Culinary Mesopotamia

The route, day by day

1. 1

   Day 1 to 2

   Gaziantep: Baklava, Zeugma and the Copper Bazaar

   

   You fly via Istanbul to Gaziantep, a good six hours, collect the car at the airport and park it straight at the hotel: the old town is for walking. Gaziantep is a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, and you start with the essential, baklava in one of the old pastry shops, local pistachios, sheep's milk butter, thin, not too sweet, for breakfast, like the locals. Then the copper bazaar, the pistachio merchants and, for lunch, beyran, the spicy lamb soup, or lahmacun from the stone oven. The afternoon belongs to the Zeugma Mosaic Museum with the Gypsy Girl, Turkey's most famous mosaic; allow two hours. On the second day drive 120 kilometres to Halfeti on the Euphrates, the half-submerged town with its minaret in the water, boat trip, fish on the bank, back in the evening for katmer, the pistachio filo dessert. Sleep in a mid-range hotel near the castle, around CHF 60 (about EUR 64) per night. On to Şanlıurfa: 140 kilometres on the O-52 motorway, an hour and a half, toll via the sticker.

   Tours at this stop: Gaziantep street food tour ↗Baklava workshop ↗Halfeti boat trip ↗

   Open the Gaziantep travel guide →
2. 2

   Day 3 to 4

   Şanlıurfa: Göbekli Tepe, Balıklıgöl and Sıra Gecesi

   

   Şanlıurfa, Urfa for short, is the city of the prophets and of Turkey's spiciest cuisine: isot is the dark chilli they sprinkle on everything here. On the first morning drive to Göbekli Tepe, 20 kilometres to the north-east, the world's oldest temple complexes, 12,000 years old, T-shaped pillars with animal reliefs under a protective roof. Take a guide or the audio guide; without an explanation it is a hill with stones. Then the archaeological museum in town, where the original finds are kept. In the afternoon the Balıklıgöl, the pool with the sacred carp, and the old town with its vaulted bazaar lanes; for dinner Urfa kebab and ciğer, skewered liver, eaten here for breakfast. The second day leads to Harran, 45 kilometres south, with its mud beehive houses and the oldest university in the Islamic world, then Karahan Tepe, the new excavation site. In the evening a sıra gecesi, the traditional music night with çiğ köfte; book it through the hotel. Sleep in a konak hotel in the old town, around CHF 55 (about EUR 59) per night. On to Mardin: 190 kilometres on the D400 eastwards, two and a half hours.

   Tours at this stop: Göbekli Tepe with a guide ↗Harran and Karahan Tepe ↗Sıra Gecesi music night ↗

   Open the Şanlıurfa travel guide →
3. 3

   Day 5 to 6

   Mardin: Stone City above Mesopotamia and the Monasteries

   

   You see Mardin from afar: a city of honey-coloured limestone terraced up a mountainside, the Mesopotamian plain below stretching to Syria. You sleep in the old town in a stone house with a terrace, mid-range around CHF 65 (about EUR 70), not down in the cheaper new town, because the evening view from the terrace is the reason for Mardin. The first day is for the main street and the stepped lanes behind it, the Zinciriye Medrese, the museum in the old patriarchate and the food: kaburga dolması, stuffed lamb ribs, sembusek, the half-moon pastries, and mırra, the bitter coffee, plus Mardin soap and almond sweets to take home. On the second day drive to the Saffron Monastery of Deyrulzafaran, six kilometres, then into the Tur Abdin to the monastery of Mor Gabriel, the oldest still inhabited Syriac Orthodox monastery, and to Midyat with its silversmiths, a 150 kilometre loop. If you have time, add Dara, the forgotten fortress city. On to Diyarbakır: 95 kilometres north on the D950, an hour and a half.

   Tours at this stop: Mardin old town guided tour ↗Monasteries of the Tur Abdin and Midyat ↗

   Open the Mardin travel guide →
4. 4

   Day 7

   Diyarbakır: City Walls, Hevsel Gardens and Liver for Breakfast

   

   Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish city in Turkey, and it is honest: loud, lively, with a five kilometre city wall of black basalt, considered the longest in the world after the Great Wall of China. One day covers the essentials, because the city is compact. You breakfast like the locals on ciğer, grilled liver with onions and parsley, at seven in the morning at a ciğerci by the market, then walk through Sur, the old town within the walls: the Ulu Camii, one of the oldest mosques in Anatolia, the Armenian church of Surp Giragos, the Hasan Paşa Hanı caravanserai for a çay in the courtyard. Climb the wall at the Keçi Burcu to see the Hevsel Gardens on the Tigris, farmed for thousands of years, and the Ten-Eyed Bridge. In the afternoon kadayıf with cheese and Diyarbakır watermelon, which grows so big here that it has its own festival. Sleep in a mid-range hotel in or near Sur, around CHF 55 (about EUR 59). On to Nemrut: 200 kilometres via Siverek and Kahta to Karadut on the D360 and D885, three and a half hours with the ferry stop or the bridge over the Atatürk reservoir.

   Tours at this stop: City walls and Sur old town ↗Diyarbakır food tour ↗

   Open the Diyarbakır travel guide →
5. 5

   Day 8 to 9

   Nemrut: Heads of Gods in the Morning Light and the Drive Back

   

   Mount Nemrut is the final chord: at 2,150 metres, in the 1st century BC, King Antiochus I of Commagene had a burial mound heaped up, flanked by two terraces with colossal statues whose heads now stand on the ground gazing over the plain. You sleep in Karadut, the village at the foot of the mountain, in a simple guesthouse with half board, around CHF 50 (about EUR 54) per night, because the summit road from there is only twelve kilometres. On the first evening drive up for sunset on the west terrace to get your bearings, and the next morning at four for sunrise on the east terrace, which is honestly the better half; dress warmly, it is five degrees up there even in July. Then breakfast at the guesthouse and the valley sites on the way back: the Karakuş burial mound, the Roman Cendere Bridge and Arsameia with the Heracles relief, all along one road. Return journey: 90 kilometres to Adıyaman airport with few flights; more reliable is the 250 kilometres back to Gaziantep on the D360 and O-52, three and a half hours, where you drop the car and fly via Istanbul to Zurich.

   Tours at this stop: Nemrut sunrise from Karadut ↗Commagene loop: Arsameia and Cendere ↗

   Open the Mount Nemrut travel guide →

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What the route costs

Rough total per person for the whole route, mid-range, travelling as a pair. Flights and hotels vary by season; details are on the destination pages.

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.

Tips for the route

Frequently asked questions about Culinary Mesopotamia