Ankara

Turkey’s capital is a sprawling urban mass in the midst of the Central Anatolian steppe. It’s very different from the Ottoman town of Angora which preceded it on this site, a quiet place known for its fluffy jumpers of knitted goat fleece. Several significant attractions make it worth a short visit

Most visitors head straight for Hisar, the Byzantine citadel atop the hill east of the old city, and the nearby Museum of Anatolian Civilsations. Just south is Atatürk’s mausoleum, a monumental building, spare but beautiful, that echoes the architecture of several great Anatolian empires.

Antalya

Antalya is the chief city on Turkey’s central Mediterranean coast. As well as several km of pebble beaches and a historic Roman-Ottoman core, Antalya is a good base from which to explore the quieter beach towns and more spectacular ancient cities of the region.

Side, 75km (47mi) east of Antalya, is the increasingly popular beach town once chosen by Mark Antony and Cleopatra for a romantic tryst. Alanya, 115km (71mi) east of Antalya, is another sea-sun-n-sand joint with a mini-Miami feel. Patara is a party town a few hundred km south-west of Antalya.

Bodrum

South Aegean’s prettiest resort, Bodrum has a yacht harbour and a port for ferries to the Greek island of Kos. Palm-lined streets ring the bays, and white sugar-cube houses and ranks of villas crowd the hillside. Boating, swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving are prime Bodrum activities.

At night Bodrum’s famous discos throb, boom and blare, keeping much of the town awake until dawn. Both Turkish and foreign visitors complain about the ear-splitting cacophany, but the local attitude seems to be, ‘If you wanted peace and quiet, why did you come to Bodrum?’.

Ephesus

Of Turkey’s hundreds of ancient cities and classical ruins, Ephesus is the grandest and best preserved. Indeed, it’s the spunkiest classical city on the Mediterranean. Ephesus was Ionia, a flourishing cultural centre during the Greek Empire, and a busy provincial capital during Roman times.

Ionia’s Temple of Diana was counted among the Seven Wonders of the World, and the city was generally renowned for its wealth and beauty.

Sts Paul and John took up the quill in Ionia and the Virgin Mary is said to have spent her twilight years here. A walking tour of the ruins will take at least half a day, and if you’re here in summer, start early, because it gets stinking hot by high noon. Places you’ll come across include the Grotto of the Seven Sleepers, in which seven persecuted youths slumbered for two centuries, then woke up and ambled down to town for a meal; the colossal Harbour Gymnasium; the grand marble-paved Arcadian Way; the impressive Temple of Hadrian and a scattering of Roman fountains, pools, brothels, libraries and public toilets.

Istanbul

Straddling the Bosphorus, its skyline studded with domes and minarets, İstanbul is one of the truly great romantic cities. Its history tracks back from Byzantium to Constantinople to its place at the head of the Ottoman Empire. Today it hums as Turkey’s cultural heart and good-time capital.

The heart of historical İstanbul is Sultanahmet, the district centred on the Byzantine Hippodrome in the oldest part of the city. The city is best explored on foot, as most sights are within easy walking distance of one another. If the pace does get too much, a çay bahçe (tea garden) is never too far away.