Is Van (Turkey) worth visiting?
Eastern Turkey 2023-2024 part 3
In the far east of Turkey at 1750 metres altitude is the large Van lake. The capital of the region is the city of Van. Before travelling here I read Van would be a good base to explore the region. But is the city itself worth visiting? Nicole and I spent two nights here in January 2024. Here’s our experience.
What to do in Van
Van is an ancient city. The major historic sight is Van castle. Parts of this date back to the ninth century BC, when it was the centre of the Urartian Kingdom. To learn more about this, I definitely recommend to visit the ‘’Van Museum’’ next to the castle. This modern museum has an impressive collection of artifacts from ancient civilizations that ruled here, with great information in English too. On the other side of the castle is a field with the mostly-buried and destroyed remains of the old town. Only a few buildings here survived the First World War. Therefore Van doesn’t have historical neighbourhoods like Mardin or Erzurum, which makes it a less attractive city. However, it’s worth climbing the castle for some great views of the lake and the mountains.
Van Castle
View of Lake Van
Walls of Van Castle
The ‘’Kedi Evi’’, meaning cat house, is worth a short visit. This visitor centre, located between the old and the modern city centre, houses cats of a famous local breed. The ‘’Van Cats’’ are odd-eyed, one blue eye and one yellow eye, and have white fur. The cats live in a spacious clean area and seemed to be taken care of well.
The modern city centre is four kilometres away from the castle. In my opinion, Van has a more lively centre compared to other cities in Eastern Turkey. The main boulevard Kazım Karabekir is full with shops. There are plenty of options to eat out. A local speciality is the ‘’Van breakfast’’, which is so massive that we actually had it for dinner (at ‘’Arkadaş Kavalti’’, a small, fantastic restaurant). And unlike other cities in this conservative region, you can enjoy a drink here. We had a fun night out with live music in ‘’Promil’’ at Uzun 6 Sokak. Also worth noting is how welcoming people were here. An example was when we had our laundry done at a local laundrette, and staff insisted we didn’t have to pay because we were guests to them and it was New Year’s day.
Ruins of Old Van
Boulevard Kazım Karabekir
Van Cat in Kedi Evi
The verdict
The major draw to Van are its castle and great history museum, though Van has fewer landmarks than other cities in Eastern Turkey. But what it misses in sights, it makes up with a lively city centre and great places to eat out and enjoy music. When traveling around the region its worth spending at least a day in Van.
Practical advice on travelling here
Getting there
The main bus station is about a kilometre north, Kazım Karabekir boulevard. Timetables and online tickets for intercity buses can be found on www.obilet.com. Local buses leave from a small station next to the main terminal. When we visited during winter there were four local buses to Doğubayazıt (Ararat region) a day. For more tips on travelling around the region, read ‘’How to travel around Eastern Turkey in winter’’.
Getting around
Taxis use a meter, so we didn’t need to bargain. To get from Kazım Karabekir boulevard to the castle you can take a bus, taxi, or walk the four kilometres. The history museum and cat house are next to the castle, though the official entrance to the path up the castle is another kilometre away.