Ankara Highlights
A curated tour of Turkey's capital, from Atatürk's monumental mausoleum and Roman ruins to a hilltop citadel and a legendary Phrygian city.
Trip Stops
- 1
The mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, crowned by a 262-step Lions' Road lined with 24 Hittite-style lion statues. Time your visit for the changing of the guard, and don't miss the museum's wax-figure scenes of the War of Independence.
📍 Çankaya, Ankara, Türkiye
- 2
Built in 1928 in Turkish National Architectural Renaissance style, it holds Seljuk and Ottoman folk art and calligraphy. Atatürk's body rested here from 1938 to 1953 while Anıtkabir was being built.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 3
A 15-metre Roman column in Ulus, raised around 362 AD, probably to honour a visit by Emperor Julian. Storks nest on its capital in season, so you may spot them.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 4
Built in the 3rd century under Emperor Caracalla and dedicated to Asclepios, the god of medicine. The ruins keep their hypocaust system, with pillars that once carried heated air under the floors.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 5
Built around 25 BC, its walls carry the Monumentum Ancyranum, Augustus's own account of his achievements, in Latin and Greek. It is the best-preserved copy of that text anywhere.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 6
A 15th-century mosque built right beside the Roman temple, honouring the Sufi poet Hacı Bayram-ı Veli, founder of the Bayrami order. It is one of Ankara's most beloved places of worship, and the shrine beside it draws pilgrims daily.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 7
A 2nd-century AD Roman theatre, found in 1982 when a salvage dig uncovered its stage and seating in the middle of Ulus. In Byzantine times it was flooded and used as a pool for water games.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 8
Housed in a restored 15th-century Ottoman bazaar and caravanserai, it traces Anatolia from the Paleolithic through the Hittites and Phrygians. It has repeatedly ranked among Europe's best museums, and it displays finds from Çatalhöyük, one of the world's oldest towns.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 9
An industrial and transport museum in a restored 17th-century Ottoman caravanserai, Çengelhan, with vintage cars, ship models, and hands-on machines. It is a good break for kids and anyone who likes engineering.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 10
A hilltop citadel with Roman and Byzantine foundations that watched over Ankara for centuries. Its winding lanes of restored Ottoman houses, now cafés and craft shops, give the best sunset views of the old city.
📍 Altındağ, Ankara, Türkiye
- 11
Completed in 1987, this is Ankara's largest mosque and reflects classical Ottoman design, with four 88-metre minarets. Its dome rises around 88 metres too, and the mosque holds up to 24,000 worshippers.
📍 Çankaya, Ankara, Türkiye
- 12
A 125-metre tower with a revolving restaurant and observation deck, and the city's best evening panorama. It opened in 1989 and quickly became a modern symbol of Ankara.
📍 Çankaya, Ankara, Türkiye
- 13
Capital of the Phrygian kingdom and a UNESCO World Heritage site, located about 90 km southwest of Ankara. Linked to King Midas and the Gordian Knot, the site features the huge Midas Mound tumulus hiding one of the oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world.
📍 Polatlı, Ankara, Türkiye
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Comments
Inner castle on top of Ankara castle is beautiful!