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With its broad vistas and dramatic,
spare scenery, Eastern Turkey is
like one vast national park.
Summer is the best time to visit,
as the region is high and mountainous,
and given to late thaws and early snows.
When the Mediterranean resort
city of Antalya is
engulfed in sticky summer heat, in Erzurum the
air is dry and pleasant. (If you come
in winter, do it for skiing.)
Come for the sweeping scenery,
for the many striking archeological
sites, for the architecture of
the region's historic buildings, and
for a look at life as it was lived
in an earlier time.
Eastern Turkey
is less developed than West,
and you may still see farmers in small
villages winnow grain in the wind,
the old-fashioned way.
Because of the distances in the East
(maps),
and its distance from the cities of
the West, allow at least a week to
tour the East. Have a look at my Recommended
Itinerary (11 to 15 days, including
the Black
Sea coast and the Southeast).
Here's where to go and what to
see:
Dogubeyazit: In
the shadow of Mount
Ararat, this town four hours' ride
east of Erzurum is the jumping-off
point for trips into Iran, and
for visits to the dramatic Ishak
Pasha Palace 6 km (4 miles) east
of town.
Erzurum: The "capital" and
largest city in the East, it has a
university, big army base, airport, Palandöken
ski area, and several fine Seljuk and Ottoman buildings.
It's a good base for visits to the Kaçkar
Mountains, Dogubeyazit and Mount
Ararat.
Kaçkar
Mountains: The Kaçkar
Range north of Erzurum is excellent
for trekking and river
rafting. Its small mountain
towns (like Yusufeli) produce
abundant crops of fruit, and often
harbor interesting 1000-year-old
churches left from the time
when this was the medieval Kingdom
of Georgia.
Kars & Ani: Held
by the Russians for 42 years, Kars
has the feeling of an outpost of
empire. It's about as different
from Istanbul as you can get (in Turkey).
It's an interesting place, and serves
delicious honey and butter for
breakfast. Kars is your base for visits
to the great medieval Armenian capital
of Ani,
45 km (28 miles) to the east. You can
also cross into Georgia at Posof.
Lake
Van: The only river outlet
from this vast inland sea was blocked
by volcanic eruption millennia
ago, so the lake is highly alkaline,
like Israel's Dead Sea. Around
it are several historic towns including
the city of Van and nearby
archeological site of Çavustepe,
with cuneiform inscriptions dating
back to the Kingdom of Urartu almost
3000 years ago. At Ahlat on
the north shore there's an eery
Seljuk
Turkish cemetery, the only
one of its kind in Turkey.
Nemrut
Dagi: "Mount Nimrod," south
of Malatya and
north of Adiyaman and Kahta,
is one of Turkey's most astounding
sights: an artifical mountaintop framed
by two great temples littered with colossal
statues of gods—and one megalomaniac
king. You gotta see it.
The
Southeast: This is a separate
climatic region which, unlike the
East, is best visited anytime except summer.
If you combine it with a tour of
the East, be aware of the climate
difference. Details
on the Southeast.
Click
here for maps of Turkey,
including Eastern Turkey.
Eastern
Turkey: Recommended Itinerary
Black
Sea Coast
Central
Anatolia
Southeastern
Turkey
Where to
Go
Turkey
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