Are you planning to go to Turkey? That`s our Turkey travel guidelines in winter! Learn more about winter holiday and famous Turkish food that everyone must try

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Usually, tourists associate Turkey as a country for sea and sightseeing tourism. However, you can find places for winter recreation here.

Turkey is a large country located in four climatic zones. The mountain ranges of the state are not inferior to the French and Austrian ones and occupy a significant part of the country's area. Nature can even compete with Switzerland and Iceland with its beauty. Turkey has everything, as the locals say: when they are skiing in the city of Van, they are already swimming in the sea in Antalya.

The advantages of a winter holiday in Turkey include the absence of numerous of tourists and lower prices for tourist services, because the main season has already ended.

Winter holidays in Turkey are snow, winter sports, delicious cuisine that warms you, and many exquisite winter landscapes and architectural monuments.

We have collected 5 places in Turkey that are worth visiting in winter and will tell you about the country's traditional winter dishes.

Turkey travel guidelines in winter

Ski resort Kartalkaya

Kartalkaya is a ski resort that is very popular among Turks. It is located 600 km from Istanbul in the area of the city of Bolu.

Among the dense pine forest, 20 kilometers of tracks have been laid for fans of skiing and snowboarding. The infrastructure of the resort is represented by 18 lifts, hotels, restaurants and bars.

In recent years, the number of foreign skiers at the resort is constantly growing. Both professionals and beginners like to rest here.

Mount Uludag

Uludag is the largest ski resort in Turkey, located next to Bursa and Istanbul. In mythological works, it was from this mountain that the gods watched the Trojan wars. Nowadays, Uludag is 28 kilometers of slopes where you can ski, snowboard and sled. The resort has 27 hotels, shopping and entertainment centers, restaurants and cafes.

The best period for travel is January, February. The resort is all-inclusive, making it an ideal place for a winter vacation.

While in the Uludag ski resort, you should also visit Bursa, the historical center of the Ottoman Empire. Many monuments of the city are included in the list of UNESCO. Uludag Mountain can be reached from Bursa by cable car.

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a real business card of Turkey, which is known for its fabulous landscape. Thousands of years of wind have transformed the region into a place with a lunar landscape and bizarrely shaped rocks. Of course, the main gem of the resort is hot air balloon rides at dawn. However, the region is also rich in historical sights - ancient cave churches, the underground city of Derinkuyu and the open-air museum of Goreme. You can stay in an original cave hotel. Tourists can spend an atmospheric winter evening by the fireplace.

Bolu Province

Golluk and Abant lakes in Bolu province delight tourists with their fabulous landscapes throughout the year, but with the first snow they turn into a real mystical place. Turks come here for a family barbecue or just to walk through the forest along the lake on foot or in a horse-drawn carriage. Istanbul travel agencies usually offer one-day tours to Bolu. Tourists are advised to taste the local cuisine in the province and buy souvenirs at the bazaars.

Eastern Kars

When planning a trip to Eastern Kars, it is worth booking a hotel for several days, because the region is rich in architectural monuments. The business card of Kars is the historical churches of the times of the Armenian kingdom. The large ski resort of Sarikamysh is also located here, which is famous for its "crystal clear snow". The services at the Sarikamysh mountain resort are ideal for tourists of any level, because the center is divided into two levels: the lower one for beginners, and the second level, which consists of four tracks, for more professional skiers. An excursion on the frozen Childyr lake on horseback will be interesting.

Kars is the final stop of the Turkish Eastern Express, a train that departs from Ankara.

True connoisseurs of winter recreation should also visit the Turkish ski resorts of Erzurum, Ergyreis and Helixi.

Winter Turkish food

Many tourists love Turkey precisely because of its delicious cuisine. In addition to kebab, kefte, meze, lentil soup and dolma, the country has a certain list of dishes and drinks that Turks prefer in winter:

• Boza is the official drink of the Turkish winter. It is produced by fermenting wheat with the addition of sugar and water. The drink has been known since the time of the Ottoman Empire. You can buy it directly from sellers on the street. Turks believe that if you sprinkle the boza with cinnamon and balls of fried chickpeas - leblebi, no winter is scary.

• Roasted chestnuts - as soon as the first cold comes to Turkey, roasted chestnuts start to be sold on the streets - a real winter symbol of the country. You can also fry them yourself and spend a cozy evening by the stove with tea.

Turks prepare many dishes from them to strengthen immunity.

• Ishkembe chorbasy is a thick, aromatic, nourishing soup that warms even the coldest day. Prepared from beef. Turks believe that it is Ishkembe cherbasa that best strengthens the immune system.

• Tahini Pekmez – grape juice cooked in a special way without adding sugar. It is used together with sesame paste.

• Salep - translated from Turkish "salep" means "winter". Thick, viscous, generously sprinkled with cinnamon, a milky drink made from the root of mountain orchids can be bought from street vendors or prepared at home, but only in winter.

• Sarma is one of the most popular and tastiest Turkish snacks. Mincemeat made of rice and meat is wrapped in grape leaves. Sarma is prepared in the form of lady's fingers.

• Carnirik - fried eggplants with minced meat, onions, parsley, garlic and tomato filling.

• Manty - very tasty Turkish dumplings. To prepare them, you need dough, meat (beef or lamb), onion, salt and pepper.

Turkish winter resorts work with all safety requirements and high-quality service. In addition, prices in ski resorts in Turkey are much lower than in many countries of the world. Turkish cuisine will also surprise connoisseurs of meat and fresh seafood. Therefore, we advise you to choose Turkey for your next winter trip.

You can learn more about the conditions of entry to Turkey, currency, transport and main attractions at the link.

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