15 Things to Do in Turkey

Watching 100 hot-air balloons rise at dawn over Cappadocia's valley of fairy chimneys and rose-coloured rock formations is one of the most photographed moments in travel — and one of the few where the reality exceeds every photograph. The hour-long drift over the landscape at sunrise is unforgettable.

Hagia Sophia was the world's largest cathedral for nearly a thousand years, then became the Ottoman Empire's greatest mosque, then a museum, now a mosque again — its interior, with Byzantine mosaics glowing beside Islamic calligraphy, is one of the most extraordinary spaces on earth.

The world's oldest and largest covered market — 4,000 shops across 61 streets under a domed roof that has traded since 1461. Carpets, spices, lanterns, jewellery and leather fill the labyrinth. Negotiate everything; accept every tea offered. Spend at least two hours getting deliberately lost.

White calcium terraces that look like a frozen waterfall — natural thermal pools fed by mineral-rich springs cascade down a hillside that has been a spa destination since Roman times. Walk barefoot through the warm pools and visit the ancient city of Hierapolis above them.

The best-preserved Roman city outside Italy — marble-paved streets, the Library of Celsus, a 25,000-seat amphitheatre and the Temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders). Walking through it at dusk, when the crowds thin and the marble glows, is among Turkey's greatest experiences.

A boat journey between Europe and Asia — passing Ottoman palaces, Bosphorus fortresses and yali mansions along a strait that has been the hinge of civilisations for millennia. The evening sunset cruise from Eminönü, with the skyline lit gold and minarets silhouetted, is Istanbul at its most cinematic.

An alien volcanic landscape carved by early Christians into cave churches, underground cities and fairy-chimney dwellings — best experienced by balloon at sunrise, horseback through the Rose Valley, and sleeping in a cave hotel. The Göreme Open-Air Museum's painted cave churches are a UNESCO treasure.

The city where East meets West — literally, across a bridge. The Hagia Sophia's Byzantine-Ottoman hybrid interior, Topkapi Palace's harem and treasury, the Grand Bazaar's 4,000 shops, and a sunset fish sandwich on the Galata Bridge are the four essential Istanbul experiences.

Cotton-white calcium terraces cascading down a hillside above the ruins of a Roman spa city — you walk barefoot through warm mineral pools then explore an ancient theatre and necropolis above. One of Turkey's most otherworldly and most underrated UNESCO sites.

The Ottoman sultans' palace for 400 years — containing the throne room, the harem, the treasury (with the Topkapi Dagger and Spoonmaker's Diamond) and terrace views across the Bosphorus and Golden Horn.

The best-preserved Greco-Roman city in the world — the Library of Celsus, a 25,000-seat amphitheatre and the Temple of Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders) on Turkey's Aegean coast, near Selçuk.

Turkey's highest peak (5,137m) and supposed resting place of Noah's Ark, rising from the eastern plains near the Iranian border. The dramatic landscape of eastern Turkey — from the travertine of Pamukkale to the Kurdish highlands — is almost entirely unexplored by tourists.

Turkey's most glamorous resort — the Bodrum peninsula's white-washed town, St. Peter's Castle and the Aegean gulet cruises (traditional wooden boats) along the Turquoise Coast are the Turkish Riviera at its finest.

A 16th-century Ottoman bathhouse experience — marble slab steam rooms, vigorous foam scrubs and oil massages administered by attendants who haven't changed their technique in 400 years. Çemberlitaş Hamamı in Istanbul has been operating since 1584.

A protected turquoise lagoon near Fethiye, backed by pine-forested mountains — often called Turkey's most beautiful beach. Paraglide from Babadağ Mountain above it for the most dramatic bird's-eye view in Turkish travel.