Check your Midnight Express stereotypes at the door - this is a rapidly modernising country with one foot in Europe and one in the Middle East. It's not all oriental splendour, mystery, intrigue and whirling dervishes but it is a spicy maelstrom of history knocking up against a pacy present.
The Turkish people have an unrivalled reputation for hospitality, the cuisine is to die for, the coastline is a dream, and many Turkish cities are dotted with spectacular mosques and castles. And while costs are rising, Turkey remains one of the Mediterranean's bargain-basement destinations.
Spring and autumn are the best times to visit, since the climate will be perfect in İstanbul and on the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts. It will be cool in central Anatolia, but not unpleasantly so. Visiting before mid-June or after August may also help you avoid mosquitoes. The Black Sea coast is best visited between April and September; there will still be rain but not so much of it. With the exception of İstanbul, Turkey doesn't really have a winter tourism season. Places catering to backpackers usually see Anzac Day as the official start of the season; those catering to package holiday-makers get going in early May.
Ankara
Ankara, Turkey’s capital city and the country’s second largest behind Istanbul, is host to many impressive tourist attractions, including the Anitkabir museum which also serves as a mausoleum of Turkey’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, and displays many of his memorabilia and paraphernalia. The museum is a huge building that reflects the architecture of great Anatolian empires of the past.
Other impressive sights in Ankara are the Hisar, a Byzantine Citadel sitting on top of a hill, and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, which is the home of the best artifacts discovered throughout the country. Ankara also boasts of several archaeological remains (the Citadel, Atakule Tower, Temple of Augustus, Roman Theater and the Roman Bath), museums and galleries (Painting and Sculpture Museum or Resim-Heykel Müzesi, War of Independence Museum or Kurtulus Savasi Müzesi and Ethnography Museum or Etnografya Müzesi).
Hagia Sofia
The name stands for “Church of the Divine Wisdom” in Greek and was regarded as the foremost church of Christianity during its time. This prime example of Roman engineering dates back to the sixth century features a huge dome (30 meters in diameter) and is believed to have been the largest enclosed space in the world for over 1,000 years. It was originally a basilica but became a mosque in the 15th century and was transformed into a museum in the 1930s. Hagia Sofia boasts of breath-taking mosaics.
Topkapi Palace
Beautifully decorated with lavish ornaments, the palace was home to the great Ottoman emperors for over three centuries. It had four courts, each one more magnificent than the other. The second court led to the emperor’s harem, the state treasury and a display of various weapons. The third housed the imperial treasury.
Locarno Tourism
Locarno has a very pleasant climate and a lush subtropical vegetation. It turns enchanting at night when the arcades and portici , During the night, when soft tunes ooze out of city bars and restaurants and when city lights reflects upon the beautiful lake, the city takes on a surrealistic quality.
Troy
This legendary archaeological site may seem dull, composed mainly of ruins, but excavations have unearthed at least nine ancient cities on the site, among them the venues for Homer’s Iliad, which was once believed to be based on legend until the discoveries at Troy proved otherwise.
Entertainment & Nights
The nightlife scene varies from city to city, some being more prominent than others. Clubs, bars, restaurants and live shows are all great places to experience the fun of local nightlife and meet new people.
