Beautiful cities in Turkey to visit near Istanbul

Turkey is a country bordered to the east by Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan, to the north by the Black Sea, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Greece, to the west by the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea and to the south by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Syria and Iraq. Characterized by having 81 provinces grouped into 7 regions, which comprise a population of 84.7 million inhabitants who live in 973 districts and where the majority of the inhabitants reside in the Anatolia region, of the homonymous province, in the center of the country, which is where finds its capital Ankara (5 hours from Istanbul by car). The official currency of Turkey is the Turkish Lira, the country's area code is "+90" and the language most widely spoken in the territory is Turkish, although in some regions they use other languages such as Kurdish (spoken by 12% of the population). population), Arab, Bosnian, Circassian, and Zazaki.

The towns of Turkey are also identified as one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world because it is a transcontinental country, highly populated and with great monuments, idyllic beaches, archaeological sites of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, with tourist centers with a lively nightlife and incredible cities such as Istanbul "the city of a thousand mosques".

The climate in most of the towns in Turkey to visit is temperate Mediterranean type in the coastal areas and oceanic in the Black Sea part; its summers are very hot and rainy but the winters are cold and also rainy. Winter occurs from December to February with average minimum temperatures around 5 °C. Summer occurs between June and September with daily maximum temperatures exceeding 30°C.

Something very attractive about tourism in the towns near Istanbul is visiting places such as the Hagia Sophia Mosque, the Suleiman Mosque, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the Topkapi Palace, the Dolmabahçe Palace, the Basilica Cistern, the Galata Tower, the Lycian Route, the Sumela Monastery, the Great Mosque of Divriği and Troy, an archaeological site declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Other good plans are to walk through landscapes such as Göreme in Cappadocia, Pamukkale in the province of Denizli, The Acropolis, Asclepion in Pergamon, Mount Erciyes, the underground city of Kaymaklı, Mount Nemrut, Lake Uzungöl, Mount Kackar, and Yedigöller National Park. Also, another of the many essential things to do in Turkey is to visit museums such as the Zeugma Mosaic Museum, the Topkapı Palace, the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, the Zelve open-air museum, the Rumelia castle or Roumeli castle Hissar and The Pera Museum in the Tepebaşı neighborhood of the Beyoğlu district in Istanbul.

We also recommend you to know the wealth of customs of the native Turks such as:

• Caring for stray cats and dogs
• Unconditional love for Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey
• Using yogurt as an ingredient for many dishes
• Love his hair
• Rural women cover their hair
• When a person goes on a trip, it is typical to throw water on the ground
• To get married, a party is held in the same house to announce the engagement and give the woman the taki (engagement ring), and the day before the wedding, the women organize the henna night
• Turkish coffee is Intangible Heritage of Humanity by Unesco
• Refusing an invitation to drink water or tea may be considered impolite
• The Turkish eye symbol is everywhere
• In bars and cafeterias you see a lot of the hookah or water pipe
• Haggle when buying something
• When visiting a home, the guest is expected to remove their shoes

In terms of culture, the beautiful towns near Istanbul are known for their pride in their traditions, honor, and religion. Traditions such as celebrating the Christian New Year on January 1, the Mevlana Commemoration Ceremony in Konya, the Camel Wrestling Festival in Selcuk, the Canakkale Trojan Festival, the Istanbul Arts and Culture Festival, and the Festival of Saint Nicholas in early December, Saint Nicholas, also known as Santa Claus, was born and raised in a region of Turkey.

But especially, in most Turkish cities and towns its gastronomy stands out such as the famous donër kebab, the lahmacun, lüfer or blue fish, the dolma, the meze that is a kind of cold appetizer, the dessert Baklava and drinks like Ayran (yogurt, water, and salt), Rakı, Efes Beer and Kahve (Turkish Coffee).

Turkey is without a doubt home to the most beautiful and picturesque towns in all of Europe and Asia. So that you can fully enjoy what this beautiful country has to offer, we have left you a route through the Turkish destinations that we consider to be the best tourist cities and towns in Turkey that you should go to.

Some are small towns but have their charm, others enjoy an excellent climate, incomparable natural beauties surround others, and some other Turkish towns have gastronomic wealth, invaluable historical wealth, or an ancient, Greek, architectural style. roman and biblical That's why it's good to visit everyone.