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Guide to Southern Turkey (Anatolia): Why Visit / Itinerary

This guide summarizes why to visit, when to visit, safety, visas, how to get in, how to get around and a sample two-week itinerary. Excellent news, there are many reasons to visit southern Turkey. Everybody, from young to old, history buff to nature lover or foodie, will find plenty.

Why visit Anatolia?

If you are looking for a region with outstanding history over the last few millenia, excellent food, natural scenery with few, if any, Western tourists, south-eastern Turkey is the place for you. The history spans a few millenia with Hittites, Frygians, Parthans, Greeks, Romans, Crusaders and Ottomans all making their mark in religion, culture, cities and food. In south-eastern Turkey you can actually see the remaining of their civilizations within a few hours drive from each other. All without crossing any borders in a stable and safe environment with relaxed visa requirements. In addition, the flight/coach/bus/minibus transportation is excellent. There is a broad spectrum of accommodations for any budget. Food is varying and outstanding. There are few foreign tourists, and people are nice to you.

No masses of Western tourists or tours are creating two outstanding effects.

(1) Anatolia is inexpensive

Firstly, the area is inexpensive and great value. You can find a dorm bed for $10 or less, and a quality 3* hotel room for $20, which would easily be at least twice the cost in western Turkey. This is still a region where there is no double-tier pricing system for tourists. You will not be charged five / thirty times the local rate (hello Indonesia park entry tickets). There are also few venues geared towards the Western guests with the usual tourist traps. A glass of excellent refreshing limonata in Sanliurfa perfect to quench your thirst will still cost you $0.15 regardless if you are a tourist and easily recognizable as one.

(2) Not over-commercialized yet

Secondly, most of the time you will be treated in a “normal” way and not as a potential source of overcharged prices. It seems that most people will want to talk to you because of the genuine interest in this random Western tourist, who ventured off-the-beaten track to visit their city. Because there are few foreign tourists, especially after the pandemic, you will be appreciated that you came to southern Turkey. You will be invited to tens glasses of tea with the customary questions:

  • “do you like Turkey?”
  • “do you like <insert the current city here>?”
  • “what do you like in <insert the current city here>?”
  • or, the slightly sensitive one, “is our food better than in <insert the next major city>?”.

And the weird thing is that this will be in many cities there, not just one. Of course, there will be differences but, in general, a breath of fresh air after the standard heavily commercialized tourist heavens.

Please go and visit. And please go and visit now. Before the waves of the Western tourists descend.

When to visit Anatolia?

The climate in south-eastern Turkey is chilly winters and scorching hot summers. The best time is mid-April to mid-June and late September to early November.

Guide to Turkey: Safety

I have not had any uncomfortable encounters, even though I was frequently walking late at night. I have not witnessed any attempted thefts or any aggression on the streets.

Guide to Turkey: Visas

Tourists from the EU, United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and many others are “exempted from visa up to 90 days in any 180-day period”. Citizens of the United States, Australia, People’s Republic of China do need a visa.

A comprehensive country list with the corresponding visa requirements is attached in this website of the Turkish Ministry for Foreign Affairs:

https://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa

A link to the evisa website is attached below. The evisa application is relatively straightforward, with three steps (application, payment, visa download), credit card payment is enabled. You will receive the visa emailed to your address.

https://www.evisa.gov.tr/

Guide to Turkey: Get In

All major cities in Anatolia have good transportation links:

(1) Fly

Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Corendon Airlines and SunExpress are the major airlines in Turkey. Turkish Airlines is a more premium offering with the remaining more similar to Southwest, Spirit and Frontier in the U.S. or Ryanair in Europe.

Major cities have their own regional airports differing in the distance to city center. The transportation choices to the city center are usually (a) Havas airport bus, (b) shuttle bus, (c) taxi (unfortunately, no subway or train connections). Please find the detailed information in the corresponding city sections.

(2) Coach / Bus

Turkey has a well-developed long-distance bus / coach system. Especially on the longer-distance connections, buses / coaches are modern Mercedes / etc. vehicles with air conditioning, wifi and a stewart serving tea (unlikely on Greyhound, National Express or Megabus!). Instead of the 2+2 seat arrangement prevalent on the U.S. and European buses, many buses have a 2+1 setup.

The long-distance coach bus system is run not by one centralized company, but many local enterprises competing on overlapping routes. Some long-distance coach stations are conveniently located in the city center (e.g., Denizli), but many are miles away (e.g., Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir), and you have to take a minibus (e.g., Diyarbakir, Mardin) or a city bus (e.g., Sanliurfa) for approximately $0.30 one way.

The individual coach companies are hub-based (e.g., Mardin Seyahat, Oz Diyarbakir). Therefore, the coaches from the local company start on time with no delays as they do not connect from another city. After I had waited for a coach delayed by two hours at midnight in Kayseri, I have always tried to take a local hub coach just starting its ride.

There are differences among various coach companies in punctuality, comfort, wifi speed and seat arrangement (2+1 vs 2+2). The prices are generally similar, but higher for the higher-quality companies by up to 10-20%. I liked for example Kamil Koç or Ben Turizm.

Be prepared, Turkey is a vast country and the distances are long. In the end, I considered a 2-3 hour bus ride short, 4-5 medium and anything over 8 long. A special mention to some overnight buses with unstable air conditioning and blasting local music at 4am.

(3) Minibus (dolmus pronounced “DOL-moosh”)

An efficient system popular in the region of e.g., Mercedes minibuses, which depart when full. If your dolmus is not going where you want to go, there will be another one (or three), which will get you exactly where you want to be. It might be annoying that they are actively searching for additional passangers on the road and you might feel they are stopping every 60 seconds. On the other hand, they will drop you off at any point you wish (well, probably not exactly at a roundabout but almost anything else works).

(4) Train

Unfortunately, there is no well-developed train system in south-eastern Turkey. A similar setup as in e.g., Izmir in western Turkey, would be welcome.

Guide to Turkey: Get Around

(1) Walking

By far my preferred method of transportation in south-eastern Turkish cities. Suppousedly excedingly healthy, environmentally-friendly and relatively cheap. Probably most importantly, the best way to observe and meet the people and “soak the local atmosphere”. Those Mesopotamian cities are thousands of years old, so they are relatively compact and walkable. Also, many/most historical sites are within the old city limits or the existing city walls (e.g., Diyarbakir).

(2) Minibus (dolmus)

Same logic as above, no prior reservation required. You might have to be a bit patient but a dolmus (or three) will get you to wherever you want to be. Even in the smallest village in Anatolia.

(3) Taxi

Available everywhere, most in the familiar yellow color. Always determine the approximate cost before (rome2rio.com a good start).

NEVER enter a taxi BEFORE agreeing on the total cost to your final destination. This includes your luggage. Do not let it be put into the trunk BEFORE you agreed on the price.

Negotiate / haggle if you think overpriced. This is expected, do not disappoint the drivers by accepting inflated prices. You will also do a disservice to the other tourists in the future.

South-eastern Turkey Itinerary (2 weeks)

Nemrut Dagi – Sanliurfa (Urfa as is commonly known) – Mardin – Diyarbakir – Gaziantep (Antep) – Hatay (Antakya / Antioch)

Day 1-2: Guide to Nemrut Dagi, Turkey (2022)

Day 3-5: Sanliurfa and Göbekli tepe (11,000 years old!)

Day 6-7: Mardin: ancient Silk Road town

Day 8-9: Diyarbakir

Day 10-12: Gaziantep (Zeugma mosaics and best food in Turkey)

Day 13-14: Hatay: kunefe desert and Greek mosaics

Sanliurfa and Göbekli tepe (11,000 years old!)

This guide to Sanliurfa (commonly called Urfa) and Göbekli tepe includes why visit, how to get there, where to stay, what to do, and where to eat, and where to go next.

Why to go to Sanliurfa and Göbekli tepe?

If you like to learn other cultures and religions, are interested in the Neolithic, Greek, Roman and Islamic history and monuments, are willing to try new exotic food, and be in the company of some of the nicest people in Turkey, then Sanliurfa is the place for you.

Birthplace of Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic), which is a pilgrimage site in Islam. Closest city to Gőbeklitepe, a Neolithic excavation site which might be 11,000 years old (that would be older than the Eqyptian pyramids or Stonehenge in the U.K.). One of the best museums in Turkey preparing well for the Gőbeklitepe tour. An exquisitely-designed Balikligöl park with the impressive mosques. Delicious local food (e.g., refreshing limonata from the street hawkers, ciger / liver kebab, gargantuan sun-ripened watermelons, apricots and cherries for under $1 per kilo). Urfa people, who will invite you to cay / tea tens of times a day, even when you bought a limonata which is cheaper than tea served so, technically, a loss for the seller.

I went to Urfa to see the Göbekli tepe (who doesn’t want to one of the oldest human settlements in history as described by CNN?), but extended my stay for the city, its sites, food and people. In other words, an excellent destination. Sanliurfa is conservative: modest clothing for both men and women (no shorts) and there is no alcohol (at least officially) available.

A word of caution, Urfa gets VERY hot in the summer with the regular 40C+ (104F+) temperatures.

How to get to Sanliurfa and Göbekli tepe?

How to get to Sanliurfa?

Sanliurfa is well connected. You can travel to Diyarbakir, Mardin, Gaziantep every 15-30 minutes with many coaches to Istanbul and Ankara. Nevsehir (for Cappadoccia and Göreme) is available direct on Neveshir Seyahat or Cizre Nuh coach lines four times a day. From Kahta there are minibuses (dolmus) directly to Urfa or Siverek, and then taking another dolmus to Urfa.

Unfortunately, the main long-distance bus station (“otogar”) is located in the new city part of Urfa, and getting to the city buses is not well signed. When arriving on a long-distance coach, you will probably come to the arrival lower level. Please take the escalator up to the upper-level departures and exit the station through the main doors. You will see a large parking with many yellow taxis, which you want to cross to the other side and climb the stairs (similar to many other passengers). You will get to the road with a bus stop immediately to your right.

Unfortunately, this is the wrong bus stop (as I might have learned) going further to the new city and all the high-rise residential buildings. You want to cross the road to the bus stop on the other side, which will take you to the city center. There are many buses going there including bus 35, please ask the driver for “Balikligöl”, which is located in the city center. You might arrive at the city bus station, which is approximately 20 minutes away (walking distance) from the city center and 30 minutes from the historic Balikligöl park. Alternatively, you can take another city bus to your hotel or another destination. As of September 2022, the city bus ticket was TRY5 ($0.30). The city buses accept credit cards and the Urfa card, which is a city transportation card.

How to get to Göbekli tepe?

Taking a public bus is by far the best option. Otherwise you would have to negotiate with a taxi driver to take you there, wait for 1-2 hours (or whatever time you want to spend there), and the ride back. I was quoted the initial prices of $50 when I gave up on the taxi.

The public bus to Göbekli tepe departs from the Sanliurfa Archeological museum. If you are facing the museum main entrance, the stop is in on the other side of the building to your right.

The bus departs from this stop at 09:45, 12:45 and 15:45.

It waits at Göbekli tepe for 2 hours and returns from the site at 12:00, 15:00 and 17:30.

Effectively, you have 2 hours for the small museum, visitor center and the site itself. Given the excavation site is small, it is sufficient.

Do NOT be late for your departure, otherwise you will have to wait another 2.5-3 hours. There are no taxis waiting at the archeological site.

Where to stay in Sanliurfa?

Given many Turkish tourists, Sanliurfa has many hotels across the price spectrum. The budget choice popular with the Western backpackers is the Ugur Hotel located on the main road next to the Harran hotel (a large venue with the wedding business booming on weekends). It has single/double/triple rooms with shared and private bathrooms with high ceilings and air conditioning. The owner, Mr Mustafa, is fluent in English and will help with ANY question related to the transportation, sites, local restaurants, etc. There is a lovely terrace where guests tend to congregate, sip tea and share stories in the evenings, a positive vibe always present.

What to do in Sanliurfa?

Where to start, where to start?

(1) Guide to Sanliurfa: Göbekli tepe

https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?sectionId=SGT01&distId=SGT

Most Western tourists (including truly yours) are coming to Sanliurfa, because of the newly-discovered (1994) Göbekli tepe archeological site. It is a full attraction including the Göbekli tepe visitor center and the archeological site covered by an interesting canopy offering well-appreciated sun protection. In addition, there is excellent exhibition in the Sanliurfa museum 15 minutes from city center, the bazaar and Balikligöl. The site is one of many in south-eastern Turkey, but has been extensively developed and marketed.

It has not been used as a settlement but served as a temple. Located on the top of the mountain with expansive views, only a small part of the site has been excavated, and has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018, which is relatively recent. The tourist numbers have been increasing but are probably still low in comparison with the expected volumes 3/5/10 years from now. Yes, there is a visitor center with the tourist coaches coming in but probably nothing to compare with in a few years time. In other words, if you are into history and the most recent discoveries (and who isn’t?), this might be the time to go there, before the site is completely full.

So what is the reason for this sudden explosion of interest? Göbekli tepe contains megaliths which weigh 7-10 tons, are approximately 18ft in height, and are located in small elliptical areas. Its reason for the recent fame is that the carbon dating determined their age at approximately 11,000-12,000 years, which is approximately 7,000 years older than Stonehenge in the U.K. In comparison, the Egyptian pyramids of Giza are relatively young at 4,500 years old. Göbekli tepe was abandoned at approximately 8,000 BC and has not been used for similar religious purposes.

Please do not skip the visitor center. For an additional TRY10 ($0.60), there is a small interesting exhibition with a video beamed onto the walls and floor depicting an artist’s impression of potential religious rites at the site. Good quality and hypnotic music is well worth the extra cost and a few minutes.

(2) Guide to Sanliurfa: Sanliurfa Archeological Museum

https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?sectionId=SUM02&distId=SUM

Probably the best preparation for Göbekli tepe is the Sanliurfa Archeological Museum located in the city center. For TRY40 ($2.40) you will visit an excellent museum, which was opened in 2015. Its design is similar to the other outstanding museums in Gaziantep (Zeugma mosaics) or Hatay. All are a new wave of modern, expansive, multi-sensory museums in Turkey with artistic touches and excellent air-conditioning (appreciated in June!).

Some of the exhibits are impressive and well-displayed for maximum surprise effect such as the Göbekli man. He will be starting at you intently when you enter his dark room.

A recreation of the main Göbekli tepe area is excellent. Arrive at the museum opening time of 8:00AM, and you might be there all by yourself.

After the prehistoric exhibits you will flow with time and see the Assyrian, Babylonian and Hittite, and Roman artifacts. For some Western tourists, those non-Greek and non-Roman might be very interesting and pretty exotic, few similar items in the museums in Paris, London or New York.

In terms of the order, I would suggest starting with the museum, which will make the following visit to Göbekli tepe much more informative and enjoyable. When in Göbekli tepe, please do not skip the visitor center. Most tour groups do, so you will be able to enjoy it almost by yourself.

(3) Guide to Sanliurfa: Mosaics Museum

There is also an impressive mosaic museum next to the Sanliurfa Archeological Museum. During the same day you can use the Archeological Museum’s ticket to gain free entry to the Mosaic Museum. In other words, it is a free option five minutes away. The mosaics are impressive and well-laid in a huge building. You will be walking on modern glass walkways on top of the original mosaics. Many mosaics are in an excellent condition and have escaped the looters over the centuries. They are a great introduction into the Roman and Byzantine mosaics with the Gaziantep’s Zeugma and Hatay museum on par with Bardo in Tunisia.

(4) Guide to Sanliurfa: Balikligöl Park

No guide to Sanliurfa would be complete without the Balikligöl Park. A major pilgrimage site in Islam as the birthplace of prophet Abraham (Ibrahim). It is located in an impressive mosque with the cave well-lit and behind a protective glass. There is water for purification when entering this religious site.

There are a few open-air cafes with comfortable sofas and chairs under the trees around the small pond and fountain. A relief providing much-needed shade and breeze in the hot summer weather.

Balikligöl is a sacred lake with thousands of sacred carp and the corresponding religious stories. According to the Islamic and Jewish tradition, Abraham (Ibrahim) was born and raised in Urfa. He was the target of the wrath of king Nimrod when he declared a war on idolatry. The king sentenced Abraham to death and a huge pyre was constructed in the city center. When Abraham was thrown into the fire, miraculously the flames were transformed into water and the burning logs into fish.

Since then, the pool and its carp are considered sacred, and are strictly forbidden from being eaten. You will see many local tourists looking and taking pictures of the sacred fish and the delightful buildings around.

The mosques in the Balikligöl are impressive with the inside mosaics, external ablution wells and the paved courtyards. You might see the local weddings with their lavish traditional dresses.

Where to eat in Sanliurfa?

The Urfa bazaar is next to Balikligöl making it a convenient stop to try the local specialty ciger (liver) kebab. The liver kebab cubes are smaller in Urfa than in Diyarbakir, another contender for the best liver kebab in Anatolia.

No guide to Sanliurfa would be complete without mentioning the “kahvalti”. When in Urfa, please try the traditional breakfast (“kahvalti” pronounced “kah-vahl-tuh”). It is a sumptuous affair with usually well over 10 differerent components. Savoury such as various cheeses, olives and börek. Sweet such as honey, baklava or fruits. A hot dish such as menemen (excellent Turkish-style scrambled eggs with tomatoes, sausage, etc.). A breakfast for a king, a feast also for the eyes. Stunning when all those individual plates are being put in front of you in neat rows of delicacies. Coming back home to the usual bagel, muffin or oatmeal/porridge will be difficult. And the whole feast is a only few US dollars. It will be one of you most memorable meals in Turkey. There are many kahvalti restaurants next to the main road.

Lunch and dinner options include excellent Urfa lahmacun (thin-crust Turkish pizza) and Urfa kebab with the usual fresh vegetables and ayran (Turkish yoghurt). There seems to be a fierce competition among the Anatolian cities for the crown of the best kebab. The Urfa version is smaller but a bit more fatty and juicy, recommended.

Where to go next?

Within a few hours bus ride from Sanliurfa, Anatolia offers other interesting historical sites:

and outstanding large cities: