Travel S Helper

Located in the rugged hills of northwest Ankara Province, Mount Sarıçalı National Park (Sarıçalı Dağı Milli Parkı) is Turkey’s newest national park and a quietly compelling destination. Officially declared a national park on 27 October 2021, Sarıçalı (meaning “barberry bush” in Turkish) rises to 1,740–1,750 meters and boasts steep limestone ridges, ancient forests, and a […]

Mount Ilgaz (Turkish: Ilgaz Dağı), rising to 2,587 meters in north-central Anatolia, is often hailed as the “Crown Jewel of the Western Black Sea.” This commanding massif straddles the provinces of Kastamonu and Çankırı and is celebrated for its panoramic peaks, dense forests and high alpine meadows. In winter, Ilgaz’s slopes become a white wonderland […]

Mount Honaz rises sharply from the plains of southwestern Turkey, forming a verdant counterpoint to the famous white travertines of nearby Pamukkale. As Turkey’s tallest mountain in the Aegean region (2,571 m), Honaz is an ecological and historical treasure quietly tucked into Denizli Province. Spanning roughly 94 km², the area was declared a national park in April […]

Hatila Valley National Park occupies a narrow, steep-sided canyon in Artvin Province, in Turkey’s remote northeastern corner. Carved by the Hatila River (a tributary of the Çoruh) through volcanic rock, the valley plunges from the Kaçkar Mountains toward the Black Sea. Spanning roughly 16,900 hectares, it was designated a national park in 1994 to preserve […]

High in the Taurus Mountains, amid fragrant pine and juniper, lie the ruins of Termessos – an ancient city that Alexander the Great famously declined to storm. Perched at roughly 1,000 meters on Mt. Güllük (ancient Solymos), Termessos occupies a spectacular natural fortress. As one conservation source observes, “Termessos is one of the best preserved […]

Lake Gala National Park is a protected reserve in Edirne province that encompasses two broad freshwater lakes and surrounding marshes. It lies in the heart of the Meriç (Maritsa) Delta, a wetland of international importance. First set aside for nature protection in 1991, the area was formally expanded and designated a national park in 2005. […]

Rising steeply from the Hakkari plateau, the Cilo mountain massif thrusts into the sky at the easternmost edge of the Taurus range. For decades these borderland peaks lay shrouded in military secrecy. Today they are celebrated as Turkey’s newest protected area: on 26 September 2020 the authorities designated Cilo-Sat as the 45th national park. The […]

The Dilek Peninsula-Büyük Menderes Delta National Park unfolds across Turkey’s Aegean coast as a landscape of startling contrasts. To the south, the wooded spine of Mount Mycale (Dilek Dağı) rises to roughly 1,237 meters, dominating a craggy peninsula of pine and juniper forests. To the north lie the broad marshes of the Büyük Menderes River, […]

Between the high limestone peaks of Siirt Province lies Botan Valley National Park, a newly minted protected area full of surprises. Far from a conventional park, the valley reads like a chronicle of human history and geologic time intertwined. Towering cliffs and deep ravines enclose villages, ruined churches, and centuries-old monasteries—all rooted in a land […]

Boğazköy-Alacahöyük National Park, in north-central Turkey’s Çorum Province, encompasses some of Anatolia’s richest Bronze-Age heritage. Established in 1988, it covers roughly 2,600 hectares. The park actually consists of two separate archaeological zones about 25 km apart: one surrounds the ancient Hittite capital Hattuşa (at modern Boğazköy) with the nearby Yazılıkaya rock sanctuary, and the other […]

Lake Beyşehir lies in central Anatolia (Konya Province) at about 1,120 m above sea level. Encompassing roughly 650 km² of open water, it is Turkey’s largest freshwater lake and the third-largest overall. In 1993 the surrounding lake basin was declared a national park (Beyşehir Gölü Milli Parkı), encompassing some 86,855 ha to protect its forests, wetlands and cultural […]

Lake Abant National Park, crowned by a verdant pine forest and embracing a glacial-blue lake, lies high in Turkey’s Bolu province. This picturesque basin was carved by a prehistoric landslide that dammed a mountain valley, creating what is called a barrier lake. Today Abant sits at around 1,328 meters above sea level and spans roughly […]