The Journal
Travel stories, city guides, and hidden corners of Türkiye. Field notes from the road, written by the Show Me Türkiye team.
Top 10 Places to Visit in Türkiye in 2026.
Istanbul and Cappadocia are the two everyone gets to. The other eight are where the country starts explaining itself. Twelve-thousand-year-old temples in Şanlıurfa, monasteries on a Mesopotamian limestone ridge, an entire coast of Lycian ruins where you can swim inside the ancient harbours, and the toppled stone heads of a forgotten king on a mountain summit in Adıyaman.
Read the cover story →
Latest dispatches from across Türkiye.
Getting Around Türkiye: Buses, Trains, Flights and Driving.
When to fly, when to take the bus, where the fast train goes, and how to get from every major airport into town. The transport half of a Türkiye trip, planned.
COP31 Antalya 2026: a complete guide to the UN Climate Conference.
COP31, the UN Climate Change Conference, runs 9–20 November 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye. Dates, venue, who can attend, the Green and Blue Zones, and where to find the official websites.
Hiking in Türkiye: which trail or region is right for you.
Which hike in Türkiye fits you? We compare the Lycian Way, Kaçkar, Aladağlar, Cappadocia and more by difficulty, season, length and where you sleep.
National Parks in Türkiye.
Türkiye has 54 official national parks. Find the one that fits your trip, from Kaçkar's peaks and Köprülü Kanyon to autumn forests and wetlands, by season.
Skiing in Türkiye: where to ski, and how to choose.
Palandöken, Erciyes, Uludağ, Kartalkaya, Sarıkamış and the smaller mountains, compared by snow, terrain, level and access.
Antalya: Kaleiçi, Aspendos, and the Lycian Coast.
Roman aqueducts, Greek theatres still in use, a beach city that grew up around an old harbour, and the most ancient-cities-per-coastline ratio in the country. Antalya is not a resort town. It's a province with five thousand years of stone.
When Is the Best Time to Visit Türkiye: Season by Season.
There is no single best month. There are best months for each region. A season-by-season guide for travellers who want the right answer for their specific trip.
Top 10 Places to Visit in Türkiye in 2026.
Istanbul and Cappadocia are the two everyone gets to. The other eight are where the country starts explaining itself.
Istanbul: Hagia Sophia, the Bosphorus, and the Grand Bazaar.
Sixteen million people, two continents, fifteen hundred years of empire. A city that refuses to choose a side.
Cappadocia: Göreme, Derinkuyu, and the Balloon Flight.
Ten million years of volcanic erosion. Underground cities going down eighteen levels. Byzantine rock-cut churches with frescoes from the tenth century. And the version of the balloon photo that's actually worth taking.
Kemer: Olympos, Phaselis, and Mount Tahtalı.
A resort town wrapped around a strategic position, the Beydağları rising behind, the Lycian coast stretching west, and the Chimaera flames within a half-hour drive.
Trabzon: Sümela Monastery, Uzungöl, and the Black Sea Coast.
Sümela Monastery, an underground river cave, a lake that fills every poster of the eastern Black Sea, and the most outdoor-active province on this coast.
Rize: Ayder, the Fırtına Valley, and Türkiye's Tea Country.
Two thousand millimetres of rain a year, a single defining crop, and a vertical landscape that goes from sea level to four thousand metres in forty kilometres.
Çanakkale: Gallipoli, Troy, and Assos.
The Trojan horse, the Gallipoli memorials, the temple of Apollo at Smintheion, the medieval castles guarding the Dardanelles, and the wine islands of Bozcaada and Gökçeada, all in one province.
Artvin: Çoruh Canyon, Karagöl, and the Kaçkar Highlands.
Two Karagöl lakes, a Çoruh River that the locals raft and the engineers re-routed, monasteries half-hidden in valleys, and one of the least-visited Turkish provinces.
Giresun: Kuşköy's Whistling Language, Kuzalan, and the Hazelnut Coast.
Tea, hazelnuts, and a village where they communicate across mountain valleys by whistling. One of the eastern Black Sea's most underrated stops. Most of its best moments are inland.
Erzurum: Palandöken Skiing, the Old Town, and the Doğu Express.
At 1,950 metres on the eastern Anatolian plateau, one of the highest provincial capitals in Türkiye. Seljuk and Ottoman stone, the country's best ski resort, and the famous Doğu Express terminus.
Hakkari: Cilo Mountains, the Zap Canyon, and Türkiye's Wildest Frontier.
The Cilo and Sat mountains, glaciers that almost nobody photographs, the Zap River cutting through canyons, and a regional culture you cannot see anywhere else in the country.
Ordu: Boztepe Cable Car, Perşembe Plateau, and the Black Sea Coast.
Ordu starts at the water and climbs. In a single drive: wake up by the sea, stand inside a Byzantine castle, lunch on a plateau at a thousand metres, watch the city light up below you at sunset.
Aladağlar: Demirkazık, Emli Valley, and the Bolkar Mountains.
Emli Valley campsites, Kazıklı Ali Canyon's vertical rock, the Bolkar mountains' alpine lakes. Where Turkish mountaineering grew up, and where most Turks who climb spend their summers.
Balıkesir: Kazdağları, Ayvalık, and the Northern Aegean.
Kaz Dağları's pine and oxygen, Ayvalık's old Greek streets, Cunda's harbour seafood, a Glass Terrace at altitude. The Aegean before it became a brand.
Sea to Sky: the Kemer hard enduro, from beach to summit.
Sea to Sky is Kemer's three-day hard enduro race, from the beach to the summit of Tahtalı. How it works, where to watch, 2026 dates and where to stay.
