Out for the day
Day Trips from Balıkesir: 3 Places Worth the Ride
The best day trips from Balıkesir are Hagia Sophia, Ephesus, and Troy. They are 181 to 244 km away: out after breakfast, back in time for dinner.
1Religious Sites · Istanbul
Hagia Sophia
222 km away · about 3 hours each way
Hagia Sophia, officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, is a mosque and a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. It was formerly a church (360–1453) and a museum (1935–2020). The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire, it was completed in AD 537, becoming the world's largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome. It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have "changed the history of architecture". From its dedication in 360 until 1453, Hagia Sophia served as the cathedral of Constantinople in the Byzantine liturgical tradition, except for the period 1204–1261 when the Latin Crusaders installed their own hierarchy. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a mosque, having its minarets added soon after. The site became a museum in 1935, and was redesignated as a mosque in 2020.
2Historic & Cultural · İzmir
Ephesus
244 km away · about 3.5 hours each way
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, a city-state that was also the capital of Arzawa, by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era, it was one of twelve cities that were members of the Ionian League. The city came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC.
3Historic & Cultural · Çanakkale
Troy
181 km away · about 2.5 hours each way
Troy or Ilion was an ancient city located in present-day Çanakkale, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War. The modern-day archaeological site, also known as Hisarlık, is open to the public as a tourist destination, and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.
Good to know
What is the best day trip from Balıkesir?
Hagia Sophia is the best-known: 222 km away · about 3 hours each way.
What is the closest day trip from Balıkesir?
Troy: 181 km away · about 2.5 hours each way.
Do we need a tour for day trips from Balıkesir?
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.