Destination: Turkey

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION

Itinerary: Eastern Delights

THREE TO FOUR WEEKS / TRABZON TO NEMRUT DAGI

Escape the crowds and hightail it to the Turkey rarely seen in glossy tourist brochures, the other Turkey: the wild, magnificent east. After it casts its spell you’ll find western Turkey downright tame. Some 2740km, and never a dull moment.



Buzzing Trabzon has a handful of sights worth a quick look-see, though most people head straight to the nearby Sumela monastery, peering down on a forested valley from its precarious-looking rockface foothold. The route from here to Kars is spectacular. First travel from Trabzon to Erzurum and then travel via Yusufeli. The route is best done by car or taxi as you’d miss the breathtaking views and ruined churches of medieval Georgia dotted along the route whizzing past in a bus.

The onward drive between Yusufeli, Artvin and Kars is one of Turkey’s most scenic, with roadways passing over dramatic mountain ranges, through gorges frothing with white water and past crumbling castles. Kars is beguiling, but its star attraction is Ani, closeby, once a thriving Armenian capital, but now a field strewn with magnificent ruins overlooked by the border guards of modern Armenia.

Head south to the raffish frontier town of Dogubayazit, and the outstanding Ishak Pasa Palace.

Further south is Van, its proud drawcards the nearby spectacular Hosap Castle and the 10th-century Akdamar church, the sole inhabitant of a teeny island in Lake Van. The church’s superbly preserved carvings just pip the wow-factor on this church’s magnificent setting.

Heading west, don’t miss Hasankeyf, with its soaring rock-cut castle by the ancient Tigris River, and Mardin, a gorgeous, honey-coloured town overlooking the roasting plains of Mesopotamia. From Mardin head north to Diyarbakir, the exotic heartland of Kurdish culture, its ancient sights ringed by even older city walls. Finally, see what all the fuss is about at Nemrut Dagi, the gigantic stone heads the only image of eastern Turkey that does make it into brochures.