Out for the day
Day Trips from Ankara: 5 Places Worth the Ride
The best day trips from Ankara are Hattusa, Polatlı, and Gordion. They are 91 to 211 km away: out after breakfast, back in time for dinner.
1Historic & Cultural · Çorum
Hattusa
187 km away · about 2.5 hours each way
Hattusa, also Hattuşa, Ḫattuša, Hattusas, or Hattusha, was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age during two distinct periods. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of the Kızılırmak River.
Also thereYazılıkaya
2Nature & Adventure
Polatlı
91 km away · about 1.5 hours each way
Polatlı is a municipality and district of Ankara Province, Turkey. Its area is 3,618 km2, and its population is 128,378. It is 80 km west of the Turkish capital Ankara, on the road to Eskişehir.
3Historic & Cultural
Gordion
102 km away · about 1.5 hours each way
Gordion was the capital city of ancient Phrygia. It was located at the site of modern Yassıhüyük, about 70–80 km (43–50 mi) southwest of Ankara, in the immediate vicinity of Polatlı district. Gordion's location at the confluence of the Sakarya and Porsuk rivers gave it a strategic location with control over fertile land. Gordion lies where the ancient road between Lydia and Assyria/Babylonia crossed the Sangarius river. Occupation at the site is attested from the Early Bronze Age continuously until the 4th century CE and again in the 13th and 14th centuries CE. The Citadel Mound at Gordion is approximately 13.5 hectares in size, and at its height habitation extended beyond this in an area approximately 100 hectares in size. Gordion is the type site of Phrygian civilization, and its well-preserved destruction level of c. 800 BCE is a chronological linchpin in the region. The long tradition of tumuli at the site is an important record of elite monumentality and burial practice during the Iron Age.
4Historic & Cultural · Çorum
Alacahöyük
199 km away · about 3 hours each way
Alacahöyük or Alaca Höyük is the site of a Neolithic and Hittite settlement and is an important archaeological site. It is situated near the village of Alacahüyük in the Alaca District of Çorum Province, Turkey, northeast of Boğazkale, where the ancient capital city Hattusa of the Hittite Empire was situated. Its Hittite name is unknown: connections with Arinna, Tawiniya, and Zippalanda have all been suggested.
5Historic & Cultural · Afyonkarahisar
Amorium
211 km away · about 3 hours each way
Amorium, also known as Amorion, was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. It was situated on the Byzantine military road from Constantinople to Cilicia. Its ruins and höyük are located under and around the modern village of Hisarköy, 13 kilometers east of the district center, Emirdağ, Afyonkarahisar Province, Turkey.
Good to know
What is the best day trip from Ankara?
Hattusa is the best-known: 187 km away · about 2.5 hours each way.
What is the closest day trip from Ankara?
Polatlı: 91 km away · about 1.5 hours each way.
Do we need a tour for day trips from Ankara?
Not necessarily. Most of these places can be reached on our own by bus, train or car; a guided tour simply saves the planning.
Distances and times are road estimates from coordinates; actual travel time depends on traffic and the way we travel.