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Turkey Photos & Travel Guide

This site is to share travel experiences, and photo albums with pictures of independent travel in Turkey. It provides travel information and travel tips for vacations and tours in Turkey with focus on Eastern and Central Anatolia.

Here you find a comprehensive photo album, travel information, and a trip report or travelogue about the journeys made during my recent vacations in Turkey, with special focus on Eastern Anatolia and Central Anatolia. Apart from the photo gallery with pictures of historical sitesin Turkey and Turkish towns and cities, I include travel tips and information for cultural vacations such as useful contacts and links to hotels and pensions. I also give background information about Turkish culture, history and archeology of the respective tourist places or archeological sites. Photographs and trip reports of the following cities and places can be found here. Personal travel experiences of touring in Turkey as well as useful travel tips with reference to suitable guide books are provided.

First journey with pictures and trip report of: Dogubayazit (Dogubeyazit), Van, Hosap Castle, Cavustepe, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Urfa, Harran with its beehive houses, Mount Nemrut or Mount Nemrod (Kahta, Commagene), Cappadocia (Goreme), Konya, Egirdir, Isparta, Sagalassos, Kusadasi

Second journey images of: Erzurum, Kars, Ani, Artvin, Trabzon (2 pages) Sumela Monastery, Amasya, Sungurlu, Hattusha or Hattushas (Hattusas), Ankara, Afyon, Izmir and the Karşıyaka district, Tire, Söke (Soke), Şirince (Sirince), Kusadasi and its beaches.

Third journey photographs and trip report of Adana, Antakya, Mersin, Tarsus, Kızkalesi (splendid beach), Uzuncaburç, Silifke, Kanlidivane, Anamur, Alanya, Side, Antalya, Aspendos, Perge, Termessos, Egirdir, Isparta, Sagalassos.

In September 2004 we went for a city trip to Istanbul. A full trip report is provided with photos of Eminonu, the Bosphorus, the City Walls, Kariye Museum or Chora Church, Eyup, the Archeological Museum, Topkapi,

In addition, there are special sections and links regarding Turkish language, Turkish history, and Turkish culture can be found here. 

Turkey, especially the Eastern provinces of Turkey,  Eastern Anatolia,  is indeed a magnificent country for the independent traveller and tourist with vast steppes, high mountains and nice beaches. Adventurous Eastern Turkey offers a magnificent scenery for a vacation, full of remains of ancient and lost civilizations with tourism still undeveloped. From a security point of view, it is perhaps the safest country in the Middle East. Among the highlights of a holiday in Turkey there are : Istanbul, the city of wonders and desires, the fairy-tale like castle of Ishak Pasha overlooking the vast plain at the foot of Mount Ararat, the ruins of the ancient Urartian civilization at Van, mysterious Ani the ancient capital of the Armenians, and Nemrut mountain with its mysterious idols.  Also nature is splendid and unspoiled with landscapes and scenery one is never to forget. There are the vast steppes, the snow-capped top of Mount Ararat, the cloud-reaching mountains and fertile green valleys near Artvin, the blue-green waters of the Van lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains and grazing herds of cattle. Three voyages, starting in Eastern Anatolia are reported as photo album. The first tour started in Doğubayazit with the magic of the Kurdish castle of Ishak Pasha and the mysterious Mount Ararat with the remains of Noah's Ark. After that, we went to lake Van with the archeological sites of Urartian civilizations and then to the proud city of Diyarbakir with its basalt defense walls and  Mardin with the monasteries and churches of the Assyrian Chaldean Christians. We continued  through the South-Eastern provinces near the borders of Iran, Iraq, and Syria to visit Sanli Urfa the sanctuary of Abraham and Harran with the beehive houses and the oldest university. Then we headed West and visited Mount Nemrut and Cappadocia. After a short stop at Konya to visit the shrine of Mevlana, we headed to the lake district where we spent some days at lake Egirdir with its nice lake beach. From here we took a short excursion to the archeological site of Sagalassos. The journey ended at the Aegean sea, at Kuşadası. Apart from Kusadasi tourism is still on a low basis. The mysterious landscape near Doğubayazit, the beauty of Lake Van, the Oriental splendor of Urfa, and the wonders of the world at Mount Nemrut and Cappadocia made it all more than worthwile. Of particular interest were also the Belgian excavations at  the ancient site of Sagalassos near the town of Isparta.

Our vacation a year later, we made a second journey. Now we headed for the Black Sea coast region. The main attractions in this holiday were a visit to the ruined Armenian capital of Ani near the Armenian border, the monastery of Sumela near Trabzon, and Hattusha the ancient capital of the Hittites, the ancient rulers of Anatolia. We started at the religious city of Erzurum, from which we went further to the Turkish-Russian border to the border town of Kars, which was a base for our visit to Ani. From Kars it went on through the Kackar Mountains (part of the Kaukasus) to the alpine city of Artvin and the tea plantations of Hopa. Then we reached the Black Sea and spent some time in dynamic Trabzon, the ancient Trebizonde. We headed further to Central Turkey to Amasya, city of the Pontic Kings, Strabo, and the Ottoman Sultans with its nice old Ottoman Houses. Next came Sungurlu as our base to visit Hattushas capital of the Hittite Kingdom after which we continued to Ankara with the Archeological Museum a must see if you want to know about the history of Anatolia and Turkey and the monumental tomb of Ataturk. The tour went further to Afyon the city of opium, to end in Izmir where we made a small boat trip to the Izmir Karşıyaka district and then further to Kusadasi at the Aegean Sea.  This trip is best appreciated by the experienced  traveller. Large scale tourism like in Kusadasi has not yet penetrated in these places and cities, but for the true independent traveler these places are real jewels. The very convenient public transportation system, mainly by bus, of Turkey makes traveling light for the individual traveler. 

The 2004 cultural vacation tour went along the Mediterranean coast covering Turkey from the Syrian border in Antakya to Antalya. The main highlights were the magnificent coast line, the lost cities inland as well as better known tourist attractions like Side, Aspendos and Perge. The tour started in Adana, from which we went to Antakya or Hatay, with as main attractions the Roman mosaics and the cave church of Saint Peter. From Antakya we returned to Adana, to continue further to Mersin Turkey's most important port sea along the Mediterranean coast. From Mersin we visited Tarsus, the place where Saint Paul was born. Next we headed further following the Mediterranean coast to Kizkalesi, a lovely place with a fantastic beach and a fairy tale castle just in front in the middle of the sea.  With Kizkalesi as a base we visited some archeological highlights like Uzuncaburc and Kanlidivane. Then we went further via Silifke to Anamur with its famous castle at the most southern point of Turkey: Cape Anamur. We continued our tour along Turkey's Mediterranean coast to reach Alanya with its spectacular scenery, Side with the temple of Apollo and lovely Antalya. Antalya was our base to visit the ancient Greek and Roman cities of Perge, Aspendos and Termessos. From Antalya, we went north to the lake district where we stayed some days in Egirdir or Egridir as it sometimes called where we visited once again the archeological place of Sagalassos. We ended our tour once again in Kusadasi.

In September 2004, we made a six day city trip to Istanbul, the city of wonders and desires. We stayed in the Eminönü-Sirkeci district located in the old city center near the Sultanahmet district close to Topkapi palace, Hagia Sofia church-museum, and the Blue Mosque. A boat trip along the bosphorus was certainly one of the highlights of this city trip, but every day in Istanbul is a bit like a day in paradise. A visit to the ancient city walls, the Chora church and Eyup Sultan is certainly something to remember always, as is the performance of the Mehter, the famous Yanitsar orchestra in the Istanbul's Military Museum.

In 2005 it was time to make the historical Lycian tour. We started in Antalya and after a visit to the breathtaking mountain site of Termessos, sometimes referred to as Turkish Machu Picchu, we headed for Olympos - Cirali. A stay at this idyllic place with a visit to the ruins of Olimpos and Phaselis was completed by a night excursion to the eternal flames of the Chimaera. Then it went further to Myra the city that was home to Santaclaus a long long time ago. With Demre - Kale as a base we made a marvelous boat trip along the turquoise coast to the Turkish island  of Kekova famous for his sunken city. Onwards it went to beautiful Kas, the ruin cities of Patara, Letoon and Xanthos to stop for lunch in Arcadian Saklikent and finally to the beatiful Greek - Turkish fishing village of  Kalkan where we stayed some nights just to enjoy and take a well deserved rest.

From Kalkan the trip went further to Fethiye with a mini blue cruise along the 12 islands that along the Turquoise coast. Fethiye is surrounded by ancient Lycian cities such as Tlos and Cadyanda, world class beaches and emerald green islands. Next destination was Dalyan with its rock tombs, reet beds, and endless beach.  

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