The modern capital where the republic was born and the Hittites once ruled
Turkey's capital is a planned, modern city built around the founding of the republic, anchored by Anitkabir and layered over thousands of years of Anatolian history.
Ankara is first a civic capital: the vast hilltop mausoleum of Anitkabir, the ministries and embassies, and the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, one of the finest archaeological museums in the world, tracing the Hittites, Phrygians and earlier cultures of the plateau. Above the modern city the old Ankara Citadel still stands, its lanes of restored Ottoman houses looking out over the rooftops.
It is less a holiday town than a working capital, but that is part of its character: good museums, a serious food scene built on Central Anatolian cooking, lively student districts around Tunali Hilmi and Kizilay, and the restored Ottoman quarter of Hamamonu. It also makes a natural base for day trips to the Hittite capital of Hattusa and onward to Cappadocia.
Eight places worth your time. Tap a photograph, the map will follow.
The mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkiye. A huge ceremonial complex on a hill overlooking the city, designed in a minimalist modernist style. The changing of the guard, the hall of honour and the War of Independence museum underneath are all worth visiting. Free entry, allow three hours.
Inside a restored 15th-century covered bazaar at the foot of the citadel. One of the most important archaeology museums in the world, with finds from Catalhoyuk, Hittite capitals and Phrygian royal tombs. A proper visit takes two to three hours.
The leafy embassies district centred on Kugulu Park, with swans in the pond, and the long cafe-lined Tunali Hilmi Caddesi. Ankara's most walkable, liveable neighbourhood. Great for a morning coffee or evening stroll.
A restored Ottoman neighbourhood of late-19th and early-20th-century timber-framed houses, converted into cafes, artist shops and small galleries. A pedestrianised area a short walk from Ankara Castle, good for an evening stroll with restaurants, tea houses and boutique shops in the restored houses. One of the few parts of Ankara where the old Ottoman urban fabric has been preserved intact. The Taceddin Lodge nearby, where Mehmet Akif Ersoy wrote the Turkish national anthem in 1921, is now a museum.
The old fortress town perched on a hill in the middle of modern Ankara. Byzantine walls, Roman columns reused in the walls, Ottoman houses, antique shops and wine bars. Walk up at sunset, have dinner at one of the restored house restaurants with a view of the city.
A 15th-century mosque built directly next to the Roman Temple of Augustus, built in the first century BC. Two monuments from entirely different eras share a wall. The Haci Bayram square and cafe scene is one of the most atmospheric in the city, especially at dusk.
A contemporary art museum housed in a converted train maintenance shed near the old station. Regular exhibitions, a great bookshop and a cafe with an outdoor terrace. Ankara's strongest contemporary art space.
A 125-metre observation and communications tower in the Çankaya district, with a 360-degree viewing terrace and a revolving restaurant near the top. The view across Ankara - the old citadel in one direction, the modern government district in another - gives a clear sense of the city's scale and layout. The tower is open daily; evening visits for the illuminated city are popular.
Ankara food is central Anatolian home cooking. Slow-cooked meat, wheat dishes like bulgur and manti, rich lentil soups and the classic Ankara tava, a slow-roasted lamb and rice dish. Not flashy, deeply satisfying, and best eaten at family lokantas that have been serving the same neighbourhood for decades.
Ankara's aspava spots and Ankara tava lokantas, plus the Beypazari clay-pot bakery, the city's famous simit, and old-school baklava and citadel dining
The classic Ankara aspava experience on Esat Caddesi, running since the 1980s. You come for the doner wrap, but the table fills up before you order with unlimited free sides: chips, cacik, salad, cig kofte, semolina halva and tea. Cheap, generous and loved by students and locals alike, busy until late. The benchmark for the aspava ritual.
The best-known address for Ankara tava, the city's signature dish of lamb and rice, in a large restaurant above the Dikmen valley with a rooftop terrace and panoramic city views. Open since the early 1970s, with complimentary starters and dessert, attentive service and a wide Turkish menu. On the pricier side but a proper Ankara dinner.
An Ankara institution in Ulus, serving the community since 1956. You order at a glass counter where the day's dishes are explained, then sit down to home-style cooking: the historic Ankara tava, lamb and rice, lentil soup and seasonal stews. Pre-cooked and served fast, busy at lunch, and one of the most authentic tastes of the capital.
A small, chaotic esnaf lokanta in Guzeltepe that many locals rate as the best doner in Ankara. The fatty Ankara doner is sliced fresh off the spit and served with rice or in bread, but it sells out by mid-afternoon so go for an early lunch. No frills, fair prices and a genuine local experience away from the tourist track.
A back-street spot in the old town of Beypazari, the historic district an hour and a half west of the city, serving the local clay-pot guvec baked in a wood oven. Authentic, where the locals eat, with very fair prices and a pleasant bazaar-side setting. The natural lunch stop on a day trip to Beypazari's restored Ottoman streets.
A simit and tea spot near Haci Bayram and Ulus, a good place to try the protected Ankara simit, which is thinner, smaller and darker than the usual kind because the dough is dipped in grape molasses. Fresh simit through the day, friendly service and an easy stop between the parliament, Ulus and the citadel.
One of Ankara's most established sweet and grill houses, going since 1949 on Mevlana Bulvari. A Gaziantep-style kitchen with proper baklava, lahmacun, mixed grill and beyran soup, served in a large traditional dining room. The place to finish a day of sightseeing with a tray of pistachio baklava and tea.
A restored historic mansion in the village inside the Ankara Citadel walls, with a pretty courtyard and a view over the old town. Traditional Turkish breakfast, gozleme and home-style dishes in a museum-like setting, a short climb up through the castle lanes. As much for the atmosphere and the architecture as for the food.
Go early morning before the tour groups. The approach via the Lion Road, the main courtyard, the tomb hall and the War of Independence Museum underneath. Allow three hours. A place that means a lot to Turks, treat it with respect.
From the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, walk up through the old citadel streets. Stop at the antique shops, climb to the viewing platforms for the city panorama, then stay for dinner at one of the restored house restaurants at sunset.
Catalhoyuk finds from 9,000 years ago, Hittite reliefs, Phrygian gold. One of the most important archaeology museums in the world, yet relatively quiet. A proper visit takes two to three hours.
A restored Ottoman neighbourhood with wooden houses, cafes, handicraft shops and little museums. Pedestrianised lanes, evening street music and good bakeries. Nice for a morning walk between big sights.
Beyond the Temple of Augustus, Ankara has Roman baths, columns and walls hidden all over the old town. A self-guided walk links them in about three hours, starting at Haci Bayram and ending at the Roman bath ruins near Ulus.
A morning at CerModern contemporary art museum, lunch at its cafe, then walk along Tunali Hilmi Caddesi through the book and record shops. A good way to see a more modern, creative side of the city.
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