Six reasons why you should do a road trip in Turkey
No one will ever tell you that Turkey isn’t a great country to visit. But to really weave yourself through the fabric of this exceptional country, you need to go beyond the package tourist trample. And, for that, you need a set of wheels.
Here are 6 reasons why
Gallipoli
The crucible of sorts where the modern Turkish Republic was born, Turkey’s victory at Gallipoli against the Allied forces in 1915 was largely thanks to Ataturk’s command of the 19th Division of the Turkish Army. This earned him immense popularity and power that he used rather than abused to bring about the rapid modernisation of Turkey through revolutionary social and political reforms to give Turkey a shining new identity outside the shadow of the medieval Ottoman Empire. One of his most ardent reforms was the emancipation of women.
Start your visit at the fantastic Gallipoli Simulation Centre, searching for Çannakale Destanı Tanıtım Merkezi in Google Maps will get you there.
Well-preserved ruins from many millennia ago
While Ephesus is the best known of all ruins in Turkey, there are more Greek ruins here than Greece itself. Tlos, Pinara, Letoon and Patara are just a few that can be easily visited on a leisurely day’s drive from Oludeniz to Kas. Often you’ll have the ruins all to yourself.
Drive to vantage viewpoints to catch stunning sunsets
Turkey’s beaches on its western coast are stunning and this shoreline is aptly named the Turquoise Coast. Often there are unsealed roads up the mountains from where the views are stunning.
Find your own little corner for a romantic meal on a sunny day
One of the joys of road travel in Turkey is discovering little cozy cafes and restaurants like this.
Stunning roads to drive
Without exaggeration, if you like to drive, Turkey has some stunning roads on offer. The traffic is also well behaved, there are no hidden surprises save the odd tortoise slowly crossing the road and best of all service stations have spotless and clean toilets.
Discover little snack shops along the way
The car we used for this road trip was Nissan’s New X-Trail that is powered with a 1.6-liter engine that develops 130 horsepower and with automatic transmission. Both of us thought that it was a great car to drive, with good suspension very precise steering and in spite of its large size, quite easy to squeeze into tight parking spots.
Rumour has it that it is India bound in the near future.