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Turkey
City Guide
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Turkey Travel Guide
PRACTICAL INFORMATION - Official name: the Republic of Turkey
- Capital: Ankara
- Language: Turkish (official), Arabic (other), Kurdish (other), Laz (other).
- Religión: Muslim (Sunni)
- Currency: New Turkish Lira (YTL)
- Climate: The climate is a Mediterranean temperate climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet and cold winters, though conditions can be much harsher in the more arid interior. Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the interior of Turkey a continental climate with distinct seasons.
Turkey Sights and Museums
WHAT TO SEE CAPPADOCIA: One of the most visited regions in Turkey, this is also one of the most fascinating locations you will ever visit. From the underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymakli to the Valley of the Fairy Chimneys or Peribacalar Vadisi, Cappadocia is regarded by many as a virtual geological playground. Indeed, it is this particular feature which makes it so unique as most its attractions have been created entirely by natural forces.
ANKARA: Turkey's capital is a sprawling urban mass in the midst of the Central Anatolian steppe. It's very different from the Ottoman town of Angora which preceded it on this site, a quiet place known for its fluffy jumpers of knitted goat fleece. Several significant attractions make it worth a short visit in Turkey.
Most visitors head straight for Hisar, the Byzantine citadel atop the hill east of the old city, and the nearby Museum of Anatolian Civilsations. Just south is Atatürk's mausoleum, a monumental building, spare but beautiful, that echoes the architecture of several great Anatolian empires inside Turkey.
ANTALYA: is the chief city on Turkey's central Mediterranean coast. As well as several km of pebble beaches and a historic Roman-Ottoman core, Antalya is a good base from which to explore the quieter beach towns and more spectacular ancient cities of Turkey.
Side, 75km (47mi) east of Antalya, is the increasingly popular beach town once chosen by Mark Antony and Cleopatra for a romantic tryst. Alanya, 115km (71mi) east of Antalya, is another sea-sun-n-sand joint with a mini-Miami feel. Patara is a party town a few hundred km south-west of Antalya.
ISTANBUL: Straddling the Bosphorus, its skyline studded with domes and minarets, Istanbul is one of the truly great romantic cities. Its history tracks back from Byzantium to Constantinople to its place at the head of the Ottoman Empire. Today it hums as Turkey's cultural heart and good-time capital.
In this sprawling, continent-spanning city you can tramp the streets where crusaders and janissaries once marched; admire mosques that are the most sublime architectural expressions of Islamic piety; peer into the sultan's harem; and hunt for bargains in the Kapali Çarsi (Grand Bazaar).
Turkey Entertainment
EVENTS The dates for Muslim religious festivals are celebrated according to a lunar calendar. Only two religious holidays are public holidays: Seke r Bayrami, a 3-day festival at the end of Ramazan (30 days when a good Muslim lets nothing pass the lips during daylight hours), and Kurban Bayrami which commemorates Ibrahim's near-sacrifice of Ismael on Mt Moriah. In commemoration of God permitting Ibrahim to sacrifice a ram instead of his son, every Turkish household who can afford a sheep buys one, takes it home and slits its throat right after the early morning prayers on the actual day of the bayram. Family and friends immediately cook up a feast. You must plan for Kurban Bayrami: most banks close for a full week, transportation will be packed and hotel rooms will be scarce and expensive.
Secular festivities include camel-wrestling in mid-January, in the village of Selçuk, south of Izmir, and National Sovereignty Day, April 23, a big holiday to celebrate the first meeting of the republican parliament in 1920. Celebrations abound in summer: there's a sloppy oiled wrestling festival in early June at Sarayiçi, near Edirne; the country Kafkasör Festival near Artvin in northeastern Turkey in the 3rd week of June; the International Istanbul Festival of the Arts (late June to mid-July); Bursa's Folklore and Music Festival in mid-July and Diyarbakir's Watermelon Festival in mid or late September. The whole country stops, just for a moment, at 09:05 November 10, the time of Atatürk's death in 1938.
Turkey Transports
HOW TO GET THERE There are plenty of ways to get into and out of Turkey by air, sea, rail and bus. There are international airports at Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and some of the Mediterranean resorts. Turkish Airlines has direct flights from Istanbul to three dozen European cities and New York, as well as the Middle East, North Africa, Bangkok, Karachi, Singapore and Tokyo.
By train, the daily Bosfor Ekspresi links Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade and Sofia to Istanbul. Major European cities such as Frankfurt and Vienna are also well serviced by Turkish bus lines. The overnight Dostluk Ekspresi links Istanbul to Thessaloniki and is becoming a popular option with travellers. You can travel by train and bus to Syria and Iran, and by bus to Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Marmara Lines runs car ferries from Çesme to Ancona and Brindisi from late March to late October. Private ferries run between Turkey's Aegean coast and the Greek islands.
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