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By Root 2052 0

the only route where we recommend the train over the bus is between Lattakia and Aleppo; this goes through spectacular countryside, starts and terminates in centrally located stations, has at least one reasonable departure time and is very comfortable. At least one midmorning departure time and swish new trains also make the service a viable alternative to the bus between Damascus and Aleppo, although the scenery is uninspiring.

First class is air-con with aircraft-type seats; second class is the same without air-con – it’s probably not worth it except in summer. Student discounts are only given on 2nd-class tickets.

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Turkey

* * *

CLIMATE & WHEN TO GO

HISTORY

THE CULTURE

SPORT

RELIGION

ARTS

ENVIRONMENT

FOOD

İSTANBUL

DRINK

HISTORY

ORIENTATION

INFORMATION

DANGERS & ANNOYANCES

SIGHTS

ACTIVITIES

TOURS

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

SLEEPING

EATING

DRINKING

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

AROUND İSTANBUL

EDİRNE

İZNİK

BURSA

AEGEAN COAST

ÇANAKKALE

ECEABAT (MAYDOS)

GALLIPOLI (GELİBOLU) Peninsula

TROY (Truva)

BEHRAMKALE & ASSOS

AYVALIK

BERGAMA & PERGAMUM

İZMİR

ÇEşME

SELÇUK

EPHESUS (EFES)

KUŞADASI

PAMUKKALE

BODRUM

MEDITERRANEAN COAST

MARMARİS

KÖYCEĞİZ

DALYAN

FETHİYE

ÖLÜDENİZ

PATARA

KALKAN

KAŞ

OLYMPOS & ÇIRALI

ANTALYA

AROUND ANTALYA

SİDE

ALANYA

THE EASTERN COAST

ANTAKYA (HATAY)

CENTRAL ANATOLIA

ANKARA

SİVAS

KONYA

CAPPADOCIA (KAPADOKYA)

GÖREME

UÇHİSAR

ZELVE VALLEY

AVANOS

ÜRGÜP

MUSTAFAPAşA

IHLARA VALLEY

KAYSERİ

THE BLACK SEA & NORTHEASTERN ANATOLIA

TRABZON

ERZURUM

KARS

DOĞUBAYAZIT

SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA

VAN

DİYARBAKIR

MARDİN

ŞANLIURFA (URFA)

MT NEMRUT

GAZİANTEP (ANTEP)

TURKEY DIRECTORY

ACCOMMODATION

ACTIVITIES

BUSINESS HOURS

CUSTOMS REGULATIONS

DANGERS & ANNOYANCES

EMBASSIES & CONSULATES

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

GAY & LESBIAN TRAVELLERS

HOLIDAYS

INTERNET ACCESS

LANGUAGE

MAPS

MONEY

POST

Telephone & Fax

TOILETS

VISAS

WOMEN TRAVELLERS

TRANSPORT IN Turkey

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

* * *

Hoş geldiniz (welcome) to the perfect introduction to the Middle East. Although most Turks see their country as European, the nation packs in as many wailing minarets and spice-trading bazaars as its southeastern neighbours, Iran, Iraq and Syria. This bridge between continents has absorbed Europe’s modernism and sophistication, and Asia’s culture and tradition. Travellers can enjoy historical hotspots, mountain outposts, expansive steppe and all the exoticism of the Middle East, without having to forego comfy beds and punctual buses.

Turkey’s charms range from sun-splashed Mediterranean and Aegean beaches to Sultanahmet’s mosques, and while these gems fit its reputation as a continental meeting point, the country can’t be pigeonholed that easily. Many of its attractions are completely unlike anywhere else on the planet, such as Cappadocia’s fairy chimneys and Pamukkale’s white travertine (calcium carbonate) shelves and pools. The ethereal beauty of Mt Nemrut, littered with giant stone heads, and Olympos, where Lycian ruins peek from the undergrowth, is quintessentially Turkish.

Such potent mixtures of natural splendour and ancient remains result from millennia of eventful history, during which Middle Eastern empires such as the Hittites and the Seljuks establish capitals in Anatolia (Asian Turkey). So many names here are familiar from history lessons and Hollywood blockbusters, from Troy and Ephesus to Gallipoli, where Atatürk repelled Anzac and British forces. Travelling Turkey’s beaches and plains is like turning the pages of a historical thriller, with mosques and medreses, hamams and hans (caravanserais) never far from view.

When it’s time to close the book and seek worldly pleasures, Turkey shines as brightly as its red-and-white flag. This is, after all, the land that introduced the world to the kebap (and, less famously, the cherry). Vegetarians, meanwhile, can tuck into meze, ideally consumed on a panoramic terrace with rakı (aniseed spirit) or a tulip-shaped glass of çay (tea). And that’s before