
Walk among the restored, pastel-colored Ottoman bay-window houses; collect shots in one of Turkey's most photogenic neighborhoods — and photograph it.
Gaziantep
See discoveries (10) →Visit the Archaeological Site of Zeugma
Most of this Roman city on the Euphrates went under the Birecik dam; the mosaics that could be saved are in the museum in Gaziantep. In the year the water rose, archaeologists worked…
View discovery ↗Visit the Yesemek Quarry and Sculpture Workshop
Yesemek's unfinished sculptures reveal stages in turning stone into art. Türkiye's UNESCO tentative-list submission describes roughly shaped pieces being taken to other cities for th…
Read the story ↗Eat hot baklava at İmam Çağdaş in Gaziantep
Eat classic, high-pistachio baklava fresh from the hands of 70-year-old masters — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Geyikbayırı
Climb at Geyikbayırı
Climb the routes at Geyikbayırı near Antalya — and photograph it.
Giresun
See discoveries (5) →Take a boat to Giresun Island
Cross to the only island in the eastern Black Sea; hear the legend of the Amazon women and the Hamza Stone — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Hazelnut-grove walk between Tirebolu and Eynesil
A walk among hazelnut groves from the Black Sea coast road into the interior — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Explore Giresun Müzesi
Explore the local collections and choose one object to remember Giresun by.
Read the story ↗Göreme
Visit Goreme Open-Air Museum
A monastic valley carved into volcanic tuff: ten or so churches inside the rock, their frescoes still coloured. No light reaches the Dark Church, which is why its paint has not faded in a thousand years. Photograph a fresco ceiling.
Gümüşhane
Descend into the Karaca Cave
Karaca Cave has a temporary closure notice due to road works; do not visit until reopening is officially confirmed. No stream runs through it, yet water seeping from the roof continues to form dripstone. Once open, compare a curtain-like formation with a stalagmite from the visitor path; photograph where permitted and record the two shapes left by water.
Story and sources →Tour the Santa Ruins and Lake Limni
See the abandoned Greek stone village of Santa in the forest and the reflective Lake Limni on the same day — and photograph it.
Ski Zigana
Ski at Zigana Winter Sports Center — and photograph it.
Hakkari
See discoveries (5) →Look down into the Zap valley
The river has cut a corridor between walls that rise more than a kilometre, and the road runs along a ledge partway up it. There is no gentle version of this landscape. Photograph th…
View discovery ↗See a Hakkari kilim on the loom
The patterns here are woven from memory rather than from a drawing, and the dyes still come off the mountain — madder for red, walnut husk for brown. Watch a piece on the loom and ph…
View discovery ↗Discover the playing field behind Meydan Madrasa's name
Meydan Madrasa takes its name from the gathering and celebration ground in front of it. Research published by Hakkâri University describes this square also serving students as a spor…
Read the story ↗Walk through the Titus Tunnel (Samandağ)
Titus Tunnel formed part of a system diverting a stream to protect Seleucia Pieria's harbour from flood-borne sediment. An inscription at the first tunnel entrance names Vespasianus …
Read the story ↗Regional cuisine tour in the Long Bazaar
Tray kebab, oruk, baba ghanoush, hummus — taste Antakya's multicultural cuisine straight from the bazaar — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Eat real künefe in Antakya
Eating Antakya's cheese-filled, true tray-style künefe in its birthplace is a different thing — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Iğdır
Watch Ararat's twin peaks from Iğdır
Greater and Lesser Ararat are two volcanic masses linked by the Serdarbulak lava plateau. On a clear day in Iğdır, find a public place with both peaks in view, compare their shapes and photograph them together. The map pin is an approximate city reference, not a viewing terrace.
Story and sources →
Isparta
See discoveries (7) →Isparta rose jam and rose-water tasting
Visit a rose distillery in Isparta during the late-May harvest season — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Pisidia walk on the shore of Lake Eğirdir
Walk a stage of the lake-view St. Paul Trail along the ancient Pisidian road — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Tour the lavender fields in Kuyucak (June-July)
Kuyucak's lavender story began with seedlings brought from France in 1975 and shared among thirty families. First planted along rose-field edges, lavender expanded into commercial fi…
Read the story ↗İstanbul
See discoveries (169) →Eat balık ekmek standing at Eminönü
Mackerel grilled on a boat rocking at the quay, pushed into half a loaf with onion and rocket, eaten standing up while the ferries dock behind you. Buy one — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Stand inside the Blue Mosque
Stand beneath the blue atmosphere created by over 21,000 İznik tiles; decode the dome system of this six-minaret structure from within — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Drink boza at a counter that has not moved since 1876
Fermented millet, thick and faintly sour, served cold with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas — sold only in the cold months and drunk almost nowhere else on earth. Order a glass at Vefa…
View discovery ↗Konak Clock Tower
Stand in Konak Square beneath the ornate 1901 Ottoman clock tower with its Moorish arches and fountains, catch the trams and pigeons swirling around it — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Kordon Waterfront Ride
Rent a bike or stroll the palm-lined Kordon promenade in Alsancak as the sun sets over the Gulf of İzmir and horse carriages pass along the sea — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Kemeraltı Bazaar
Wander the labyrinth of Kemeraltı's covered lanes, past spice sacks, coppersmiths and dried-fig stalls in İzmir's centuries-old market — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Kahramanmaraş
Visit Eshab-i Kehf Kulliye
Eshab-ı Kehf in Afşin is one of the places associated with the Seven Sleepers tradition. Buildings around the cave also welcomed travellers: the ribat of 1215 and inn of 1233 served visitors' needs and accommodation. From an open visitor area, photograph the inn's exterior and note how the complex connects worship with travel and hospitality.
Story and sources →See the Germanicia mosaics
A Roman city was found under a residential neighbourhood here in 2007, and its floor mosaics — hunting scenes, animals, a whole villa's worth — are still being uncovered between the houses. Photograph a panel.
Watch Maraş gold-thread embroidery
Flattened gold or silver thread is couched onto velvet with a second thread, so the metal lies on the surface and catches light from one angle only. It is worked here and taught here. Photograph it under a lamp.
Eat Maraş ice cream at the original producer
Taste the salepi, pounded ice cream with theatrical service from a Maraş master — and photograph it.
Karabük
Cross the glass terrace over Tokatlı Canyon
The terrace hangs eighty metres over the canyon floor, and directly below it stands the İncekaya aqueduct, built in the eighteenth century to carry Safranbolu's water across the same gap. Photograph the aqueduct through the glass.
Catch the saffron harvest in Safranbolu
The town is named after the crop, and the crop lasts about two weeks: the flowers open in late autumn and are picked before the sun is up, because the heat ruins the three red threads inside. Photograph a handful of threads.
Wander the Ottoman houses of Safranbolu
Some Safranbolu mansions had room pools as deep as a person is tall; water reached town over İncekaya Aqueduct. Start around Cinci Han, look for fountains on houses’ street façades and photograph one. The pin marks the walk’s starting point, not a pool room.
Story and sources →Walk through Yörük Köyü
A village of a hundred and some houses built by one settled nomadic community, all in the same period and the same style, and left almost untouched since. The communal laundry house is still standing. Photograph a doorway.
Karaman
Tour the Binbir Kilise (Madenşehir) ruins
According to the cultural inventory, Basilica No. 1 at Madenşehir’s entrance was built in 500 and repaired around 900 after destruction: the same building returned to use roughly four centuries later. Examine and photograph its surviving arches from the accessible area, respecting village homes and keeping off the ruins.
Story and sources →Manazan Caves and rock granaries in Taşkale
See the multi-story rock settlement and the historic rock granaries where grain is still stored — and photograph it.
Visit the Yunus Emre tomb in Karaman
Several towns claim the poet's grave, and this one has the oldest written record behind it. What he wrote in plain Turkish seven centuries ago is still quoted in ordinary speech. Photograph the tomb.
Stand where Turkish was made official
In 1277 Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey ordered that from that day nothing but Turkish would be spoken in court, in the divan or in the market. The decree is commemorated in the town it was given in. Photograph the monument.
Tour the ruins of Ani
Trdat, the architect of Ani Cathedral, also worked on repairs to Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. One master's knowledge connects two distant cities. Follow Ani's open visitor route, study …
Read the story ↗Kars kashar and gruyère tasting
Taste Kars kashar and gruyère cheese at a genuine producer's farm in Boğatepe village — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Ski among the Scots-pine forests in Sarıkamış
Ski on slopes that run through the forest, on some of Turkey's driest snow — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Kastamonu
Ski Ilgaz Mountain
Ski at Ilgaz Mountain Ski Center — and photograph it.
Visit Kure Mountains National Park
On Küre Mountains' high karst plateaus, dead trees are habitat too, offering animals shelter and food. Ask park staff which routes are currently open. Stay on a marked trail and photograph an old or dead tree. Record this detail of the living forest; leave trunks and branches in place.
Story and sources →Canyon walk in Küre Mountains National Park
Walk among Europe's best-preserved forests in one of Turkey's least-known national parks — and photograph it.
Descend into the Valla Canyon (one of the world's deepest)
Make a guided descent into one of the world's deepest and most technical canyons, in the Küre Mountains — and photograph it.
Kaş
Skydive in Side or Kaş
The exit is the part nobody describes: a few seconds of no reference points at all, until the horizon appears and turns back into a coastline. Photograph the coast once the canopy is open and your hands are free.
Kayseri
See discoveries (13) →Buy pastırma where the dry air makes it
Beef pressed, coated in a paste of fenugreek, garlic and paprika, then cured in the dry air off Erciyes — Kayseri is the city the whole country buys it from. Have a slab cut for you …
View discovery ↗Eat Kayseri mantı (40 dumplings to a spoon)
Try the traditional dumplings the size of raisins with the yogurt-butter-pepper trio — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Tour Mimar Sinan's village and underground city in Ağırnas
See the rock-carved underground settlement and Sinan's house in the village where the great architect was born — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Kırıkkale
Follow the Kızılırmak into Kapulukaya
The river is dammed here and the water backs up into a rock gorge, so the reservoir has canyon walls rather than banks. Fishermen line the road above it. Photograph the gorge from the road.
Sunset over the Kızılırmak at the Çeşnigir Bridge
Çeşnigir Bridge follows a curve rather than a straight line: it follows the rocks so its piers rest on firm ground. At sunset, observe the curve from an accessible riverside area and photograph the stone piers together with the rocks.
Story and sources →Meet the Karakeçili Yörük tradition
The Karakeçili are one of the Oğuz groups that settled here, and the district still holds its festival every summer with wrestling, goat-hair tents pitched in the field and the old wedding music. Photograph a tent.
Kırklareli
See discoveries (20) →Find the rock-cut monastery at Kıyıköy
Aya Nikola's rock galleries once had a wooden entrance, added in the 19th century and now gone. The rock-cut church and lower sacred spring reveal different levels of the complex. Fr…
Read the story ↗Enter the Dupnisa cave system
Three caves connected end to end under the Istranca forest, with a stream running through the lowest one — you hear it before you see it. Thousands of bats winter here, which is why …
View discovery ↗Drink hardaliye in Thrace
Grape juice is layered with crushed mustard seed and cherry leaves and left to stand — the mustard stops it fermenting, so it stays a soft drink. It is made nowhere else in Turkey. P…
View discovery ↗Kırşehir
Visit the tomb of Ahi Evran
The man buried here founded the Ahi brotherhoods — the craft guilds whose rules about fair weight, apprenticeship and mutual aid organised Anatolian trade for centuries. Şırnak to Bursa, every guild street descends from this. Photograph the tomb.
See the layers at Kaman-Kalehöyük
Kaman Kalehöyük Museum takes the shape of a mound, while its displays move from newer to older periods, echoing an excavation. Built with Japanese support, it brings together finds from Kalehöyük, Büklükale and Yassıhöyük. Photograph the exterior, then compare two period labels inside and note an object from the older layer in your memory.
Story and sources →Hear a bozlak sung in Kırşehir
The bozlak is a long, unmetered lament sung at the top of the register, and the Abdal musicians of this plain are the ones who kept it — Neşet Ertaş learned it here from his father. Photograph the player and the room.
Tour the Cacabey Madrasa (astronomy madrasa)
See the 13th-century Seljuk madrasa also used as a sky observatory; get to know the Ahi Evran culture — and photograph it.
Kilis
Eat tava and katmer in Kilis
In Kilis katmer’s registered recipe, milk meets smoke from pruned vine branches while the kaymak cream is made. Try Kilis tava and katmer; ask the maker about this cream-making method and photograph the pastry’s layers. The pin is a city reference, not a specific business.
Story and sources →
Kocaeli
Silk-carpet weaving workshop in Hereke
Watch silk-carpet production in Hereke, the heart of the Ottoman palace-carpet tradition, and buy a small piece — and photograph it.
Hike Ballikayalar Nature Park
Ballıkayalar's narrow gorge is a karst valley shaped by dissolving limestone. The roughly two-kilometre valley varies in width between 40 and 80 metres. Pause on an open walking section to photograph the facing rock walls; note a detail that makes you think about water changing stone over time. This discovery does not require a canyon traverse or rock climbing.
Story and sources →Ski Kartepe
Ski at Kartepe Ski Center near Izmit — and photograph it.
Nature escape and trout in Maşukiye-Kartepe
Eat trout at the waterside cafés; ski at Kartepe in winter, hike the green valley in summer — and photograph it.
Stand in the world's first city at Çatalhöyük
Visit the 9,000-year-old Neolithic settlement; observe the way of life at the excavation house — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗See the Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque (wooden-pillar mosque)
Snow once had a role inside Eşrefoğlu Mosque: the Culture Ministry describes snow from the roof being placed in the central snow pit to provide moisture against drying wooden columns…
Read the story ↗Explore the Zengibar Way
Explore the Zengibar Way in Konya — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Kütahya
Buy Kütahya ceramics in Kütahya
Kütahya never stopped: while the other kilns closed, this town kept firing tiles for six hundred years without a break, which is why the pieces here are cheaper and the yellow is unmistakable. Ask a painter how long one border takes. Photograph the brush hand.
Visit the Kutahya Tile Museum
Look beyond the ceramics at the Tile Museum: a stone endowment deed by the entrance records revenues, staff pay and how guests should be treated in 39 lines. Its language is Turkish, written in Arabic script. Find this document at the former charitable kitchen; photograph the inscription or a ceramic display where permitted, and note how language and alphabet are different things.
Story and sources →Paint a plate at a tile workshop in Kütahya
Try traditional tile painting at a workshop, have your work fired and shipped home — and photograph it.
Malatya
Walk the Levent valley
The rock here is layered in bands of red, cream and grey, cut through by a river into walls hundreds of metres deep. Climbers come for the routes; most people come for the light in the late afternoon. Photograph the layers.
See the tiled mihrab at Battalgazi
Old Malatya stands a few kilometres from the new one, and its Seljuk mosque keeps a mihrab faced in turquoise and cobalt tile work that has not been restored away. Photograph the mihrab.
Harvest in the Malatya apricot orchards (June-August)
Try harvesting at a producer's orchard in the world apricot capital; watch apricot molasses being made — and photograph it.
Stand at Arslantepe, one of the first palaces
At Arslantepe, administration left its mark through seals before writing. Numerous seal impressions found in the palace show how taking goods from stores and sealing them were recorded. View the mud-brick palace, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2021, from the open visitor route. Photograph a corridor and note the work of officials controlling goods. Do not assume the sealings are displayed in the palace rooms today.
Story and sources →
Manisa
Temple of Artemis at the ancient city of Sardis (Sart)
Sardis's Temple of Artemis was used for centuries but never completed. The excavation team explains that the finished columns on tall eastern pedestals show how the other, unfluted columns would have looked. Compare and photograph two contrasting surfaces from the open visitor path; note that their difference can reflect unfinished craftsmanship as well as weathering.
Story and sources →Tulips in Spil Mountain National Park
Tour the slopes covered in wild tulips in April; hear the legend of the Weeping Rock (Niobe) — and photograph it.
Manisa Mesir Paste Festival (March)
Live the 500-year-old tradition of throwing mesir paste, made from 41 spices, from the Sultan Mosque — and photograph it.
Mardin
See discoveries (7) →Tour the ancient city of Dara
Wander the rock tombs and cisterns of Mesopotamia's best-preserved Byzantine frontier city — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Explore Mardin Cultural Landscape
Explore the Mardin Cultural Landscape — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Watch the filigree workshops in Midyat
Watch the silver filigree (telkari) craft inherited from Syriac masters inside the workshop; buy a small piece — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Mersin
See discoveries (8) →Visit Namrun (Camliyayla)-Sebil Yayla
Visit Namrun (Camliyayla)-Sebil Yayla in Mersin — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Explore the Ancient City of Korykos
Two castles face each other: one on land, one on an islet two hundred metres offshore. A chain is said to have been strung between them. The sea castle, known as the Maiden's Castle,…
View discovery ↗Tour Mamure Castle in Anamur
Mamure's entrance in use today is not its original gate. The old gate, between two square towers north of the inner courtyard, has lost its bridge across the moat. From the open visi…
Read the story ↗Sail a gulet out of Bodrum for the Blue Cruise
The wooden gulet cruise was invented on this coast, and boarding one here for even a few nights means sleeping on deck and waking up in a different bay. Sail out — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Find the Uluburun wreck room inside the castle
A Bronze Age ship that sank off Kaş around 1320 BC — the oldest known shipwreck on earth — fills its own hall here, with the copper ingots and raw glass it was carrying. Most visitor…
View discovery ↗Wade over the drowned walls of Myndos
At Gümüşlük the ancient city sank, and its harbour wall lies just under the surface — you walk the line of it in knee-deep water to Rabbit Island. Cross it — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Muş
Stand on the plain of Malazgirt
The battle fought on this plain in 1071 is where Turkish school history begins, and the ground itself is unremarkable farmland — which is the point. Photograph the open plain.
Catch wild-tulip season on the Muş Plain (April)
See the natural sea of wild tulips on the Muş Plain, which turns red in spring — and photograph it.
Cross the Murat bridge
Find a historical puzzle at Murat Bridge: its marble inscription is thought to record a repair rather than its construction, whose exact date is unknown. From an open, safe spot on the bank, frame its 12 arches and examine differences in the masonry. Note how repairs form part of the bridge’s story. Check local notices before crossing or approaching the riverbank.
Story and sources →Explore Muş Ulu Cami
Observe the building from the public exterior and save an architectural detail without interrupting worship.
Story and sources →
Nevşehir
See discoveries (12) →Tour the Göreme Open-Air Museum
See the frescoes of all the rock churches, including the Dark Church, one by one; understand 11th-12th century painting — and photograph it.
Read the story ↗Explore the Kizilirmak River
Explore the Kizilirmak River near Avanos — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Sleep in a cave hotel
Spend a night by candlelight in a hotel room carved into rock in Göreme, Uçhisar or Ürgüp — and photograph it.
Read the story ↗Niğde
Spend a night outdoors in a national park
Aladağlar, Kaçkar, Munzur, Kazdağı or Köprülü Canyon: camp/glamp under the stars in a national park — and photograph it.
Look for different painters in one church at Gümüşler
At least three different masters are thought to have painted the rock-cut church at Gümüşler Monastery. Niğde’s provincial culture authority attributes the main apse paintings and the Virgin and Child near the entrance to different hands. From the open visitor area, compare faces and clothing outlines and note a detail you notice. Photograph the courtyard where photography is permitted.
Story and sources →Trekking in the Aladağlar
Camp + summit to Demirkazık or Kızılkaya on the Aladağlar, Turkey's most challenging rocky mountains — and photograph it.
Olympos
Camp in Olympos
Camp in Olympos near the ancient city and quiet bays — and photograph it.
Ordu
Take the cable car up to Ordu Boztepe and watch the city
Take the cable car to the hilltop; see Ordu, the harbor and the Black Sea from above, and watch the paragliding take-offs — and photograph it.
Join the hazelnut harvest in Ordu
This one province grows a serious fraction of the world supply, and in August the whole coast turns out for it. The nuts come off the bush in their husks, get spread out on flat roofs and courtyards to dry, and are raked over daily until they rattle. Photograph the drying floor.
Wander the Çambaşı Plateau (Ordu)
A local breakfast and a short plateau tour at Çambaşı, on the Green Road route — and photograph it.
Find three places in Paşaoğlu Mansion’s story
Paşaoğlu Mansion in Ordu was built in 1896 with stone from Ünye, timber from Romania and builders from Istanbul. Look at the façade and consider these three places coming together in one house. From an open visitor area, photograph a stonework detail where permitted and note where the materials came from.
Story and sources →
Osmaniye
Late Hittite reliefs at Karatepe-Aslantaş
At Karatepe-Aslantaş, the same text was written in the Phoenician alphabet and Luwian hieroglyphs; this bilingual inscription helped decipher Anatolian hieroglyphs. While exploring the gate reliefs, use the information panels to distinguish the two scripts and photograph an intriguing sign without touching the stones.
Story and sources →Go up to Zorkun highland
The Çukurova plain runs to forty degrees in August and this plateau above it stays in the low twenties, which is why the whole province moves up here for the summer. Photograph the plain from the edge.
Walk the colonnaded street of Kastabala
Two rows of columns still stand along the ancient street, with a Hellenistic castle on the ridge above and a theatre cut into the slope. Almost nobody is here on a weekday. Photograph the columns down the line.
Eat peanuts where Turkey grows them
Most of the country's peanuts come out of this plain, and in autumn the roadside stalls sell them still in the shell, roasted that morning. Buy a bag warm and photograph it.
Reach Zilkale alone on its spur above the Fırtına
Zilkale helped guard a medieval caravan route leading to İspir. Timber traces and beam sockets in its walls reveal that the main tower had four storeys. From the open visitor path, l…
Read the story ↗Visit Bulut Waterfall on Ayder Plateau
Visit Bulut Waterfall near Ayder Plateau — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Visit Gelin Tulu Waterfall
Visit Gelin Tulu Waterfall on Ayder Plateau — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Sakarya
Visit the Bridge of Justinian
Justinian’s Bridge was built for the Sakarya River; after the river shifted east, the smaller Çark stream occupied its former channel. Compare the arches with the stream to read this changing geography. The provincial culture authority reports a restoration closure: verify access before visiting. Photograph the arches only from permitted public space and stay outside closed areas.
Story and sources →Cycle around Lake Sapanca
Complete the loop around the lake by bike, starting from Maşukiye to Doğançay — and photograph it.
Explore the Sakarya River
Explore the Sakarya River near the Black Sea — and photograph it.
Samsun
See the Bandırma Ferry Museum
Bandırma was launched in Scotland as Trocadero in 1878 and later sailed as Kymi. Today’s museum ship is a replica of the vessel dismantled in 1925. It moved to İstiklal Square in July 2026; check visitor arrangements before going. Photograph the ship from a permitted area and note one of its names before 1919.
Story and sources →Boat tour in the Şahinkaya Canyon (Samsun)
Tour one of Turkey's deepest canyons by boat over the dam lake — and photograph it.
Visit Ismail Fakirullah Tomb
The tower beside the tomb is more than an architectural detail: its mirror directs sunlight to the head of İsmail Fakirullah’s cenotaph. Interrupted by restoration, the light event b…
Read the story ↗Eat perde pilavı and büryan kebab in Siirt
Try büryan kebab cooked for hours in a tandoor, and perde pilavı filled with almonds and currants, in its home region — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Visit Botan Valley National Park
Visit Botan Valley National Park in Siirt — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Sinop
Find the fjord at Hamsilos
A narrow inlet bitten into the pine coast, deep and still enough that the water barely moves even when the sea outside is rough — the only formation of its kind on the Black Sea. Photograph the mouth of the inlet.
Climb the Tatlıca falls one by one
Twenty-eight waterfalls follow each other up a single wooded valley, linked by a boardwalk, so you climb past one to reach the next. The forest closes over the whole route. Photograph two of them in one frame.
Stand at İnceburun, the northernmost point
The land runs out here: there is a lighthouse, a low cliff and then the Black Sea all the way to Crimea. Nothing in Turkey is further north than where you are standing. Photograph the horizon.
Tour the Sinop Prison
The inner citadel containing the prison was once a shipyard. Two large shipyard arches, later blocked up, remain visible in its southern wall. During your museum visit, consider how shipbuilding and prison wards occupied the same site; examine the walls from the open visitor route and photograph a detail where permitted. Check current visiting arrangements before going.
Story and sources →
Behold the carved portals of the Divriği Great Mosque
UNESCO interprets the variety of these carved stone portals as evidence of different groups of craftsmen. The complex also includes a hospital commissioned by Turan Melek beside the …
Read the story ↗Eat köfte in Sivas, Sivas-style
Try the classic pistachio-free köfte made with Sivas's distinctive method, on the spot — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Sivas Twin-Minaret Madrasa and Gök Madrasa
Stand at the center of 13th-century Anatolian Seljuk madrasas, gazing at the carved facades — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Şanlıurfa
See discoveries (14) →Tour Göbeklitepe
Witness history being rewritten at the world's oldest temple complex, 12,000 years old, with its T-shaped totems — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Lahmacun
Try lahmacun — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Visit Karahantepe
Tour the T-pillar site, the sister of Göbeklitepe with new discoveries, while it's still uncrowded — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Şırnak
See the door of the Great Mosque in Cizre
The bronze knockers made for this door in the twelfth century — two dragons meeting head to head — are among the finest metalwork to survive from Anatolia; the originals are in Ankara and copies hang in their place. Photograph the door.
Find the Red Medrese in Cizre
A school was built on the remains of Cizre’s western city walls: the Red Madrasa, named for its red bricks. When open, examine the courtyard arcades and arrangement of student rooms, then photograph a brickwork detail. Do not assume every visible part is original.
Story and sources →Tour the Tomb of Noah and the historic city in Cizre
In Cizre, one of Mesopotamia's ancient cities, see the maqam attributed by tradition to Noah, and the Great Mosque — and photograph it.
Tekirdağ
See discoveries (27) →Eat Tekirdağ köfte on the waterfront it is named after
The registered version is thin, garlicky and grilled hard so the outside chars while the inside stays soft, served with piyaz and a thick slice of onion. The köfte houses along the M…
View discovery ↗Walk the Tekirdağ kordon until the sun drops into the Marmara
The seafront runs for kilometres past fishing boats, tea gardens and the ferry pier, and the whole town comes out on it at dusk. The sun goes down over the water to the west, behind …
View discovery ↗Tekirdağ Köfte
Order a plate of Tekirdağ köfte — the region's slim, garlicky grilled meatballs served with white beans and pickled peppers at a local salon — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Termessos
Hike Termessos National Park
Hike Termessos National Park (Gulluk Dagi) — and photograph it.
Tokat
Descend into the Ballıca Cave in Tokat
Horizontal calcite traces on Ballıca’s walls record former groundwater levels. The dossier submitted to UNESCO describes them as evidence of the cave’s water history. Examine the walls from the open visitor path; look for a horizontal deposit and ask a guide about it. Leave formations untouched and photograph your visit where allowed; check current access rules.
Story and sources →Eat Tokat kebab (pit kebab)
Taste mutton cooked for minutes over a wood fire in an earthen pit, in a traditional setting — and photograph it.
Explore Ballica Cave Nature Park
Not every stalactite in Ballıca looks like a pointed drop: some are called onion stalactites for their bulbous shapes. From the open visitor path, compare an onion-shaped formation with the silhouette of a slender stalactite. Leave formations untouched and photograph your visit where permitted. Ask which sections are open and check photography rules before entering.
Story and sources →
Trabzon
See discoveries (5) →Pide
Try pide — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Eat muhlama and fried anchovies
Try muhlama (kuymak), karayemiş, fried anchovies and turbot on one menu at a classic Black Sea restaurant — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Climb up to the Sümela Monastery
The arches in front of Sümela belonged to a water-supply system: water from springs to the south was distributed through the courtyard fountain and channels. On your ascent, look for…
Read the story ↗Troya
Visit the Archaeological Site of Troy
Not one city but nine stacked on each other: the lowest layer was founded two thousand years before Homer. In the excavation section those layers are readable with the naked eye — which one is the Troy of the Iliad is still argued about. Photograph the section.
Tunceli
See the sacred springs at the Munzur Springs
In the local legend of Munzur Baba, springs arise where the shepherd Munzur spills his milk. This folk narrative expresses the springs’ sacred significance; the water emerges from natural karst springs. Stand in the open walking area at Ziyaret village and watch water emerge from the rock. Photograph a water detail without including people or disturbing worshippers, and follow local visiting rules.
Story and sources →Raft the Munzur River
Raft the Munzur River in Tunceli — and photograph it.
Tour the Munzur Valley National Park
Watch mountain goats and wildlife in one of Turkey's most pristine natural national parks — and photograph it.
Urla
Shop local at Urla markets
Ask for the herbs rather than the vegetables. This stretch of coast eats things most of the country treats as weeds — a dozen wild greens with no standard Turkish name, sold by the handful and boiled the same day. Photograph the greens table.
Camp in Urla
Camp along the Urla coast near Izmir — and photograph it.
Order Pelit cheese tagliolini at Teruar Urla
A kitchen on the peninsula cooking with what grows on it — the point of ordering this is that the cheese and the wheat come from within an hour of the table. Ask where the cheese is from before you order. Photograph the plate with the window behind it.
Uşak
See the Croesus Treasures at the Uşak Museum
The Karun Treasures are known for objects looted from Lydian burial mounds around Uşak and returned to Türkiye in 1993 after a legal battle. Look beyond the gold to the findspots: seek Toptepe or Aktepe on display labels and examine the winged seahorse brooch. Photograph a detail in an area where photography is permitted.
Story and sources →Canyon through Ulubey
A canyon cut deep enough that the river is a thin line from the rim, with a glass platform hanging off the edge for people who want to test their nerve before walking down. The floor is a different climate from the top. Photograph straight down through the glass.
Walk the glass terrace over the Ulubey Canyon
Look down 100+ m from the glass viewing terrace over one of Turkey's largest canyon systems — and photograph it.
See the Armenian Church on Akdamar Island
Akdamar’s Armenian Church of the Holy Cross carries a small image of itself on its wall: a western façade relief depicts King Gagik presenting a model of the church to Christ. Find t…
Read the story ↗Have a Van breakfast
Try the Van breakfast, famous for its 100-plus varieties, at a classic spot on Breakfast Street — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Tour Van Castle and the Tushpa ruins
Read the rock inscriptions of Tushpa, the Urartian capital, and watch the Van Plain from the castle — and photograph it.
View discovery ↗Yalova
See discoveries (22) →Visit the Walking Mansion in Yalova
In 1930, the Walking Mansion was shifted about 4.80 metres on tram rails brought from Istanbul to protect the plane tree’s branches. In the garden, look between tree and building, im…
Read the story ↗Experience the Termal hot springs
Choose an operating thermal facility in Termal and check its current admission and use conditions. Record the experience without making health claims.
View discovery ↗Wander the Karaca Arboretum
Turkey's first private arboretum gathers thousands of rare trees and shrubs from around the world across its quiet slopes. Find a tree you have never seen, learn its name from the li…
View discovery ↗Yozgat
Break open a testi kebabı
The meat is sealed inside a clay pot and baked until the pot has to be broken to serve it — which is done at the table, with a knife along the neck. Photograph the moment it opens.
Walk the walls of Kerkenes
Kerkenes was a new city founded by newcomers from the west with Phrygian culture; its inscriptions are also Phrygian. Enclosed by roughly seven kilometres of defences, the city was destroyed by fire in the mid-sixth century BCE. On the permitted visitor route, find the Cappadocia Gate opening and its junction with the wall; photograph without climbing the stones.
Story and sources →Stand in Çamlık National Park (Turkey's first national park)
Walk beneath century-old black pines in Turkey's first national park, declared in 1958 — and photograph it.
See the Sarıkaya Roman Bath (Basilica Therma)
See the ruins of the columned Roman bath where hot water still bubbles; tour the building on the UNESCO tentative list — and photograph it.
Zonguldak
Descend into the Gökgöl Cave
Coral fossils in Gökgöl’s walls reveal that the surrounding rocks formed in an ancient sea, telling a story older than its stalactites and stalagmites. The visitor walkway is 875 metres, distinct from the cave’s total length. Stay on the open route, ask staff where fossils can be seen, and photograph a detail without touching it.
Story and sources →Go into the mine at the Zonguldak museum
Turkey's coal was first cut here in the 1820s, and the museum is built into a real gallery — you walk in along the seam, under timber props, with the temperature dropping as you go. Photograph the props.
See the theatre at Filyos
Ancient Tios sits where the river meets the Black Sea, and its theatre looks straight out over the water — one of very few on this coast. Excavation is still going on around it. Photograph the sea from the seats.
Try buffalo yoghurt at Çaycuma
Buffalo milk is far denser than cow's, so the yoghurt sets thick enough to hold a spoon upright and carries a skin of cream on top. Çaycuma is where it is made. Photograph the spoon standing in it.