Ankara

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Ankara: Kizilay square

Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the second largest city in the country after Istanbul. The population is around 3.5 million.

[edit] Understand

People: People are generally helpful to tourists. Many young people can communicate in English. Although most people will try to speak English with you, it's a good idea to bring a turkish dictionary. Ankara is administrative center of Turkiye and a huge university town so that, most of its inhabitants consist of civil servants, students and academics. Ankara is as European as Turkiye can gets and don't forget to bring your pullover.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By Plane

Ankara Esenboğa International Airport (ESB) is located some 28 km northeast of the city. International flights are rather low in frequency and scope - apart from Turkish Airlines (THY), only Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and British Airways offer direct flights to their respective European hubs. For other carriers flying into Turkey, a flight into Istanbul is necessary, followed by an air transfer to Ankara by means of Turkish Airlines.

All of this should change with the opening of the brand-new airport, located adjacent to the old one, in October 2006. The new airport will feature many more gates, a more orderly parking system, and in general better traffic flow. Also currently under construction is an upgrade to the road connecting Ankara's airport to the ring road. While parts of this road are already open, several large sections are still under construction, necessitating lengthy detours. The connector road is set to open in its entirety in October 2006.

Airport buses are operated by Cebeci transportation (formerly HAVAŞ - many people still call it this) through the city center reaching Ulus (the historical center of the city, close to the museums and baths), and AŞTİ (where the intercity buses depart from to almost all the cities in Turkey). The price is around 5 Euros.

[edit] By Train

Being in a central location in Turkey, Ankara can be reached from almost all trains departing from Istanbul to the eastern part of Turkey. The train trip from Istanbul to Ankara takes around 6-7 hours depending on the type of the train (fastest is Baskent for now, however, there will be faster trains in the near future to shorten the trip to 3 hours).

[edit] By Bus

The buses reach AŞTİ (Ankara Şehirlerarası Terminal İşletmeleri) standing for Ankara Intercity Terminal. Most of the cities in Turkey have direct buses to the capital of Turkey, and buses are much faster than trains in Turkey. From Istanbul to Ankara, the bus trip takes around 5 hours.

[edit] Get around

Beypazarı is famous with its traditional houses, mineral water, Bazaar and of course bakery which is called “Beypazari Kurusu”. It is a quite a lot for a small Anatolian town which make them tourism attraction of the area. You must spare a weekend. You will not regret it.

[edit] See

Atakule Tower in Çankaya, Ankara.

Column of Julian the Apostate

[edit] Landmarks

• Anıtkabir, open daily, museum open daily except Mondays - situated on an imposing hill in the Anittepe quarter of the city is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, completed in 1953. A museum nearby displays a large collection of Atatürk memorabilia and paraphernalia
• the Atakule Tower

[edit] Archaeological Remains

• the Citadel
• the Roman Theatre
• the Temple of Augustus
• the Roman Bath

[edit] Museums and Galleries

• the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi)
• the Ethnography Museum (Etnoğrafya Müzesi)
• the Painting and Sculpture Museum (Resim-Heykel Müzesi)
• the War of Independence Museum (Kurtuluş Savaşı Müzesi)

[edit] Parks and Gardens

[edit] Do

Kocatepe

I must admit that there is not so much to do but if you can enter make trekking at the METU (Midddle East Technical University) campus and walk to Yalincak.

[edit] Buy

Ankara is famous with its goat and Angora wool is come from Ankara. You can buy a goat or an angora jumper.

[edit] Eat

Ankara is best known with its "döner kebap". In order to pick a good döner restaurant (there are many) you should look at the döner round. it should be rectangular and the cuts must be flat and unseparated.

You better eat fish in Sakarya str., there are various types of fish restaurants, from fast food to stylish ones and it can be a good opportunity to aslo try rakı, which is also known as companion of fish.

[edit] Drink

A good drinking venue is Marilyn Monroes' bar on Tunali Hilmi, especialy on a Friday night but every night is good. The cool crowd is over by the bar. Only and only on Friday's another venue is the Black and White club, which you will need to ask directions to or better still get some of the Marilyn's crowd to take you along to.

Corvus is on Bestekar Street offering Rock Music. There are many bars and places to drink in general on that street which is pararell to Bestekar. The Edge, Twister, Yer Fistigi (turkish music) are nicec places. Locus Solus on Kennedy Street is a unique place with electronic,reggae or retro (offering different kinds of music) also for eating. On the same street Mono is pleasant place to drink.

[edit] Sleep

The Sheraton Hotel, located in the Kavaklıdere district, is the most visible and glitzy hotel in Ankara (and has the prices to prove it). Around the corner from the Sheraton lies the Hilton, which is a bit past its prime but still a very acceptable place to stay.

The Radisson (located in Ulus, near the train station), the Swissotel (located on an obscure back alley in in Çankaya) and the Ramada (in Kavaklıdere, on fashionable Tunalı Hilmi street) are recent entrants, and offer very new-looking rooms that are nevertheless a tad smaller than those at the Sheraton or Hilton.

Independent hotels of note include the King Hotel (behind the Parliament, near the American Embassy).

[edit] Get out

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