A photograph of Türkiye

Country guide

Theme: History in Türkiye — page 16

Türkiye is 783,562 km² across 81 provinces, most of it Anatolia in West Asia with East Thrace on the European side of the straits. It has three coasts to choose...

Photograph · Benh LIEU SONG · CC BY-SA 4.0

26,399 Places
7Cities

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

Türkiye is 783,562 km² across 81 provinces, most of it Anatolia in West Asia with East Thrace on the European side of the straits. It has three coasts to choose between — the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean to the west, the Mediterranean to the south — and an interior plateau that behaves like a different country in winter. Istanbul is the largest city and the economic centre, Ankara the capital and the second-largest, and the December 2025 population of 86,092,168 is weighted heavily to the west. A first trip is usually Istanbul and one coast; the plateau is the second trip.

Checked 2026-08-25

Cities

Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.

Practical information

Language spoken
Turkish
The official language of the Republic of Turkiye
Dialling code
+90
The international dialling code for Turkiye
Currency
Turkish lira (₺, TRY)
The official currency; one lira is divided into 100 kurus
Emergency number
112
One number for ambulance, fire and police
Plug type
European two-pin · 220 V
The national living guide records 220 V and European-style two-pin plugs
Tap water
Not recorded
No verified national source in the dataset

Top things to see

Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.

  1. Balloon Take-off point Balloon Take-off point
    376 45 min

    Balloon Take-off point

    Balon Kalkış Alanı

    Balon Kalkış Alanı is an outdoor launch point in the Göreme area of Nevşehir, at 38.65482, 34.83946. It belongs to Cappadocia’s regulated commercial hot-air-balloon activity, where visitors may watch preparation, inflation, and departures against the region’s distinctive terrain.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  2. Basilica of Acropolis
    377 45 min

    Basilica of Acropolis

    Akropoldeki Bazilika

    Akropoldeki Bazilika is an exposed basilica ruin in the acropolis of Iasos, the ancient settlement at Kıyıkışlacık in Muğla’s Milas district.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Muğla
  3. Basilica of St John Basilica of St John
    378 15 min

    Basilica of St John

    The Basilica of St John stands in the middle of modern Alaşehir, on the ground of ancient Philadelphia, one of the seven cities addressed directly in the Book of Revelation.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Manisa
  4. Bath-Gymnasium Complex Bath-Gymnasium Complex
    379 45 min

    Bath-Gymnasium Complex

    The Bath-Gymnasium Complex is one of the major surviving architectural groups at Sardes, the ancient city known today as Sardis, near Sart in Manisa Province.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Manisa
  5. Bazaar
    380 45 min

    Bazaar

    Turistik Demirciler Çarşısı

    Turistik Demirciler Çarşısı is a historic market quarter in Beypazarı district centre, around İrfan Gümüşel Caddesi.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Ankara
  6. Beçin Castle Beçin Castle
    381 45 min

    Beçin Castle

    Beçin Kalesi

    Beçin Kalesi is a fortified archaeological settlement on a plateau roughly 200 metres above the plain, about 5 km south of Milas in Muğla Province.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Muğla
  7. Bektaş Efendi Türbesi
    382 45 min

    Bektaş Efendi Türbesi

    Bektaş Efendi Türbesi is a compact memorial building in Bala Mahallesi, at the centre of Hacıbektaş in Nevşehir Province. Its inscription records construction in Hijri 1012, corresponding to 1603.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  8. Big cave castle
    383 45 min

    Big cave castle

    Churche and rooms for pigeons

    Churche and rooms for pigeons identifies a small group of carved spaces in the Üzengi Valley near Ürgüp, Nevşehir. Its distinctive subject is the meeting of two uses cut into Cappadocia’s rock landscape: churches and dovecotes.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  9. Blue Lagoon Blue Lagoon
    384 45 min

    Blue Lagoon

    Blue Lagoon is the lagoon landscape within Ölüdeniz–Kıdrak Nature Park in Ölüdeniz, Fethiye, Muğla.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Muğla
  10. Bodrum Windmills Bodrum Windmills
    385 45 min

    Bodrum Windmills

    Bodrum Windmills are eight historic stone structures on Değirmenburnu ridge, arranged in a north–south line between Bodrum and Gümbet in Eskiçeşme. They are remnants of local grain-milling infrastructure, not an operating museum or a modern attraction built for display.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Muğla
  11. Çakallar Çakallar
    386 45 min

    Çakallar

    Çakallar is a protected open-air heritage locality on a volcanic hillside near Sindel, also called Akçeşme, in Salihli district, Manisa. Its defining evidence is a group of fossilised human and animal footprints preserved as impressions in volcanic tuff.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Manisa
  12. Çakırca Bazalt Sütunları
    387 45 min

    Çakırca Bazalt Sütunları

    Çakırca Basalt Columns are a natural volcanic formation in Çakırca village, within Manisa’s Kula district. The dark rock belongs to the landscape of the Kula Volcanic Geopark and is associated with first-stage lava flows of the Burgaz volcanites.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Manisa
  13. Camel Rock Camel Rock
    388 45 min

    Camel Rock

    Camel Rock is a natural volcanic formation at the entrance to Devrent Valley, the Cappadocian landscape also known as Imagination Valley. Its profile is recognised as a kneeling camel: the hump, sloping neck and head emerge from weathered tuff.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  14. Canyon path
    389 45 min

    Canyon path

    Canyon path is the marked walking line through Kızılçukur Valley, beginning at the Kızılçukur sunset viewpoint above Ortahisar and continuing toward Çavuşin. Its identity is defined by a one-way valley crossing rather than by a single building or viewpoint.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  15. Çatal Höyük
    390 45 min

    Çatal Höyük

    Çatal Höyük is a registered archaeological site in Küllüce Village, within Kozaklı district of Nevşehir Province. Its identity is tied to a protected rural settlement landscape rather than to a museum building, excavation gallery, or staffed attraction.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  16. Çat vadisi
    391 45 min

    Çat vadisi

    Çat Vadisi is a volcanic-tuff valley in Çat Beldesi, within Nevşehir Merkez, where fairy chimneys, sculpted rock formations, natural caves and rock-cut pigeon houses appear together in one open landscape.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  17. Cave
    392 45 min

    Cave

    Cave is a small mapped rock feature in Nevşehir’s Cappadocia landscape, where a hollowed opening is the attraction itself. Its character comes from the meeting of an intimate stone detail with the wider volcanic terrain around it.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  18. cave beehive
    393 45 min

    cave beehive

    Cave Beehive is a small cave-like historic remain in the rock landscape near Göreme, in Nevşehir Province’s Avanos district area.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  19. cave beehive
    394 45 min

    cave beehive

    Cave Beehive is a small outdoor rock-cut remnant in Avanos district, at approximately 38.6556686, 34.8542411. Its defining subject is the surviving carved form, encountered among Cappadocia’s volcanic-rock valleys rather than inside a museum or a fully enclosed cave complex.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  20. cave house
    395 45 min

    cave house

    Cave House is a hotel in Uçhisar, Nevşehir, offering accommodation in cave-and-stone suites. It is a place to stay rather than a museum or separately ticketed cave attraction.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  21. cave house
    396 45 min

    cave house

    Local Cave House is a twelve-room hotel built into the rock-carved hillside above Göreme. The operator describes a traditional family home restored in 1998, bought by the Kocaturk Family in 2004, and transformed into a cave hotel.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  22. Cave house
    397 45 min

    Cave house

    Cave house is an exterior cave-house landmark mapped in Nevşehir province. Its interest lies in the visible relationship between local rock, carved or adapted cave space, and the surrounding settlement landscape.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  23. Cave House
    398 45 min

    Cave House

    Cave House is a small historic monument in Göreme, Nevşehir, positioned within the district’s distinctive cave-and-valley landscape.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  24. Cave House (entrance up through bottom chimney)
    399 45 min

    Cave House (entrance up through bottom chimney)

    Cave House (entrance up through bottom chimney) is a small, distinctive rock-cut landmark in Güllüdere Valley, between Göreme and Çavuşin in Nevşehir Province.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir
  25. cave pigeon-loft
    400 45 min

    cave pigeon-loft

    Cave pigeon-loft is a small rock-cut pigeon house in the Göreme Archaeological Site area of Göreme, Nevşehir. Its carved openings belong to Cappadocia’s working landscape, alongside the better-known churches and chapels.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Nevşehir

Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·

Common questions

How long should a first trip to Türkiye be?

Ten to fourteen days allows about four days in İstanbul and at least three around Antalya when coastal archaeology is included. Cappadocia needs its own regional stay, and a one-way coastal route is more workable than returning to the same city each night.

What entry documents are needed for Türkiye?

Türkiye's visa position varies by passport and purpose. Verify the rule through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, when eligible, use only the official e-Visa service rather than an intermediary.

What is the best way to travel around Türkiye?

İstanbul's two airports and Antalya are the principal gateways for this itinerary. Domestic flights cover long cross-country legs, coaches serve many city pairs, and high-speed rail is most useful on the İstanbul-Ankara axis rather than as a universal substitute.

When is a practical time to visit Türkiye?

April to May and September to October are broad choices for combining İstanbul with the Mediterranean coast. Cappadocia nights, inland heat, and Antalya's coastal conditions differ, so confirm weather for each overnight base.

What money and payment basics apply in Türkiye?

Türkiye uses the Turkish lira (TRY). Keep lira available for smaller transport and market transactions even when cards are accepted, and review the displayed amount in TRY before agreeing to any card conversion.

What practical safety details should I save for Türkiye?

Dial 112 for emergencies in Türkiye. Electricity is 230 V through Type C and F sockets; tap-water safety is not recorded here, so obtain current local advice at each stop.