Charming old-world towns in Turkey off the beaten path.
Less-touristed old-world towns in Turkey, for travelers seeking fewer crowds but all the beauty.
Pottery wheels have turned in Avanos since Hittite times, Alanya's Red Tower and Tersane shipyard were raised by the sultan who gave the city his name, and Afyonkarahisar's citadel was cut into a black volcanic crag around 1350 BC — Turkey's old-world towns carry their histories in plain sight. These 49 picks range from the Black Sea isthmus of Sinop and the Silk Road stopover of Bayburt to the ancient first capital of Milas and the geothermal spa city of Afyonkarahisar, with Izmir, Antalya, and Mugla among the most represented regions.
Alanya
A Mediterranean resort city on Turkey's southern coast where a Seljuk-era citadel dominates a modest peninsula backed by the Taurus Mountains, Alanya combine…
Sinop
Sinop sits on a narrow isthmus at the northernmost point of Turkey's Black Sea coast, giving the town water on nearly every side and a compact centre with a…
Mudanya district
A compact seafront town on the Gulf of Gemlik along Turkey's southern Marmara coast, Mudanya has a walkable centre with cafés and restaurants and a photogeni…
Afyonkarahisar
Afyonkarahisar's most striking landmark is its ancient citadel, built around 1350 BC on a black volcanic crag rising above the city, with a cluster of mosque…
Bayburt
Sitting on the Çoruh River in northeast Turkey, Bayburt was a stop on the ancient Silk Road, visited by Marco Polo in the 13th century and Evliya Çelebi in t…
Artvin
A compact town in northeastern Turkey's mountains, Artvin sits on a hill above the Çoruh River with a centre concentrated enough for easy walking between caf…
Milas
Ancient Caria's first capital and later seat of the medieval Menteşe beylik, Milas is a historically dense town in southwest Turkey with more than two dozen…
Avanos
Pottery workshops line this little Cappadocian town on the banks of the Kızılırmak — Turkey's longest river — where red clay from the riverbed has fuelled a…
Kastamonu
One of Anatolia's oldest cities, Kastamonu is a highland city in northern Turkey's Karadeniz region, built in the valley of the Karaçomak stream and known as…
Kemer
This Mediterranean resort town on the Turkish Riviera where the western Taurus Mountains meet a long stretch of coastline, Kemer sits a short drive southwest…
Corycus
Corycus, an ancient city in Cilicia Trachaea on the southern Anatolian coast, now lies beneath the modern town of Kızkalesi in Mersin Province.
Divriği
The 13th-century Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sivas Province, draw visitors to this little iron-mining town in mount…
Amasra
A Black Sea port town in Turkey's Bartın Province, Amasra sits on a headland flanked by two sheltered harbours and two small islands, with beaches and forest…
İskilip
This cluster of red-tile houses and ancient stone fortress walls crown a dramatic rocky outcrop above İskilip, with forested mountain ridges stretching into…
Zile
Julius Caesar's famous declaration "Veni, vidi, vici" — "I came, I saw, I conquered" — is said to have followed his victory at the Battle of Zela, fought nea…
Muş
Sitting on the edge of the Muş Plain in eastern Anatolia, this Kurdish-majority city is known for its tulips and grapes, and the surrounding region is closel…
Kütahya
Kütahya, a city in western Turkey on the Porsuk River, is renowned for its decorated tiles and has a well-preserved old quarter to explore.
Muğla
This walkable city in southwestern Turkey with a well-preserved old town centre and a café-filled core, Muğla sits inland at elevation in the mountains, a sh…
İspir
This working town on the Çoruh River in eastern Turkey's upland country, where a ruined hilltop fortress with a surviving minaret tower rises dramatically ab…
Erzincan
Erzincan is a city in eastern Turkey rebuilt on a grid plan after a devastating 1939 earthquake, giving it a notably modern layout unusual for a settlement w…
Adilcevaz
On the northern shore of Lake Van in Turkey's Bitlis Province, Adilcevaz sits directly at the water's edge with mountains close by.
Safranbolu
Safranbolu's well-preserved Ottoman old town earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 1994, built around a deep ravine and dense with mosques, caravanserais, T…
Buldan district
Buldan, a pocket-sized hill town in Turkey's Denizli province, is known across the country for its textile weaving tradition, and the fabric produced here —…
Anamur district
A Mediterranean coastal town in Mersin Province, Anamur sits at Anatolia's southernmost point, where a beach strip and a seafront castle meet the foothills o…
Boyabat
A town in Sinop Province's Gökırmak valley, Boyabat sits along the "blue river" at the foot of the Isfendiyar Mountains, roughly midway between the Black Sea…
Doğubayazıt
Dominated by snow-capped Mount Ararat — in legend the landing place of Noah's Ark — and home to the 17th-century Ishak Pasha Palace, Doğubayazıt is a highlan…
Çamlıhemşin
This modest town in Rize Province on Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast, Çamlıhemşin is known for its mountains and valleys of dense green, with autumn foliage…
Çamlıyayla district
High in the Taurus Mountains above Mersin, Çamlıyayla is a summer highland district whose lakes, streams, and pine forests draw crowds escaping coastal heat…
Erdek
A popular domestic holiday destination on the Kapıdağ Peninsula in Turkey's Sea of Marmara region, Erdek sits directly on the water with clean beaches and a…
Taraklı district
The Yunus Pasha Mosque, built in 1517 by Mimar Sinan and heated from below by steam from an adjacent bathhouse, anchors this small Ottoman-era town in Sakary…
Shirakavan
Shirakavan, now the village of Çetindurak in Kars Province, was one of the thirteen historic capitals of Armenia, serving as the seat of the Bagratid Kingdom…
Datça
This modest Turkish town sits at the midpoint of the Datça Peninsula, a forested, mountainous strip of land that divides the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.
Akhisar
Akhisar, a city in Turkey's Manisa Province, stands on the site of ancient Thyatira — one of the Seven Churches of Asia mentioned in the Bible — whose ruins…
Niğde
This compact Turkish city set on a high Anatolian plateau, where a stone fortress with a clock tower rises above low-rise rooftops, mosques punctuate the sky…
Bitlis
A highland city in southeastern Türkiye, Bitlis sits in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis River — a tributary of the Tigris — high in the mountains and cl…
Kozan
Formerly known as Sis, Kozan was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, and the fortress built on a long rocky ridge at the centre of the modern cit…
Biga
Compact Turkish town on the Biga River, its broad cobbled central square framed by palm trees and a handsome late-Ottoman stone building alongside modern apa…
Uşak
Uşak, an inland Aegean city in Türkiye, is best known for its museum housing the Lydian treasures, with canyons and ancient sites scattered through the surro…
Karaman
A city in south-central Turkey with a medieval centre built around a castle, several mosques, and a museum, Karaman sits at high elevation north of the Tauru…
Nazilli
This sizeable Aegean city in Aydın Province, Nazilli offers a base for exploring the wider region's UNESCO-listed ancient sites, with upland country nearby a…
Birecik
Sitting on a limestone cliff above the east bank of the Euphrates, Birecik is a town in southeastern Turkey's Şanlıurfa Province that has served as a transfe…
Tire
Tire's Tuesday and Friday markets, famous across the wider Izmir region for handcrafted goods, draw visitors to this agricultural town in western Turkey alon…
Karşıyaka district
This waterfront district on the northern shore of the Gulf of İzmir, Karşıyaka has a walkable centre with a dense café and restaurant scene running along the…
Manisa
Spreading across the slopes of Mount Sipylus in Turkey's Aegean region, Manisa is a city known for its old mosques and a five-hundred-year-old Mesir Paste Di…
Enez
A pocket-sized town on the Aegean coast of Eastern Thrace, Enez sits at the point where the Meriç river meets the sea at the Turkish-Greek border.
Kemah
This modest town on the Karasu River in eastern Turkey's Erzincan Province, Kemah carries an unusually dense layered heritage for its size: open-air temples…
Foça
A compact Aegean town in Izmir province with a walkable centre of cafés and restaurants and scenic coastal viewpoints, Foça stands on the site of ancient Pho…
Cesme
This popular holiday resort on Turkey's westernmost tip, Çeşme occupies a peninsula in İzmir Province with a walkable centre full of cafés and restaurants.
Gazipaşa
A coastal town on Türkiye's Antalya shore where rugged upland terrain meets the Mediterranean, with a walkable centre packed with cafés and restaurants drawi…