Day Trips from Ankara

The world-famous fairy-chimney landscape is only 3 hr away, making it the ultimate bucket-list day trip. Walk Byzantine cave churches decorated with 10th-century frescoes, then hike the pink-tinged canyon of Rose Valley at sunset for postcard vistas of cones and pigeon houses.

A surreal white expanse that changes colour with ankara weather, Tuz Gölı is Turkey’s second-largest saline lake and a haven for flamingos. Pair it with a soak in 40 °C mineral springs inside the pine forests of Soğuksu National Park just 30 min further north.

Step into the 3 500-year-old Hittite world at this open-air museum of temples, lion gates and cuneiform tablets. The nearby village of Boğazcekme offers pottery workshops using the same red clay the Hittites once traded on the Silk Road.

A well preserved 19th-century trading town famous for its silver filigree, honey-glazed carrot delight and 300-year-old mansions. Wander the arched bazaar, climb Suluhan Caravanserai tower and finish with carrot lokum in the old hammam courtyard.

Cool alpine air, 1 000-year-old Scots pines and a board-walked canyon make this the quickest wilderness escape. Finish with a trout lunch by the Ankara River and a dip in 46 °C thermal mud baths reputed to ease rheumatism.

A hidden granite gorge laced with wooden walkways that locals use for weekend barbecues. Rent a bike, pedal the 12 km lakeside track and cool off with organic cherry ice-cream from roadside orchards.

See the world’s oldest standing wooden building, the 2 700-year-old tomb of King Midas, and the knot Alexander the Great allegedly cut. The small but excellent museum displays golden fibulae and bronze drinking bowls.

Turkey’s city of whirling dervishes is an easy high-speed rail ride south. Tour the turquoise-tiled Mevlana Museum, watch the midday sema ceremony and sample etli ekmek (flat-bread pizza) in the medieval bazaar before the evening train home.