PULL-OUT MAP. Experience the best of Turkey. Discover. Turkey

Transcription

1 Turkey Discover Experience the best of Turkey PULL-OUT MAP

2 Discover Turkey Contents I Throughout this book, we use these icons to highlight special recommendations: The Best Lists for everything from bars to wildlife to make sure you don t miss out Don t Miss A must-see don t go home until you ve been there Local experts reveal their top picks and secret highlights Detour Special places a little off the beaten track If you like Lesser-known alternatives to world-famous attractions These icons help you quickly identify reviews in the text and on the map: 1 Sights 5 Eating 6 Drinking 4 Sleeping 8 Information This edition written and researched by James Bainbridge Brett Atkinson, Chris Deliso, Steve Fallon, Will Gourlay, Jessica Lee, Virginia Maxwell, Tom Spurling

3 İstanbul p51 p105 Gallipoli & the North Aegean p143 p185 Ephesus, Bodrum & the South Aegean Cappadocia & Central Anatolia p233 Antalya & the Mediterranean Coast p285 Eastern Anatolia İstanbul Highlights...54 Aya Sofya Topkapı Palace Grand Bazaar Ferry Cruises Beyoğlu Nightlife Basilica Cistern Blue Mosque Cappadocia & Central Anatolia Highlights Cappadocia Safranbolu Pamukkale Sagalassos Eğirdir Amasya Afrodisias Gallipoli & the North Aegean Highlights Gallipoli Peninsula Bergama (Pergamum) Ayvalık Old Town Historic Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling Festival İzmir Bozcaada Behramkale & Assos Eastern Anatolia Highlights Ani Kaçkar Mountains Nemrut Dağı (Mt Nemrut) Mardin Sumela Monastery Lake Van Şanlıurfa (Urfa) Ephesus, Bodrum & the South Aegean Highlights Ephesus Bodrum Datça & Bozburun Peninsulas Miletus Priene Bodrum Peninsula Didyma

4 Contents Plan Your Trip On the Road Antalya & the Mediterranean Coast Highlights Kaleiçi Patara Kekova Antakya (Hatay) Cuisine Kızkalesi Blue Voyages Ölüdeniz This Is Turkey...6 Turkey Map...8 Turkey s Top 25 Experiences...10 Turkey s Top Itineraries...32 Turkey Month by Month What s New Get Inspired...47 Need to Know İstanbul 51 Highlights Best Walking Tour Gallipoli & the North Aegean 105 Highlights Best Itineraries Gallipoli (Gelibolu) Peninsula Çanakkale Edirne Troy (Truva) Bozcaada Behramkale & Assos Ayvalık Bergama (Pergamum) İzmir Acropolis...138

5 Contents Ephesus, Bodrum & the South Aegean 143 Highlights Best Itineraries Ephesus (Efes) Selçuk Kuşadası Bodrum Priene, Miletus & Didyma Dilek Peninsula Bodrum Peninsula Şirince Datça & Bozburun Peninsulas Antalya & the Mediterranean Coast 185 Highlights Best Itineraries Fethiye Ölüdeniz Patara Kayaköy Kaş Xanthos Kekova Olympos & Çıralı Antalya Alanya Anemurium Anamur Narlıkuyu and Caves of Heaven & Hell Kızkalesi Antakya (Hatay) Cappadocia & Central Anatolia 233 Highlights Best Itineraries Cappadocia Göreme Ihlara Valley (Ihlara Vadisi) Kaymaklı Derinkuyu Soğanlı Central & Western Anatolia Bursa Pamukkale Afrodisias Eğirdir Sagalassos Ankara Boğazkale, Hattuşa & Yazılıkaya Safranbolu Amasya Eastern Anatolia 285 Highlights Best Itineraries Black Sea Coast Trabzon Sumela Monastery Northeastern Anatolia Kaçkar Mountains Kars Fırtına Valley Ani Southeastern Anatolia Şanlıurfa (Urfa) Göbekli Tepe Doğubayazıt Nemrut Dağı National Park Mardin Lake Van Van

6 In Focus Survival Guide Turkey Today History Family Travel Architecture Turkish Table Arts People Environment Directory Accommodation Activities Business Hours Customs Regulations Discount Cards Electricity Gay & Lesbian Travellers Health Insurance Internet Access Legal Matters Money Public Holidays Safe Travel Telephone Time Toilets Tourist Information Travellers with Disabilities Visas Women Travellers Transport Getting There & Away Getting Around Language Behind the Scenes Index How to Use this book Our Writers

7 This is Turkey Turkey s dramatic landscape is a fitting canvas for the country s long history. It sweeps from Europe to Asia, from sun-baked Aegean beaches to expansive steppe, and from Mediterranean bays to snowy mountains. A succession of empires, armies, pilgrims and traders have passed through Anatolia (Asian Turkey). Ottoman sultans, Byzantine emperors, whirling dervishes and Christian saints have all left clues, monuments, ciphers and ruins that add lyricism and romance to Turkey s scenery. Lycian tombs poke above the waterline in Mediterranean coves, fresco-filled cave churches survey Cappadocia s surreal fairy chimneys, and the marble streets of Ephesus (Efes) glint in the Aegean sun. Contemporary Turkey s rich culture combines these diverse historical influences. Here you can start the day in the bazaar, lunch on a kebap or köfte (meatballs) and spend the afternoon touring ruins, before hearing the sunset call to prayer and hitting a seafood restaurant or meyhane (Turkish tavern). Reflecting Turkish society s mix of Islamic, secular, traditional and modern elements, the country s cities range from breathtaking, continent-straddling İstanbul to southeastern outposts where minarets shimmer in the heat haze. There are countless ways to enjoy Turkey s charms. It s an extraordinary cauldron of Eastern mystique, Mediterranean joie de vivre, urban sophistication and slow-paced rural life. Soak in the hamam, have a meze-and-rakı (aniseed brandy) session, seek out wind-whipped ruins or tour İstanbul s palaces: Turkey offers more than the keenest Grand Bazaar shopkeeper. For physical activities, southwest Turkey reigns supreme. It is lined with beaches and dive spots, white-water rapids roar out of mountain ranges and walking trails lead to villages and ruins. You can kayak over the submerged remains of a city or paraglide from a 2000m-high peak; either way, don t miss the Turkish ritual of sipping a tulip-shaped glass of sweet black çay. Turkey offers more than the keenest Grand Bazaar shopkeeper Hot-air ballooning in Göreme (p251), Cappadocia PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRIS CHEADLE/GETTY IMAGES 6

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