Travelling in the Mount Ararat region: from Van via Doğubayazıt to Kars

Eastern Turkey 2023-2024 part 4

Believed to be the resting place of Noah’s Ark, Mount Ararat is holy to many. It’s the national symbol of Armenia, but is nowadays just across the border in Turkey near the town Doğubayazıt. Nicole and I travelled there in January 2024 on our way from Van to Kars. It is a spectacular and historically fascinating region, also in winter. Here’s what it was like.

Getting from Van to Doğubayazıt

Taking the public bus from Van to Doğubayazıt is already amazing. The road goes high up into the mountains, reaching an altitude at over 2500 metres. It runs along the Iranian border for a while, where soldiers got on the bus twice to check IDs. Once we descended into the valley to Doğubayazıt Mount Ararat was already visible. The town of Doğubayazıt itself isn’t interesting, though its location is beautiful and there are discounted goods coming in from Iran. On a sunny day Mount Ararat and Little Ararat are clearly visible from here. The area offers more than mountains views though, as we experienced after spending two nights here.

Ishak Pasha Palace and Noah’s Ark

Outside the town is a highlight of Eastern Turkey: the Ishak Pasha Palace. This 17th century Ottoman palace is on a stunning location overlooking the valley. The inside quarters are decorated with carvings and include a harem, hall for ceremonies and mosque. The castle ruins behind the palace are much older. Similar to Van castle, part of the ruins date all the way back to the Urartian Kingdom between the 9th and 7th century BC.

The palace can be reached by minibus, even when we visited in winter. Together with another traveller we hired a guide and driver, allowing us to go further. About 30 kilometres from Doğubayazıt is a formation shaped like a boat that is believed by many to be Noah’s Ark. Personally I consider this a myth, so by my experience it’s only a rock formation. For some visitors this is a religious experience, for others this is a good excuse to enjoy more of the scenery near Ararat.

Our plan was to drive closer to Mount Ararat, which should have been possible according to our guide, but at a military police checkpoint we were sent back. We made it to the settlement of Demirtepe for some views. To get any closer visitors need a permit.

Getting from Doğubayazıt to Kars

To continue to Kars we first took a public bus to Iğdir, a larger city northwest of the Ararat. Here we got on an intercity bus to Kars. We drove close to the Armenian border, passing more military checkpoints before reaching Kars the same day.

Practical advice on travelling here

Buses to and from Doğubayazıt

When we travelled here in January 2024 there were five buses a day between Van and Doğubayazıt. The bus ride takes two to three hours. It is possible to travel from Doğubayazıt to Kars in a day. From 06:00 there’s an hourly bus between Doğubayazıt and Iğdir, which took us 45 minutes. There were at least five buses a day between Iğdir and Kars when we were there. The bus ride from Iğdir to Kars took us three hours. For more tips on travelling around the region, read ‘’How to travel around Eastern Turkey in winter’’.

Getting to Ishak Pasha Palace

We hired a guide, but we saw there is a local bus between Doğubayazıt and Ishak Pasha Palace too. A fellow traveller told us it runs every hour. We were able to visit the palace in January, though people told us the road to the palace is sometimes closed due to snow. We booked the guide through our hotel, hotel Atlihan.

Central AsiaArjan MookFebruary 8, 2024