Language · 11 published
Country guide
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.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Ben Morlok · CC BY-SA 2.0
Photograph · Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · REHBER0770 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Anonymous · CC0
Photograph · Dan Taylor · CC BY 2.0
Photograph · Dogaaunlu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photograph · Egemenakgul · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
738 places match
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Typical visit duration
Büyük Mecidiye Camii
Its proper name is the Büyük Mecidiye Camii, the Great Mosque of Sultan Abdülmecid, and it stands at the water's edge of the Ortaköy pier square in Beşiktaş, on the European shore of the Bosphorus.
Ayios Polieuktos Kilisesi
For a few years in the sixth century this was the largest church in Constantinople, and it was built by a woman making a point.
Hz. Cabir Cami
A working neighbourhood mosque in Ayvansaray that began as a Byzantine church, and nobody is entirely sure which one.
Meryem Ana Evi
The House of the Virgin Mary is a Catholic pilgrimage shrine on Bülbül Mountain, about 9 km from Selçuk in İzmir Province. It is associated with the tradition that Mary spent her final years here.
Aya Yorgi Patrikhane Kilisesi
The Church of St George in Fener is the cathedral of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the senior see of the Orthodox Christian world, and from the street it is deliberately unassuming.
Galatasaray Müzesi
Galatasaray Museum is the official museum of Galatasaray Sports Club, one of Turkey's most prominent multi-sport organizations. Located in Istanbul, the institution preserves and displays materials related to the club's extensive history across football, basketball, and other athletic disciplines.
Olympos is a ruined Lycian and Roman city lying along both banks of the Ulupinar stream where the valley meets the sea, in the Yazir neighbourhood of Kumluca district, Antalya.
Çeşme Deniz Savaşı
Battle of Chesma is a historical display within İzmir Çeşme Museum, set inside Çeşme Castle and specifically located on the lower floor of Umur Bey Tower.
Küçük Ayasofya Camii
The Little Hagia Sophia is the church Justinian built before the great one, and it is where the idea was tried out. It went up between 527 and 536, dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus.
Knidos is an archaeological site at Tekir Burnu in Yazı Mahallesi, on the far western end of the Datça Peninsula.
Atatürk Museum, Şişli
This is a rented house on a busy Şişli avenue that happens to be where the Turkish Republic was decided upon. The building is a three-storey house put up in 1908.
The Prison of Anemas is a historic Byzantine structure located within the walls of Istanbul, Turkey. It forms part of the larger Blachernae Palace complex in the northwestern section of the city.
Bafa Gölü
Lake Bafa is a protected lake landscape where Muğla’s eastern shore meets the wider setting of Aydın’s Söke district. The Kapıkırı side is the practical base for exploring the water, rocky shore and Beşparmak Mountains.
Hava Şehitleri Anıtı
The Aviation Martyrs' Monument, known locally as Hava Şehitleri Anıtı, stands as a memorial dedicated to aviators who lost their lives in service.
Büyük Çamlıca Camii
Çamlıca Mosque, known locally as Büyük Çamlıca Camii, is a major Islamic religious complex situated on Çamlıca Hill in Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque stands as one of the most prominent contemporary mosque constructions in the country.
Gazi Atik Ali Paşa Camii
Gazi Atik Ali Pasha Mosque is an Ottoman mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Its local name is Gazi Atik Ali Paşa Camii. The structure represents historical Islamic architecture within the urban fabric of the city.
Sent Antuan Katolik Kilisesi
Behind a gate on İstiklal Avenue, set back at the end of its own courtyard, stands the largest Catholic church in Istanbul.
Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is Ankara’s principal archaeological museum, presenting the cultures that shaped Anatolia through settlement, craft, belief and political change. It occupies the Ottoman-period Mahmutpaşa Bedesten and Kurşunlu Han in historic Ulus, beside Ankara Castle.
Pergamon Kütüphanesi
The Library of Pergamum is a specific ruin in the upper city of the Bergama Acropolis, beside the Sanctuary of Athena in Bergama, İzmir.
Fethiye Camii
The Pammakaristos was the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate for 131 years after the fall of Constantinople, and its side chapel holds mosaics second only to the Chora's.
Yıldız Clock Tower is a historic clock tower situated in the Yıldız district of Istanbul, Turkey. The structure stands as an architectural landmark within the broader Yıldız Palace complex area, reflecting Ottoman-era design influences.
Karain Mağarası
Karain Cave, known locally as Karain Mağarası, is a significant paleolithic archaeological site located near Antalya in southern Turkey.
Stratonikeia
Stratonicea is an open-air archaeological site in Eskihisar Mahallesi, within Muğla’s Yatağan district. It stands beside the Yatağan–Milas road, approximately 7 kilometres west of Yatağan.
Kolophon
Colophon is an archaeological settlement landscape in Menderes, İzmir, between present-day Değirmendere and Çamönü. It was one of the oldest and most important cities of Ionia, but it is not a compact museum or a single monumental ruin.
Köyceğiz Gölü
Lake Köyceğiz is a large natural lake beside Köyceğiz town in Muğla Province. Muğla Governorate gives its area as about 54 square kilometres, while the municipality describes the lake area as 6,300 hectares.
Eski Şark Eserleri Müzesi
The Museum of the Ancient Orient, known locally as Eski Şark Eserleri Müzesi, is an archaeological museum in Istanbul. It forms part of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums complex.
Emirgan Korusu
Emirgan Park is 470,000 square metres of wooded hillside above the European shore of the Bosphorus in Sarıyer, and it has been changing hands for as long as anyone has been writing things down.
Büyükada Eski Rum Yetimhanesi
The Büyükada Greek Orthodox Orphanage, known locally as Büyükada Eski Rum Yetimhanesi, stands on Büyükada, the largest of Istanbul's Princes' Islands. This timber structure ranks among the world's largest wooden buildings.
Eyüp Sultan Camii
This is the mosque Ottoman Istanbul built around a grave rather than around a view.
Klazomenai is an archaeological site on the Urla coast and was one of the twelve Ionian cities.
Teos is an ancient Ionian city in Sığacık, Seferihisar, on İzmir’s Aegean coast. Founded as an Ionian colony around 1000 BC, it developed as a maritime settlement connected to northern and southern harbours.
Polatlı is a municipal park in the centre of Polatlı, Ankara province, mapped as a leisure=park site.
Kamondo Merdivenleri
The Camondo Stairs are a short public stairway in Galata built by a banker so that he could get to work.
Faselis
Phaselis is an ancient Lycian city on the Mediterranean coast near Antalya. Founded by settlers from Rhodes around 690 BCE, it became a significant port with three harbours.
Hadrian Kapısı
Hadrian's Gate is a triumphal arch in Antalya's Kaleiçi district, built to commemorate the visit of Roman Emperor Hadrian to the city in 130 CE.
Ankara Kalesi
Ankara Castle is a publicly accessible historic hilltop area in Kale neighbourhood, Altındağ district, rather than a ticketed museum with a single controlled entrance.
Kyme
Cyme, also called Kyme, is an archaeological site near Çakmaklı in Aliağa, İzmir, around Nemrut Bay. It was one of the Aiolian cities founded around the middle of the eleventh century BC and developed as an important port centre.
Mısır Çarşısı
The Spice Bazaar is a covered market hall in Eminönü that was paid for by an empire's tax farm and built to keep a mosque solvent.
Augustus Tapınağı
The Temple of Augustus in Ankara is a Roman monument beside Hacı Bayram Mosque in the Hacı Bayram quarter of Altındağ. Its surviving walls preserve the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, a Latin and Ancient Greek account of Emperor Augustus’s achievements.
Etnografya Müzesi
The Ethnography Museum of Ankara is an indoor museum devoted to Turkish cultural heritage and material culture. Its displays connect domestic life, religious practice, clothing, textiles and decorative arts through objects, workmanship and local traditions.
Saklıkent Millî Parkı
Saklıkent Canyon is a natural gorge in Seydikemer district of Muğla, close to the Antalya provincial border. It is approximately 18 kilometres long, and Karaçay, a branch of the Eşen River, flows through it.
Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli Türbesi
The Haji Bektash Veli complex is a historic Bektashi lodge and museum in Hacıbektaş, Nevşehir Province.
Pinara is a Lycian archaeological site near Minare village in Muğla’s Fethiye area, about 40 km from Fethiye. Its name is associated with the Lycian word for “round”, referring to the rounded rocky hill that defines the setting.
Bodrum Camii
Bodrum Mosque is the church of the Myrelaion, built around 920 by Romanos I Lekapenos as the chapel of his own palace, and it is one of the very few tenth-century churches of Constantinople still standing.
İslam bilim ve teknoloji tarihi müzesi
The museum occupies the Has Ahırlar, the former imperial stables, a long low range on the edge of Gülhane Park below the Topkapı walls, and it opened on 25 May 2008 under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Molla Fenari İsa Camii
Fenari Isa Mosque is two Byzantine churches joined into one building, and understanding that is most of understanding the place.
İzmir Saat Kulesi
İzmir Clock Tower is a historic public monument in Konak Square, in İzmir’s Konak district. Built in 1901 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Sultan II Abdülhamid’s accession, it has become one of the city’s most recognisable symbols.
Ankara Resim ve Heykel Müzesi
Ankara Painting and Sculpture Museum is a national fine-arts museum in Ankara’s historic Altındağ area, at Hacettepe Mahallesi, Türk Ocağı Sokak No:1.
Kalenderhane Camii
Kalenderhane Camii is a Byzantine church that became a mosque, standing in Fatih immediately beside the Valens Aqueduct.
Kızıl Kule, known in English as the Red Tower, stands as a prominent historic landmark in Alanya, a district within the Antalya province.
Antalya Arkeoloji Müzesi (Museum)
Antalya Museum, locally known as Antalya Arkeoloji Müzesi, is a major archaeological museum in Antalya, Turkey. It stands as one of the country's most significant institutions for ancient artifacts, housing extensive collections from the broader Mediterranean region of Turkey.
Selçuk Efes Müzesi
Ephesus Archaeological Museum is the principal museum for understanding ancient Ephesus in Selçuk, İzmir. It presents finds from worship, daily life, art and power, giving objects a closer scale than the open-air ruins.
Aziz Yuhanna Bazilikası
Basilica of St. John is a hilltop archaeological complex on Ayasuluk Hill in Selçuk, İzmir, at İsa Bey Mahallesi, St. Jean Sokak No: 4. Its identity comes from the monumental church built over the site associated with St.
Klaros
Claros is a sanctuary of Apollo at Ahmetbeyli in Menderes, İzmir, remembered for prophecy rather than for the remains of a complete ancient town.
Mogan Gölü
Lake Mogan is a shallow natural lake and recreation destination in Gölbaşı district, about 25 kilometres south of Ankara. The lake covers approximately 5 square kilometres, and the surrounding Mogan Recreation Area provides a broad public park beside the water.
Sveti Stefan Bulgar Kilisesi
Bulgarian St. Stephen Church is the cast-iron Bulgarian Orthodox church on the Golden Horn shore in Balat. Istanbul’s official visitor portal dates the present building to 1898 and identifies Hovsep Aznavur as its architect.
Alanya Kalesi
Alanya Castle, known locally as Alanya Kalesi, is a historic fortress complex perched on a rocky peninsula overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The site dominates the skyline of Alanya, a district within the Antalya province of southern Turkey.
Kula
Kula Volcano is an extinct cinder cone in the Kula volcanic field, the feature that gives the field and the surrounding Kula-Salihli Geopark their name.
Damlataş Mağarası
Damlataş Cave is a natural limestone cavern located on the western coast of Antalya, near the famous Cleopatra Beach. The cave was discovered accidentally in 1948 during harbour construction works.
Meryem Kilisesi
Church of Mary is an early-fifth-century Christian basilica within the Ephesus Archaeological Site near Selçuk in İzmir.
Lebedos
Lebedus is a small open-air archaeological landscape on the Kısık Peninsula beside Ürkmez, between Gümüldür and Ürkmez on İzmir’s coast.
Asansör is a historic vertical connection in İzmir’s Karataş neighbourhood. It links Mithatpaşa Caddesi with Şehit Nihatbey Caddesi, allowing people to cross the steep change in level without taking the long stair route.
Roma Hamamı
The Roman Baths of Ankara are an open-air archaeological museum in Ulus, on Çankırı Caddesi in the Anafartalar area of Altındağ.
Yivli Minare Camii
Yivli Minare Camii stands in Kaleiçi, Antalya's walled old town, on Cumhuriyet Caddesi beside Kalekapısı Square.
Atatürk Maskı
Atatürk Mask is a monumental outdoor portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk built directly into the Yeşildere hillside in İzmir’s Çaldıran area, between Buca and Konak.
Atarneus is an ancient settlement at Ağılkale, on a hill near Dikili in İzmir. Local heritage information dates its history to approximately 4000 BCE.
Yanartaş is a natural geological attraction in Antalya province, known for flames emerging from the rocky ground.
Çankaya Köşkü
Çankaya Mansion is a working state residence and workplace on Ankara’s Çankaya presidential campus, with a role that combines republican history and present-day government.
Kadifekale, also called Velvet Castle, is an open-air archaeological site on Pagos, the 186-metre-high hill south of İzmir’s city centre.
Limyra is an ancient Lycian city in the Finike district of Antalya Province. Its open-air ruins introduce visitors to a settlement shaped by several periods of Anatolian history.
Sillyon is an ancient fortified settlement perched on a steep hilltop in the Pamphylian plain near Antalya. The site commands dramatic views across the coastal landscape and preserves substantial remains from multiple civilizations.
Izmir Archaeology Museum
İzmir Archaeological Museum is a city museum in Konak, located inside Bahribaba Park at Yeşiltepe Mahallesi, Halil Rıfat Paşa Caddesi No: 4. The present museum building opened to visitors on 11 February 1984 and was built on a 5,000-square-metre site.
Babadağ is a mountain attraction above Ölüdeniz reached by cable car and chairlift. The visit begins at the operator’s main station on Ölüdeniz’s main road, at 226 metres, then rises towards stations at 1200, 1700, 1800 and 1900 metres.
Kocatepe Camii
Kocatepe Mosque is Ankara’s great urban mosque in Kültür, within Çankaya’s central city fabric.
Ayasluğ
Ayasuluk Hill is the historic high ground above Selçuk, where several of the town’s most important monuments occupy one archaeological setting. A visit brings together St.
Sultan Camii
The Sultan Mosque is the centrepiece of Manisa and the reason the city has a festival.
Manisa Müzesi
The Manisa Museum is the archaeological and ethnographic collection of the province, and as of 17 May 2025 it no longer stands where earlier guides to Manisa describe it.
Hıdırlık Kulesi
Hidirlik Tower is a compact cylindrical stone landmark on the southwestern edge of Kaleiçi, Antalya’s historic old town, beside the harbour.
Oinoanda
Oenoanda is a remote ancient city of northern Lycia near İncealiler village in Seydikemer, Muğla, occupying an isolated mountain ridge rather than a compact monument.
Andriake-Plakoma
Andriaca, locally known as Andriake-Plakoma, is an ancient archaeological site situated within the Antalya region of southern Turkey. The settlement served as the port city for ancient Myra, an important Lycian urban centre.
Arikanda
Arycanda, locally known as Arikanda, is an ancient Lycian city ruin situated in the mountains of Antalya Province. The archaeological site occupies a dramatic hillside position with steep terraced construction typical of Lycian urban planning.
Ankara Zafer Anıtı
Victory Monument, also known as the Ulus Atatürk Monument, stands in Ulus Square in Ankara’s Altındağ district.
Syedra Antik Kenti
Syedra is an ancient city on a hillside above Turkey’s Mediterranean coast near Alanya, in Antalya Province.
Hacı Bayram Veli Camii
Hacı Bayram Mosque is an active place of worship in Ankara’s historic Ulus district, beside the Temple of Augustus. Built in 1427–1428, the mosque is closely associated with Hacı Bayram-ı Veli, whose tomb is attached to the building’s south wall.
Notion is an ancient Greek city spread across two hills at Ahmetbeyli in Menderes, İzmir.
Ataturk muze
Atatürk's House Museum is a small commemorative museum in Antalya devoted to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his connection with the city.
Labranda
Labraunda is a mountain sanctuary near Kargıcak in Muğla Province, about 14 kilometres northeast of Milas. In antiquity it belonged to Mylasa and became one of Caria’s major sacred places.
Eymir Gölü
Lake Eymir is a protected lakeside recreation area associated with Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara. The site is suited to walking, cycling, birdwatching and quiet outdoor time rather than a conventional urban park.
Konak Meydanı
Konak Square is İzmir’s civic waterfront heart, where the city centre opens towards the Gulf and the historic entrance to Kemeraltı. Its defining landmark is the İzmir Clock Tower, completed in 1901 and rising 25 metres above the square.
Manavgat Şelalesi
Manavgat Waterfall, known locally as Manavgat Şelalesi, is a natural waterfall attraction near the town of Manavgat in the Antalya Province of southern Turkey.
Göreme Açık Hava Müzesi
Churches of Göreme is the rock-cut monastic heart of the Göreme Open-Air Museum in Cappadocia. Chapels, monasteries and decorated cave interiors are carved into soft volcanic tuff, creating a religious landscape rather than a single monumental building.
Euromos
Euromus is a roadside open-air archaeological site in Selimiye Mahallesi, within Muğla’s Milas district.
Kara Ada
Eşek Island is a natural island off İzmir’s Çeşme Peninsula, on the eastern side of the Chios Strait, and is formerly known as Goni.
The Harpy Tomb is an ancient Lycian funerary monument located in the Xanthos archaeological area within Antalya province.
İztuzu Plajı
İztuzu Beach is a long, protected sandy shore in Ortaca district, south of Dalyan in Muğla. The beach stretches for approximately 5,400 metres and occupies a distinctive position between the Mediterranean and the lagoon and canal landscape behind the sand.
Apollon ve Athena Tapınağı
The Temple of Apollo, locally known as Apollon ve Athena Tapınağı, is an ancient religious site in Antalya, Turkey. It stands as a significant archaeological landmark within the region's rich classical heritage.
Alanya Arkeoloji Müzesi
Alanya Archaeological Museum, known locally as Alanya Arkeoloji Müzesi, is a museum institution located in the Antalya region of Türkiye.
Metropolis is an ancient city between Yeniköy and Özbey in Torbalı, İzmir. Its name is understood to mean “City of the Mother Goddess,” reflecting the religious and civic identity associated with the settlement.
Çukuriçi Höyük
Çukuriçi Höyük is a prehistoric settlement mound in Selçuk, İzmir, southeast of ancient Ephesus and near the Aegean coast. Its importance lies in the archaeological sequence beneath and around the mound, not in standing monuments designed for modern visitors.
Lagina is a Hecate sanctuary in Turgut Mahallesi, Yatağan, where a gateway, processional route and temple platform still describe the logic of an ancient Carian cult centre.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
