Why You Should Visit Eastern Anatolia — Turkey's Most Overlooked Region

Most visitors to Turkey go to Istanbul, Cappadocia or the Aegean coast. All three are excellent choices. But Turkey extends much further east — into a region that sees a fraction of the tourist traffic, offers some of the country's most extraordinary landscapes and historical sites, and rewards the effort required to reach it many times over.

Lake Van — A Colour That Doesn't Seem Real

Lake Van is Turkey's largest lake and one of the largest soda lakes in the world. Its colour shifts across the day and the seasons — turquoise in early morning, deep blue by midday, violet at dusk. At sunrise or sunset, the view across the water towards the surrounding mountains is among the most beautiful in the country.

On a small island in the lake stands Akdamar Church — a 10th-century Armenian cathedral whose exterior walls are carved with extraordinary bas-relief biblical scenes. The boat crossing, the quality of the carving, the silence of the island: this is one of those places that stays with you.

Ishak Pasha Palace — A Wonder Near the Iranian Border

Perched on a hillside above the town of Doğubeyazıt, close to the Iranian border, Ishak Pasha Palace is an 18th-century complex that blends Ottoman, Seljuk, Persian and Armenian architectural styles into something entirely its own. The carved stonework is astonishing in its detail.

Behind it, the silhouette of Mount Ararat — snow-capped for most of the year — frames the view in a way that is difficult to photograph and impossible to forget.

Ani — A Ghost City on the Armenian Frontier

On a windswept plateau at the Turkish-Armenian border, the ruins of Ani stand largely alone. In the Middle Ages this was a city of 100,000 people, the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom. Today it is empty — churches, mosques and palace ruins standing in silence on the steppe.

Ani is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But it has almost none of the managed atmosphere of more visited heritage sites. It feels genuinely abandoned, genuinely remote, and genuinely moving.

Erzurum and the Seljuk Heritage

Erzurum is often overlooked on the way to Van or Doğubeyazıt, but it deserves a full day. The Çifte Minareli Medrese is one of the finest surviving Seljuk architectural monuments in Turkey. The city's bazaar quarter and the cylindrical Seljuk tombs nearby add further texture to a surprisingly rich urban heritage.

When to Visit Eastern Anatolia

Late spring (May to June) and early autumn (August to September) are the best windows. Winters in Eastern Anatolia are severe — heavy snowfall, closed roads, temperatures well below zero. Summer is brief but extraordinary: long days, clear skies and highland meadows in full colour.

Why a Guided Tour Makes Sense Here

Eastern Anatolia is logistically the most demanding region in Turkey. Distances between sites are significant, public transport is limited, and several key locations require private vehicles. A guided tour removes every logistical obstacle and allows you to focus entirely on what you're seeing.

Our Eastern Anatolia Tour covers Lake Van, Akdamar Island, Ishak Pasha Palace, the Ani ruins and the Seljuk monuments of Erzurum across eight days — with all transport, accommodation and guiding included.