- Sailing Turkey’s Turquoise Coast
- Turkey – Everything You Need to Know Before You Go
- 8 Reasons Why You Must Travel to Turkey
- 18 Pictures That Will Make You Want to Travel to Turkey
- Pamukkale- Turkey’s Cotton Castle
- Ephesus – Turkey’s Ancient City
- 35 Things to See and Do in Istanbul
- Olympos- Treehouses, Ancient Ruins and Beaches in Turkey
- Cappadocia – Turkey’s Magical Land of Fairy Chimneys
- I was in Lebanon During the 2019 Revolution and It Was an Amazing Experience
- How to Travel from Israel to Lebanon (and Vice Versa)
- Middle East and North Africa – Everything You Need to Know Before You Go
- Palestine (The West Bank) – Everything You Need to Know Before You Go
Turkey is a stunningly beautiful, diverse country full of fascinating history, culture and hospitable, lovely people. The country is very unique and represents many contradictions- it’s ancient, yet modern; it’s eastern, yet western; and it’s secular, yet religious.
I traveled Turkey for 3 weeks as a solo female traveler and it quickly became one of my favorite countries and Istanbul became one of my favorite cities. I also visited Ephesus, Pamukkale, Olympos, Cappadocia and I went sailing along the turquoise coast. Turkey has so much to offer and I’d go back in a heartbeat.
8 REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO TRAVEL TO TURKEY
THE FOOD
Good food is important and luckily Turkish food is deliciously amazing! It’s a tasty mix of Mediterranean, Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan.
Popular dishes:
- pide – it’s like a pizza boat! It’s delicious boat-shaped baked dough filled with many different ingredients like meat, cheese veggies or eggs.
- köfte – meatballs
- grilled vegetables
- kebab – grilled meat on a stick
- meze – collection of appetizer dishes
- dolma – stuffed vegetables
- börek – baked phyllo pastry filled with ground meat, cheese or spinach and cheese. A dish you’ll find all over the Balkans.
Popular street food:
- döner – lamb, beef, or chicken cooked on a spinning rotisserie and served in a pita with vegetables and sauces
- gözleme – Turkish pancake
- simit – Turkish bagel
- lahmacun – Turkish pizza
Dessert:
- baklava
- rice pudding
- dondurma – Turkish ice cream
- lokum – Turkish delight. It’s unreal and an absolute must. Proper Turkish delight consists of chopped dates and nuts, and it’s often flavored with rosewater and sometimes chocolate. And it’s quite beautiful to look at too.
Drinks:
- Turkish coffee – famous, strong and often flavored with cardamom
- çay – black tea
- ayran – a cold yogurt drink, which you’ll find in most Balkan countries. It’s proper, unsweetened yogurt, meaning it’s sour, so you’ll either love it or hate it. I grew to like it.
- rakı – Turkey’s national spirit, which is similar to ouzo and sambuca (licorice flavor).
- fresh squeezed orange and pomegranate juices
The bread, oh the amazing bread. I don’t care if you don’t eat bread at home. You’re in Turkey and Turkish bread is ridiculously delicious and it needs to be eaten and appreciated. I remember ordering hummus and pita in Istanbul and not wanting to eat the hummus, not because the hummus wasn’t good, but because the bread was so good that I didn’t want anything getting in the way of the taste of the delicious bread.
TURKISH HOSPITALITY
Turkey is known for its world class hospitality. Some of the nicest people I have ever met are Turkish. Overall, Turkey is a lot safer than people expect.
I was in Selçuk, a small town in Turkey (where you’ll find Ephesus), and needed to make a quick visit to an internet cafe, so I asked a shopkeeper where I could find one. He insisted that I use his computer and even brought me apple tea. Then I talked to his wife for a while. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met.
In Istanbul, I was hanging out with some new Turkish friends and I got hungry, so I asked for a snack. They brought me a four course meal and tea:
THE CALL TO PRAYER
You’ll hear the call to prayer (adhan) five times a day, wherever you are in Turkey, which indicates that it’s time to pray. Some travelers find the call to prayer annoying, which I find so sad because, while even though I’m not at all a religious person, I think it sounds so beautiful and it’s one of my favorite things in the world. I actually miss it. You’re going to hear the call to prayer five times per day whether you like it or not, so you might as well try to enjoy it.
THE TEXTILES AND TREASURES
The Turkish carpets and pillows are so beautiful and colorful. You will be tempted to buy everything to furnish your entire house…
THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS AN OPEN AIR MUSEUM
Turkey really is one massive open air museum. All over the country, everywhere you go, there are ancient ruins everywhere like it’s no big deal. You can walk around any city or town in Turkey and stumble upon loads of ancient ruins. Coming from Canada, this concept is completely foreign and awesome to me, and it is a big deal.
ROOFTOP TERRACES
It’s quite normal for the majority of the houses, restaurants, and hostels/hotels to have rooftop terraces with ridiculous views of the city.
The view from my hostel’s rooftop in Istanbul:
ISTANBUL
Istanbul is one of the greatest cities in the world and it quickly became one of my favorite cities in the world. You’re spoiled for choice with things to see and do. It has great culture that’s quite literally east meets west and it’s unlike anything else. I love how anything goes in Istanbul- it has the traditional ladies wearing hijabs (only the face showing) and niqabs (only the eyes showing) all the way to the trendy girls wearing miniskirts and crop tops at the clubs.
THE DIVERSE LANDSCAPE
Turkey has everything to offer- the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, beaches, mountains and skiing, the beautifully strange limestone formations of Pamukkale, and the unusual and unique fairy chimneys of Cappadocia. The list goes on…
MORE INFORMATION ON TRAVEL IN TURKEY
18 Pictures That Will Make You Want to Travel to Turkey
What to Know Before You Go to Turkey
Thank you very much for your great review, you really helped me in choosing!
That’s awesome!