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Erzurum is the "capital" of Eastern
Turkey, a transportation
center, and a good base for explorations
of Turkey's scenically spectacular but
less developed east.
Erzurum was an important Seljuk
Turkish city in the 1100s
and 1200s, and has important Seljuk
buildings such as the Çifte
Minareli Medrese, the Mongol-built Yakutiye
Medrese, a very old citadel,
and various distinctive Seljuk
Turkish tombs.
The museum and bazaar are
also interesting and, in winter,
the Palandöken
ski resort on the
city outskirts draws skiers from
throughout
Turkey to its dry powder.
Use Erzurum as a base for visits to
the beautiful Tortum Valley and Georgian
churches in the Kaçkar
Mountains to the northeast, and
to Doğubayazıt.
to gaze on Mount
Ararat.
If you don't have enough time to complete
my Recommended
Itinerary of Eastern Turkey, you
may want to fly to
Erzurum, rent
a car, and see the sights from
here.
There are several flights daily
to Erzurum from Istanbul and Ankara by
Turkish
Airlines and Onur
Air. More...
The Erzurum
Airport has a website,
with flight arrival and departure information,
ground transport, etc. but it's all
in Turkish only.
Other than flying, the best way to
reach Erzurum is by intercity bus.
More...
As for trains,
the Doğu
Ekspresi (Eastern
Express) runs
daily to and from Ankara, Kayseri (Cappadocia), Sivas,
Divriği and Erzincan.
The train hauls sleeping
cars, but is much slower than
the bus,
much much slower than a flight, and
not as comfortable as sleeping car
trains in western Turkey.
Distances & Travel Times
Ankara: 925
km (575 miles) W, 13 hours
Artvin: 215
km (134 miles) N, 4 hours
Diyarbakır: 485
km (301 miles) S, 8 hours
Doğubeyazıt: 285
km (177 miles) E, 4.5 hours
Erzincan: 188 km (117 miles)
W, 3 hours
Istanbul: 1275
km (792 miles) W, 24 to 30 hours
Kars: 200
km (124 miles) NE, 3.5 hours
Sivas: 485
km (301 miles) W, 7 hours
Tortum: 55
km (34 miles) N, 50 minutes
Trabzon: 325
km (202 miles) NW, 6 hours
Yusufeli: 130
km (81 miles) N, 3 hours
Van: 410
km (255 miles) SE, 6.5 hours
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