30 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.
A very safe place with one genuine risk, and it is the balloons: flights are cancelled for wind more often than visitors expect, so book for your first morning and keep the next two free rather than the other way round. Fly with an operator that publishes its licence. In the valleys, carry water in summer and note that the paths are unfenced above long drops.
Comfortable: Göreme · Ürgüp · Uçhisar · Avanos
- Rose Valley — and the other valleys alone at dusk — the trails are unmarked and people get lost
- Balloon operators without a proper licence, and quad tours on the same trails as walkers
A comfortable, low-crime city where the risks are the sea and the sun rather than people: the beaches shelve steeply and the undertow at Konyaaltı is real, and July and August routinely pass 35°C. Use metered taxis or an app, and treat the "carpet shop" invitations in Kaleiçi as the sales pitch they are.
Comfortable: Kaleiçi · Lara · Konyaaltı · Antalya Marina
- Kaleiçi — the harbour steps late at night, and the carpet-shop invitations by day
- Rip currents at Konyaaltı when the flags are up
Safe, prosperous and used to visitors, with the ordinary caution of a nightlife town: watch your drink in the Bar Street clubs, agree boat-trip prices before boarding, and remember that scooters and the coast road are a bad combination after dinner. The sea is calm on the peninsula’s south side and choppier on the north.
Comfortable: Bodrum Marina · Gümbet · Yalıkavak · Gümüşlük
- Bar Street, Bodrum — at closing time in season
- Boat trips sold on the street, which sometimes are not the boat you were shown
Very comfortable. The hazards are the sun — marble, no shade, and people faint here every summer — the polished stone underfoot, and the guides at the gate who are not guides. Buy the Terrace Houses ticket at the booth, not from a man in the car park.
Comfortable: Selçuk town · the archaeological site · Şirince
- the marble at noon in summer — no shade, and people faint
- the men selling tours in the car park — the ticket booth is the ticket booth
Very comfortable, and busy rather than rough. The meltem wind that makes the surfing makes the sea choppy and the small boats unhappy; the beaches have no lifeguard outside the clubs. August traffic on the peninsula is the other hazard.
Comfortable: Alaçatı · Çeşme harbour · the beach clubs
- the sea in a strong meltem — chop and a pull offshore; it is what the surfers come for
- the peninsula roads in August — traffic, and drivers in a hurry
Kaş Very safe
Comfortable and low-key. Diving is the risk worth respecting — use a PADI centre, and remember the nearest chamber is in Antalya. The road to Kaputaş has a bad bend and the steps down to the beach are steep. Sea urchins on the rocks; wear shoes.
Comfortable: the harbour and the old streets · the theatre
- the steps down to Kaputaş — steep, and the bend on the road above is worse
- the rocks — sea urchins; shoes
- diving without a proper centre — the nearest chamber is in Antalya
Side Very safe
Very comfortable and built for visitors. The sun and the sea are the hazards — the beaches shelve and there is no lifeguard outside the hotels — with the usual carpet-shop pressure in the pedestrian streets. The ruins have no railings and people climb what they should not.
Comfortable: the old town peninsula · the beaches · Manavgat
- the ruins without railings — people climb the columns; the stone is worn smooth
- the sea outside hotel beaches — no lifeguard, and it shelves
- the shop patter in the pedestrian streets — persistent; the first price is not the price
Very comfortable. On the battlefields the ground is uneven, the sun is unsparing and the distances are longer than they look on the map; take water. The strait has a strong current and is not swum. Treat the cemeteries as what they are.
Comfortable: the promenade · the centre · the battlefields
- the strait — a strong current; it is not swum
- the battlefield ridges in summer — no shade and further than the map suggests
Comfortable and rustic. The walk up to the Chimaera is dark, stony and done with a torch; the flames are real fire on loose rock. The beach shelves steeply and has no lifeguard. Treehouses are exactly as substantial as they sound, and the valley gets cold at night even in summer.
Comfortable: Çıralı · the Olympos valley · the beach
- the path to the Chimaera at night — loose stone in the dark; take a torch
- the flames themselves — fire, on rock people sit on
- the sea — steep pebbles and no lifeguard
Very comfortable and small. İztuzu is closed at night for the nesting turtles and the rule is enforced; the roped nests are not to be walked over. The river has a current and the boats are the way to cross it. The mud baths are hot sulphur, which some skin does not like.
Comfortable: the riverfront · İztuzu in daylight · the town
- İztuzu after dark — closed for the turtles, and enforced
- the river — a current; cross by boat
Very comfortable and tiny. The road down to the harbour is steep, narrow and one car wide with a queue behind you; the rocks by the water are sharp and the harbour has no beach. That is the list.
Comfortable: Behramkale · the harbour
- the harbour road — steep, narrow and one car wide
- the rocks at the water — sharp, and there is no beach here
Very comfortable. Uludağ is a real mountain: the weather at 2,000 m turns fast and the cable car closes in wind. The thermal baths are hot enough to matter if you stay in too long. Nothing else.
Comfortable: the old town around the Grand Mosque · Çekirge · Cumalıkızık
- Uludağ in bad weather — the cable car closes and the road ices
- the thermal pools — hotter than they look; half an hour is plenty
Very comfortable. The cobbles are uneven and slick in rain, the lanes are steep, and cars use them anyway. The canyon viewpoints are unfenced. Nothing else.
Comfortable: the old town · Kirankoy
- the cobbles in rain — slick, steep, and cars come down them
- the canyon viewpoints — unfenced
Very comfortable, and the most religiously conservative of the big cities. Dress modestly, more so around the tomb; cover shoulders and knees, and women take a scarf for inside. Ramadan daytime is quiet and eating in the street is noticed. Nothing else.
Comfortable: the centre around the Mevlana museum · Alaeddin hill
- dress around the tomb — a working shrine; shoulders, knees and a scarf for women
- eating in the street during Ramadan daytime — nobody will say anything, and everybody notices
Very comfortable and quiet. The beach has no shade at all and the walk back across the dunes at midday is the thing that catches people out. A current runs when the wind is up and there is no lifeguard. Keep off the roped nests and out after dusk in the season, which is the law here.
Comfortable: the village · the ruins · the beach in daylight
- the beach at midday — no shade anywhere on eighteen kilometres
- the sea in a wind — a current, and no lifeguard
- the beach after dusk — closed for the turtles, and that is the law
Very comfortable and quiet. The peninsula road is long, narrow and has drops; the wind funnels at the end of it, which is why Knidos had two harbours. Almost nothing is open out of season, which includes the petrol station at the far end.
Comfortable: Datca town · Eski Datca · the bays
- the peninsula road — narrow, long, with drops and no lighting
- the wind at Knidos — it funnels; small boats stay in
Very comfortable and quiet. The path up to the tombs and the castle is steep and the railings are minimal; the river runs fast in spring. That is the list.
Comfortable: the river banks · the old town
- the climb to the tombs and the castle — steep, and the railings are an idea rather than a barrier
- the river in spring — fast and cold
Comfortable and used to visitors. The real risks are the paragliding, which is safe with a reputable outfit and worth checking the licence for, and the roads — narrow, steep, and driven fast. The lagoon is calm; the open beach has a current. The Lycian Way is unshaded and people underestimate it.
Comfortable: Fethiye harbour and the old town · Ölüdeniz · Kaya Köyü
- unlicensed paragliding operators — ask to see the licence; the good ones expect it
- the mountain road to Babadağ — steep hairpins and vans in a hurry
- the open sea off Ölüdeniz beach — a current, unlike the lagoon
Violent crime against visitors is rare and walking the city at night feels comfortable in the areas travellers use. What you actually need to watch for is scams: the shoeshine brush drop, over-friendly men steering you to a bar where the bill turns out to be enormous, and taxi meter tricks — use BiTaksi or Uber. Dress modestly for mosques and cover your head as a woman.
Comfortable: Sultanahmet · Beyoğlu · Kadıköy · Beşiktaş · Nişantaşı
- The drink scam: a friendly man invites you to a bar, the bill is thousands of lira and the door is blocked. This is the single most common thing that happens to visitors here
- Taksim Square — and İstiklal late at night, for pickpockets
- Unmetered taxis, and drivers who say the meter is broken
- The shoeshine man who drops a brush for you to pick up
Very safe. The hazards are physical and specific: the terraces must be walked barefoot and the travertine is slippery and sharp in places, the white surface reflects sun brutally and people burn badly in an hour, and the site has almost no shade. Carry water. The antique pool is a separate ticket and its floor is uneven ancient masonry.
Comfortable: Pamukkale village · the travertine terraces · Hierapolis · Karahayit
- the terraces in the middle of the day — white rock, no shade, and the glare burns people in an hour
- the travertine underfoot — walked barefoot by rule, and slippery and sharp in places
Comfortable, and a resort town with a resort town’s edges: the bar strip gets loud and drunk in season, drink prices are quoted then changed, and the beach vendors are persistent. The sea has a current off the points, and the castle walls are unfenced with a long drop.
Comfortable: the harbour · the castle quarter · Cleopatra beach
- the bar strip late — loud and drunk in season, and the bill is not always the menu
- the castle walls — unfenced, with a long drop
- the sea off the points — a current
Comfortable by day and a proper party town by night: drink spiking and inflated bills are the complaints on Bar Street, and the boats back to the hotels stop early. The 2021 fires left burned hillsides you can still see. The sea is calm inside the bay; outside it, the meltem is not.
Comfortable: the marina · the old town under the castle · İçmeler
- Bar Street late — spiked drinks and bills that grow; watch your glass and ask the price first
- the open sea in a meltem — the bay is calm and outside it is not
- the last dolmuş — earlier than the bars close
Comfortable and easygoing, the least conservative big city in Turkey. Pickpockets in the bazaar crowds and around Konak, and the usual care with taxis that will not run the meter. The earthquake of 2020 is why the newer blocks stand differently from the old ones; nothing a visitor need think about.
Comfortable: Alsancak · the Kordon · Karşıyaka · Konak in daylight
- Kemeraltı bazaar crowds — pickpockets
- the streets around Basmane station late — unlit and a drinking crowd
- taxis that will not run the meter — use BiTaksi
The mountain is the hazard: 2,150 m, a summit that is near freezing at dawn in July, a steep loose path, and a road that is driven in the dark by tired people. Take a coat whatever the forecast says in the valley. The region was hit hard by the 2023 earthquake and Adıyaman especially — rebuilding is visible everywhere and accommodation is thinner than it was.
Comfortable: the summit terraces · Kâhta
- the summit at dawn — near freezing in any month, and the wind is worse
- the path up from the car park — loose stone at altitude, in the dark
- the mountain road in a hire car before sunrise — unlit hairpins and tired drivers
Comfortable. The rain is the defining fact — mountain roads, fog and landslides after it — and the Sumela shuttle road is steep and narrow. Uzungöl in high season is a traffic jam. The city has a conservative streak and is a destination for Gulf tourism, which is mostly visible in the menus.
Comfortable: the centre and Meydan · the Atatürk mansion quarter · Uzungöl
- the mountain roads after rain — fog and landslides, and it rains most months
- the Sumela shuttle road — steep, narrow and busy
Comfortable and heavily policed, a working capital rather than a tourist city. Pickpockets around Ulus and the bus station; the usual care with taxis off the app. Demonstrations happen in Kızılay and are best walked away from.
Comfortable: Kızılay in daylight · Çankaya · the castle quarter · Hamamonü
- Ulus and the bus station — pickpockets
- a demonstration in Kızılay — walk the other way; the police response is the risk
- taxis off the app — the meter, or the lack of one
Mardin Reasonably safe
Comfortable and welcoming, and worth saying plainly: this is a hundred kilometres from the Syrian border, there are military checkpoints on the roads, and the passport gets looked at. Visitors have travelled here without incident for years, and the town itself is calm. Do not photograph checkpoints or soldiers, keep off the border roads, and read your own government’s advice before you book, because it covers this province specifically.
Comfortable: the old town · the bazaar · the monastery road
- the roads towards the Syrian border — military zone; the checkpoints turn people back
- checkpoints and soldiers with a camera — do not
- the stairs in the old town — steep, polished stone, and no rail
Comfortable in the city, and a conservative pilgrimage town: dress modestly, cover shoulders and knees, and women take a scarf for the mosque courtyards. The province borders Syria and there are checkpoints on the roads south; nothing a visitor to the city and Göbekli Tepe meets. Read your government’s advice, which names this province. The 2023 earthquake damaged buildings here and some are still shored up.
Comfortable: the old town and the bazaar · Balıklıgöl · the museum quarter
- the roads south towards the Syrian border — checkpoints, and a military zone beyond them
- dress at the pools and the mosques — a pilgrimage site; shoulders, knees, and a scarf for women
- the afternoon in summer — 39°C, and the city stops for it
Comfortable, and a working city rather than a tourist one. The February 2023 earthquake hit here: the castle was damaged, parts of the old town are rebuilt or shored, and the subject is a live one for everyone you meet. The province borders Syria — the city is calm, the border roads are not for visitors, and your government’s advice names this province.
Comfortable: the bazaar quarter · the old town · the museum quarter
- the roads towards the Syrian border — not a visitor’s route; the checkpoints say so
- buildings still shored after the 2023 earthquake — the barriers are there for a reason
Van Reasonably safe
Comfortable in the city and the lake shore, and honest about the rest: this is the far east, Iran is eighty kilometres away, there are military checkpoints on every road out, and the mountain provinces south of here are not for wandering. The city itself is relaxed and used to visitors. Do not photograph checkpoints. Read your government’s advice, which names the provinces to avoid.
Comfortable: the city centre · the breakfast street · the lake shore and Gevas
- the roads south towards Hakkari and the border — military checkpoints and a region your government advises against
- checkpoints with a camera — do not
- the lake — soda water, cold, and deeper than it looks from the shore
The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.
