Istanbul & Cappadocia: a strait, domes & a valley of stone

Istanbul

Istanbul spans the Bosphorus strait that divides Europe from Asia, the only major city set across two continents. Once capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, it layers monumental mosques, palaces, churches and covered markets across its hills.

The historic peninsula holds the city's grandest monuments: the great domed Hagia Sophia, built as a Byzantine church and later a mosque; the six-minareted Blue Mosque facing it across a garden; and the sprawling Topkapı Palace overlooking the water. The covered Grand Bazaar and the aromatic Spice Bazaar fill nearby streets with one of the world's oldest market traditions.

Across the Golden Horn, the Galata district rises to the cylindrical Galata Tower, with views over the domes and minarets of the old city. Ferries crisscross the Bosphorus past waterside palaces and fortresses, and the call to prayer rising over the rooftops at dawn and dusk is a defining feature of the cityscape.

Where to take photos

• Hagia Sophia — a monumental sixth-century domed building, successively church and mosque
• Blue Mosque — an Ottoman mosque with six minarets and a tiled interior, facing Hagia Sophia
• Galata Tower — a medieval stone tower with a panorama over the old city and Golden Horn
• Bosphorus — the strait dividing two continents, lined with palaces and best seen by ferry

Goreme

Göreme sits at the heart of Cappadocia, a region of soft volcanic rock eroded into cones, pillars and valleys. The town is built into and among the formations, with cave dwellings, rock-cut churches and a celebrated dawn balloon flight over the landscape.

The surrounding terrain, shaped by ancient eruptions and erosion, is dotted with the tapering rock pillars known as fairy chimneys, many hollowed out into homes, hotels and churches. The nearby Göreme Open-Air Museum preserves a cluster of rock-cut Byzantine churches with frescoed interiors carved into the cliffs.

At dawn on suitable days, scores of hot-air balloons rise over the valleys, drifting above the pale rock formations in a scene that has become emblematic of the region. Walking trails thread the Rose, Red and Love valleys, while elevated viewpoints around the town look out over the chimneys and the balloon-filled sky at first light.

Where to take photos

• Göreme Open-Air Museum — a cluster of frescoed rock-cut Byzantine churches in the cliffs
• Fairy Chimneys — tapering volcanic rock pillars, many hollowed into dwellings
• Love Valley — a walking valley of tall rock columns on the edge of town
• Sunset Point — an elevated viewpoint over the valleys and dawn balloon launches

Pamukkale

Pamukkale, meaning cotton castle, is a hillside of dazzling white travertine terraces formed by mineral-rich thermal springs. Above the terraces lie the extensive ruins of the Greco-Roman spa city of Hierapolis.

The terraces cascade down the slope in a series of white basins and pools, built up over millennia as calcium-laden hot water deposits travertine. Visitors walk barefoot across designated sections of the brilliant white surface, with shallow pools reflecting the sky on the upper levels.

Crowning the hill, the ruins of Hierapolis include a large, well-preserved Roman theater, colonnaded streets, a necropolis and the thermal pool where ancient columns lie submerged in warm spring water. The combined natural and archaeological site is UNESCO World Heritage listed, and the white terraces turn luminous under the low sun.

Where to take photos

• Travertine Terraces — cascading white mineral pools formed by thermal springs on the hillside
• Hierapolis Theater — a large, well-preserved Roman theater above the terraces
• Cleopatra's Pool — a thermal spring pool scattered with submerged ancient columns
• Hierapolis Necropolis — an extensive ancient cemetery of tombs along the site's edge

Ankara

Ankara is the capital of Turkey and its second-largest city, set on the high central Anatolian plateau. A planned modern capital since the 1920s, it combines government quarters and museums with an old hilltop citadel.

The city is dominated by Anıtkabir, the vast hilltop mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the modern republic, set within ceremonial grounds and a museum of the nation's history. The old town clusters around the Ankara Castle, a hilltop citadel of stone walls enclosing narrow lanes and restored Ottoman houses with views over the city.

Ankara is also home to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, housed in a restored covered market and recognized for one of the world's richest collections of Hittite and early Anatolian artifacts. As a working administrative center on the steppe, it offers a more everyday, less touristic counterpart to Turkey's coastal and historic destinations.

Where to take photos

• Anıtkabir — the monumental hilltop mausoleum of Atatürk within ceremonial grounds
• Ankara Castle — a hilltop citadel of old walls and lanes with views over the city
• Museum of Anatolian Civilizations — a leading collection of Hittite and early Anatolian artifacts
• Hamamönü — a restored district of Ottoman houses and craft workshops below the citadel

More guides to explore

Ankara, Turkey

Ankara Travel Guide: Anitkabir & the Old Citadel

Goreme, Turkey

Goreme Travel Guide: Hot Air Balloons Over Cappadocia's Fairy Chimneys

Istanbul, Turkey

3 Days in Istanbul: Where Two Continents Meet