Turkey · Eastern Anatolia · Travel guide
What a trip to Kars and the ghost city of Ani really costs, when winter is worth it and how to book the famous train without losing your nerve.
Photo: Bekir Büyükgöz / Pexels
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Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Flights and hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in Turkish lira (TRY). The exchange rate moves a lot, which is why all prices here are given in francs and euros. Cards are accepted almost everywhere; you need cash for the dolmuş, markets and tips. Flight time: 3 to 4 hours.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
A simple hotel right in the centre, for years the address for backpackers and train travellers. Rooms are small and plain but heated and clean, and the staff know every transfer to Ani. No claims to design, but one of the lowest prices in town.
For many years the standard budget hotel of Kars, with its own hammam, restaurant and rooms that are refreshed regularly. Centrally located, a few minutes on foot from the cheese shops and goose restaurants, with taxis to the station outside the door. Cheap, solid and a good choice if you arrive late in the evening by train.
A small, clean city hotel with friendly staff that scores well on Booking above all for location and price. Rooms are simple and warm, breakfast is decent. Walking distance to the castle; a taxi to the station costs a few francs.
Mid-range
One of the largest hotels in town with spacious rooms, hammam, sauna and a restaurant serving roast goose on advance order. Not charming, but reliably warm, with parking and an English-speaking reception that organises Ani transfers. A good choice in winter, when heating and a proper breakfast matter more than atmosphere.
A four-star city hotel on the main road with modern rooms, a good restaurant and helpful staff who organise Ani transfers and rental cars. Quiet enough for sleeping, close enough to everything you want to see in Kars on foot. Breakfast with Kars cheese, honey and butter from the region, as it should be.
A larger hotel a little outside the centre on the road to the airport, with indoor pool, hammam, restaurant and garden. Rooms are spacious and the standard is solid mid-range without surprises. Practical with a rental car, less practical on foot; in return quiet, with parking and good facilities for families with children.
Luxury
A boutique hotel in a restored Russian townhouse with just a few rooms, wooden floors, high ceilings and one of the best restaurants in town. Personally run, excellent breakfast with regional products. The hotel that turns Kars into a romantic destination. Book early, especially in winter.
A former Russian mansion from 1900, lavishly converted into a hotel with stone walls, antiques and a stylish restaurant serving roast goose in winter. Large rooms with high ceilings, good heating, a quiet location in the old town a few minutes from the centre. For many travellers the most beautiful hotel in all of Eastern Anatolia.
A restored building from the Russian period on the river below the castle, once a military hospital, today a hotel with historic charm, a courtyard and a restaurant. The location right by the Church of the Apostles and the old stone bridge is the most beautiful in Kars. Rooms vary in size; the suites are worth it.
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The abandoned 10th-century Armenian capital on the border gorge with Armenia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cathedral, churches, mosque and city walls on an empty plateau, 45 km east of Kars. Allow at least three hours, bring water and a hat, there is no shade.
A free climb to the citadel with views over the Russian old town and the plateau. Below it the 10th-century Church of the Twelve Apostles, today a mosque, the old stone bridge and the crumbling hammam on the river. Half a day is enough for all of it.
The famous train between Ankara and Kars, 24 hours through high plateaus and river valleys, with sleeper berths for the equivalent of around CHF 30 to 40. Cheap, but sold out weeks in advance in winter. The Erzurum to Kars section is the alternative for travellers with little time.
From December to March the lake at almost 2,000 metres is frozen; horse-drawn sleighs cross the ice and fishermen angle through drilled holes. The winter picture of Kars, 70 km north-east of the city. In summer a quiet lake with pelicans and fish restaurants on the shore.
A small ski area in a pine forest 55 km south-west of Kars with dry crystal snow that is considered among the best in Europe. Day pass around CHF 15 to 20, hotels right on the slopes. Ideal for two ski days as part of a winter trip, not for a whole ski week.
Cave-aged kaşar and Swiss-style gravyer, tasted directly in the shops around Kazım Paşa Caddesi. A kilo costs around CHF 12 to 15 and survives the flight.
Salted, dried and oven-baked goose on bulgur, the winter dish of Kars from November to March. At places like Kamer Mutfak for around CHF 15 to 20 per person; ordering ahead pays off, because the goose takes hours and is often sold out by evening.
Urartian finds, Russian everyday objects, carpets and the railway carriage in which the Treaty of Kars was signed in 1921. A quiet one-hour stop on a rainy or snowy day, with a small entrance fee. Located near the historic railway station.
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Kars cooks for cold winters: goose from the oven, cheese that Swiss cheesemakers brought here in the 19th century, honey from the high pastures and stews from the Caucasus. The cuisine is Russian, Caucasian and Anatolian at once, and almost all of it is surprisingly cheap.
Goose slaughtered in autumn, salted, dried in the winter wind and then roasted in the oven on a bed of bulgur; the meat is dark, firm and rich, and the bulgur soaks up the fat. CHF 15 to 20 (about EUR 16 to 21) per person.
Tip:Season is November to March; order a day ahead if you can, a goose needs hours in the oven.
Gruyère made to a Swiss recipe, in big wheels with holes, strong and slightly sweet, aged for at least a year. CHF 12 to 15 (about EUR 13 to 16) per kilo, and tasting pieces are free.
Tip:Ask for eski gravyer, the older cheese is sharper, and have it vacuum-packed for the flight.
Yellow hard cheese from raw milk, aged in cool cellars; the old wheels taste like alpine cheese with salt crystals. CHF 8 to 12 (about EUR 9 to 13) per kilo.
Tip:Boğatepe combines well with Lake Çıldır if you have a rental car.
Azerbaijani stew of lamb, chickpeas and chestnuts served in a clay pot; you spoon up the broth with bread first, then mash the meat in the pot. CHF 5 to 8 (about EUR 5.40 to 8.60).
Tip:A lunch dish, often served with sumac and raw onions.
Honey from the high pastures around Sarıkamış and Kağızman, pale and floral, sold with the comb. CHF 8 to 15 (about EUR 9 to 16) per kilo, a good and light souvenir.
Tip:Buy it in the jar with the comb and look for çiçek balı (blossom honey).
Round flaky pastry filled with roasted flour and butter, slightly sweet and crumbly, eaten with tea. CHF 1 to 2 (about EUR 1.10 to 2.20) apiece and the cheapest breakfast in town.
Tip:Buy it warm from the oven in the morning, with a glass of tea from the tea house next door.
Flour roasted in butter and stirred with honey or sugar syrup into fine crumbs; a dessert that turns up here even after the roast goose. CHF 2 to 3 (about EUR 2.20 to 3.20) per portion.
Tip:Eat it warm with unsweetened tea, otherwise it is too much.
Kars lies at 1,750 metres in the far north-east of Turkey, 50 km from the Armenian border. Few cities have changed hands as often: Armenians, Byzantines, Georgians, Seljuks and Ottomans all built and destroyed here. In the 10th century nearby Ani was the capital of the Armenian Bagratid kingdom, a Silk Road metropolis of allegedly a thousand churches, abandoned after the Mongol invasion and earthquakes and today standing in the steppe as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kars itself became Russian in 1878 and stayed that way for forty years; the chessboard street grid and the low stone houses in Baltic style that give the city its un-Turkish face date from this period. In 1918 Kars returned to the Ottoman Empire, and in 1921 the present border was fixed. The writer Orhan Pamuk made the city world-famous with his novel "Snow". Today Kars lives from cattle farming, cheese, the military and increasingly from tourism: the journey on the Doğu Ekspresi from Ankara has turned Kars into a winter dream destination for young Turks within just a few years.
Ani lies 45 km east of Kars right on the gorge of the Arpaçay river, which today forms the border with Armenia. On the other side you see Armenian watchtowers; on this side stand cathedrals, churches, an 11th-century mosque and city walls on an empty plateau. Allow at least three hours, the site is huge and there is no shade; water, a hat and sturdy shoes are essential. Entry is covered by the Turkish museum pass or costs the equivalent of a few francs. Getting there: there is no scheduled bus. A taxi with two to three hours of waiting time costs CHF 35 to 50 (about EUR 37 to 54); hotels and the travel agency at the railway station organise shared transfers from around CHF 15 per person. The best time is the morning, before the train passengers arrive, or the late afternoon with low light on the red volcanic stone.
The Doğu Ekspresi runs in about 24 hours from Ankara via Kayseri, Sivas and Erzurum to Kars. There are two versions: the regular train with seated and sleeper carriages, which runs daily and is dirt cheap (a sleeper compartment for two costs the equivalent of around CHF 30 to 40, about EUR 32 to 43), and the Turistik Doğu Ekspresi, which runs in winter with longer stops in Erzincan, Erzurum and Kars and costs considerably more. In the winter season the regular train is often sold out weeks in advance because Instagram made it famous; book through the TCDD website or app as soon as the sales start date is announced, usually 15 to 30 days ahead. The most beautiful stretch is between Erzincan and Erzurum along the upper Euphrates, which you see in the morning on the way towards Kars. If you are short on time, fly there and take the train only for the Kars to Erzurum section, around five hours.
In winter Kars is the coldest city in Turkey; minus 20 degrees is normal and minus 30 happens. That is exactly the appeal: frosted facades, horse-drawn sleighs on the frozen Lake Çıldır, skiing in Sarıkamış. The downside: hotels are often fully booked from December to February and twice as expensive, and Ani in the snow is impressive but only doable with good gear. From May to September Kars is green, the plateau is full of wildflowers, temperatures are a pleasant 20 to 25 degrees and you have Ani almost to yourself. Honestly, summer is the better trip if you are coming for Ani and the landscape; winter is the better one if you want the experience of train, snow and sleighs. What you need either way: warm clothing, because even in July the nights are cold.
Kars is the cheese capital of Turkey. Kars kaşar matures in caves and tastes like a strong alpine cheese; gravyer (Gruyère) was introduced here in the 19th century by Swiss cheesemakers and is still made today. That is not marketing but history: the Russians brought experts from Switzerland to the Caucasus back then. You can taste in the cheese shops around Kazım Paşa Caddesi, and a kilo of gravyer costs around CHF 12 to 15 (about EUR 13 to 16). The second national dish is kaz, roast goose, which is salted and dried in winter and then baked in the oven on bulgur. The season is November to March; Kamer Mutfak and Ani Ocakbaşı are among the well-known addresses, and you should expect CHF 15 to 20 per person. Then there is honey from the mountains, also cheap and a good souvenir. Vegetarians have it slightly harder in Kars, but cheese, bread and soups always work.
Lake Çıldır lies 70 km to the north-east at almost 2,000 metres and is frozen in winter from December to March; horse-drawn sleighs then cross the ice and fishermen drill holes for their catch. That is the picture winter travellers come for, and it costs a few francs per sleigh ride. In summer the lake is a quiet place with pelicans and fish restaurants on the shore. Sarıkamış, 55 km to the south-west, has a small ski area in a pine forest with crystal snow that is considered among the best in Europe thanks to the dry air. A day pass costs around CHF 15 to 20 (about EUR 16 to 21), and there are hotels right on the slopes. Sarıkamış is also home to a small hunting lodge of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. For both excursions: easy with a rental car, otherwise you depend on shared taxis or dolmuş, which run irregularly in winter.
Half a day is enough for Kars itself, but it is worth it. Walk through the chessboard grid of the Russian old town with its low basalt buildings, some of which have been restored as hotels and restaurants. The castle high above the Kars Çayı river is free and offers the best overview; directly below stands the 10th-century Church of the Twelve Apostles, today the Kümbet Mosque, and the old stone bridge with the hammam. Visit the Kars Museum with Urartian and Russian finds and the old railway station with the carriage in which the Treaty of Kars was signed in 1921. In the evening Kars is surprisingly lively; near the university there are places with live music and beer. By day prices are low, people are direct and the city with its rough charm is one of the most honest in Turkey.
Two full days are the minimum: one for Ani, half a day for the city, half a day of buffer. With three to four days you can add Lake Çıldır or Sarıkamış. If you arrive on the Doğu Ekspresi, count the train journey as a travel day in its own right; it is part of the experience.
For Ani and the landscape: June to September with 20 to 25 degrees by day and cool nights. For snow, the frozen lake and skiing: January and February, but then with temperatures down to minus 25 degrees and fully booked hotels. April and November are slushy and not really recommended.
With Turkish Airlines or Pegasus via Istanbul to Kars (KSY), two to three flights a day, total travel time from Zurich around nine hours. The airport is 6 km outside the city. Alternatively fly to Erzurum and continue by train or bus to Kars in around three to five hours, a lovely combination.
Yes. Kars is a quiet university and garrison town without particular security problems, and the many Turkish winter visitors have improved the infrastructure considerably. The border with Armenia is closed, but visitors do not notice this; in Ani you can move around freely, only drones are prohibited. Still, check your foreign ministry's travel advice for eastern Turkey before you go.
Through the website or app of the Turkish state railway TCDD (ebilet.tcddtasimacilik.gov.tr). Sales usually open 15 to 30 days before departure, and sleeper berths for winter are gone within hours. You need your passport number to book. The regular train is cheap and perfectly adequate; the Turistik train costs many times more and is only worth it if you want the stops in Erzincan and Erzurum.
Not to Armenia, the border has been closed since 1993; from Ani you can only look across. To Georgia, yes: the Türkgözü border crossing near Posof is about 150 km north, and from there it is a good three hours to Tbilisi. There are minibuses and direct buses from Kars, and the crossing is straightforward for most Western passports.
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