Tatvan, Lake Van, Eastern Turkey

Tatvan was built in the 19th century to serve the railroad: trains from Istanbul and Ankara arrived here, the rail cars were loaded onto big lake ferries and transported across the great salt Lake Van to the city of Van, from which some cars went on to Iran.

Thus Tatvan has a selection of hotels and restaurants, none of which are great, some of which are serviceable.

The PKK Kurdish terrorism of the 1980s and 1990s curtailed rail service, not to mention tourism, so Tatvan's role switched from civilian and commercial to military.

With the decline of the PKK Tatvan's tourism fortunes may revive because it's well placed to be a base for visits to the Seljuk Turkish monuments of Ahlat, the crater lake in the extinct volcano of Nemrut Dagi, and Akdamar Island.

For you, Tatvan is probably a lunch stop or at most a one-night stay on your way to the city of Van from Erzurum or Diyarbakir.

Many buses stop here on their way to and from Van. The Vangölü Ekspresi (Lake Van Express) train from Istanbul via Ankara operates twice a week taking about 41 hours for the run. It leaves Istanbul (Haydarpasa) in the evening on Sunday and Friday, and Tatvan in the morning on Tuesday and Thursday. See the Turkish State Railways website for the schedule. The nearest airport to Tatvan is at Van.