Experience the best of Ankara

Ankara stands on the Anatolian plateau about 900 metres above sea level, and became the capital of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Anıtkabir, the hilltop mausoleum of the republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is a vast monument of stone with a museum of his life. The old citadel quarter, Hisar, climbs a hill in the oldest part of town, with Ottoman wooden houses, small shops and views over the modern city.

The Museum of Anatolian Civilisations, in a restored Ottoman covered market, shows finds from the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük and from the Hittites, Phrygians and other peoples. Near the Hacı Bayram Mosque stands the Temple of Augustus, whose walls carry a Latin inscription recording the emperor's deeds. Beyond the city are the burial mounds of Gordion, where Phrygian kings ruled, the Ottoman houses of Beypazarı, and the vast salt lake of Tuz to the south.

Ankara tava, a baked dish of lamb and vegetables, döner kebab, simit rings coated in sesame seeds and sweet pastries are everyday food, with Turkish tea in tulip-shaped glasses. The city gave its name to the Angora goat, whose soft mohair is prized. Winters are cold and dry with snow, summers are hot, and spring and autumn bring clear, pleasant days.