Out for the day
Day Trips from Kars: 7 Places Worth the Ride
The best day trips from Kars are Cathedral of Ani, Oshki, and Çifte Minareli Madrasa. They are 52 to 230 km away: out after breakfast, back in time for dinner.
1Historic & Cultural
Cathedral of Ani
52 km away · about 30 minutes each way
The Cathedral of Ani is the largest standing building in Ani, the capital city of medieval Bagratid Armenia, located in present-day eastern Turkey, on the border with modern Armenia. Its construction was completed in the early 11th century by the architect Trdat and it was the seat of the Catholicos, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, for nearly half a century. In 1064, following the Seljuk conquest of Ani, the cathedral was converted into a mosque.
2Religious Sites · Erzurum
Oshki
164 km away · about 2.5 hours each way
Oshki is a Georgian Eastern Orthodox monastery from the second half of the 10th century located in the historic province of Tao, now part of the territory of Turkey. The main church, dedicated to St John the Baptist, was built between 963 and 973. The monastery is located in the village of Çamlıyamaç, in northeastern Erzurum Province, bordering Artvin Province.
Also thereKhakhuli Monastery
3Historic & Cultural · Erzurum
Çifte Minareli Madrasa
216 km away · about 3 hours each way
Twin Minaret Medrese is an architectural monument of the late Seljuk period in Erzurum City, Erzurum Province, Turkey. Built as a theological school a few years before 1265, it takes its name, Twin Minaret Madrasa, from the two fluted minarets that crown the monumental façade.
Also thereYakutiye Medrese
4Historic & Cultural · Ağrı
Durupınar site
202 km away · about 3 hours each way
The Durupınar site is a geological formation of 164 metres made of limonite on Mount Tendürek, adjacent to the village of Üzengili in eastern Anatolia or Turkey. The site is 3 kilometres north of the Iranian border, 16 kilometres southeast of Doğubayazıt in the Ağrı Province, and 29 km south of the Greater Mount Ararat summit, at an elevation of 1,966 to 2,004 m above sea level. The size and shape of the formation led to its promotion by some believers as the petrified ruins of the original Noah's Ark.
5Religious Sites · Erzurum
Bana cathedral
88 km away · about 1.5 hours each way
Bana is a ruined early medieval cathedral in present-day Erzurum Province, eastern Turkey, in what had formerly been a historical marchland known to Armenians as Tayk and to Georgians as Tao. It is a large tetraconch design, surrounded by a near-rotunda polygonal ambulatory and marked with a cylindrical drum. Generally believed to have been constructed in the 7th century, based on an 11th-century chronicle it was reconstructed by Adarnase IV of Iberia at some point between 881 and 923.
6Religious Sites
Cathedral of Mren
78 km away · about 1 hour each way
The Cathedral of Mren is a 7th-century Armenian church in an abandoned medieval town site called Mren. 5 km west of the Akhurian River.
7Historic & Cultural · Rize
Zilkale
230 km away · about 3.5 hours each way
Zilkale is a medieval castle located in the Fırtına Valley within the Pontic Mountains, and is one of the most important historical structures in the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize Province, within the Black Sea Region of Turkey. The castle is built at an altitude of 1,130 m, and sits at the edge of a cliff overlooking the Fırtına River approximately 380 m below, running at an elevation of 750 m southeast of it. In the 1st-4th centuries AD it was the capital of the Laz principality of Macron-Henochi.
Good to know
What is the best day trip from Kars?
Cathedral of Ani is the best-known: 52 km away · about 30 minutes each way.
What is the closest day trip from Kars?
Cathedral of Ani: 52 km away · about 30 minutes each way.
Do we need a tour for day trips from Kars?
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.