Top Day Trips in Turkey

Nizip and Zeugma ★ 4.6 · Gaziantep

Nizip sits 45 minutes east of Gaziantep, 10km from the ancient city of Zeugma on the Euphrates, among the groves that press the best oil in the region.

Tip: See the mosaics at the museum in Gaziantep first, then drive out. Nizip presses the oil most Gaziantep kitchens buy.

Bursa (Iskender Kebap) ★ 4.6 · Istanbul

Bursa, the southern Marmara city across the sea from Istanbul, is the birthplace of iskender kebap, thinly sliced lamb over pita with tomato butter.

Edirne (Tava Ciğer) ★ 4.5 · Istanbul

Edirne, the old Ottoman capital near the Bulgarian-Greek border, fries paper-thin liver with peppers and onions; the city is famous enough that day-trips.

Halfeti ★ 4.4 · Gaziantep

Halfeti is the village half-drowned by the Birecik dam, reached from Gaziantep in about two hours, with boat trips, riverside cafes and pomegranate orchards.

Tip: Go for a late lunch. The boats run through the afternoon and the light is better then.

Büyükada (Princes' Islands) ★ 4.4 · Istanbul

Büyükada, the largest of the Princes' Islands, runs car-free with horse-cart food deliveries; its quay restaurants do the day's catch from the surrounding.

Şanlıurfa and Göbeklitepe ★ 4.3 · Gaziantep

Şanlıurfa lies just over two hours from Gaziantep and eats hotter and heavier with isot, which makes it the obvious comparison trip for a Gaziantep visitor.

Tip: Most operators sell this as an overnight rather than a day trip. Treat it as two days.

Rumkale ★ 4.1 · Gaziantep

Rumkale stands on a Euphrates peninsula an hour from Gaziantep in Yavuzeli, reached by boat from Kasaba village, with simple village kitchens along the road.

Tip: Boats are weather dependent. Ring the Yavuzeli jetty before driving out for the day.

Polonezköy (Polish Village) ★ 4.0 · Istanbul

Polonezköy, a Polish émigré village founded in the 1840s on the Asian-side forest fringe, runs a weekend brunch culture famous across Istanbul for its garden.

Şile (Black Sea Fish) ★ 3.9 · Istanbul

Şile, the small Black Sea harbour town an hour and a half from Istanbul, runs a working fish fleet whose quayside lokantas serve the catch within hours.

İslahiye ★ 3.6 · Gaziantep

İslahiye grows the table peppers and the grapes that become pekmez, bastık and sucuk in Gaziantep kitchens, and harvest is when the drive west pays off.

Tip: Autumn is the trip. Outside harvest season there is little food reason to make the drive.

Oğuzeli ★ 3.5 · Gaziantep

Oğuzeli is the pomegranate district of Gaziantep, half an hour from the centre, and its nar ekşisi and dried vegetables end up in kitchens across the city.

Tip: Buy nar ekşisi direct from a producer. The bottled supermarket version is usually sweetened.