Before ending this post, I want to communicate one thing - there are so many other cities that could have made this list, but I’m trying to be respectful of people’s time here. If you’d like me to add more cities to this post, just say as much in the comments, or reach out to me on social media( IG, FB, Twitter) and I can easily add some worthy Turkish cities to the list.

Honestly, Turkey is enormous, and you wouldn’t believe how many incredible cities there are. Heck, when I used to play hockey in the Turkish Süper Lig, we used to head to cities like Erzurum, which is not terribly far from the Armenian and Georgian border, and they got full-fledged winter, let me tell you. That city was a joy to visit in its own right, but I’m trying to be cognizant of the fact that it’s not really realistic for folks to visit a city like Erzurum if you’ve only got one or maybe two weeks to explore Turkey.

I mean, you could argue that Nevşehir could be on this list because it’s a gateway to seeing Cappadocia, or that Çanakkale should be on this list because of the archaeological site of Troy and WWII military significance.

My point is this - however you plan your trip (and I can only hope this was helpful in doing so), you’re never going to have a bad Turkey itinerary. The weather is too nice, the food is too delicious, the history is too important, and the people are too kind for your trip to Turkey not to work out. I’ve yet to meet a single person who has visited Turkey that didn’t fall in love with the place.

So, understand that, in my opinion, these are the best cities to visit in Turkey if you’ve got limited time, but you could spend a lifetime exploring Turkish cities and ultimately only scratch the surface.

Just writing this has brought such immeasurable joy to me - to reminisce on a country that changed me profoundly, with the goal of providing others with the tools to go and explore for themselves what makes this wondrous nation quite so magical.