Ankara? Any DIY experience?

I am not much help here, but I will share what I know.

1) Ankara is the main hub for Pegasus, and so you should some good options if a flight is cancelled or delayed. I took Pegasus once, the only time I have ever flown on a budget airline. It wasn't my favorite, but it got me where I needed to go.

2) I have visited the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. It's not a huge museum, but it was an eye opener. I knew almost nothing about Hittite history or culture before I went, and it opened up a whole new world for me. If you want to see Hittite artifacts and sculpture (along with King Midas' chair), the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations is the place to do it. The museum is well curated and very informative. Some of the artifacts are spectacular. I would definitely go again if the opportunity arose.

3) I don't "know" Ankara. It's a government town, and I got the impression that most of the people there either worked for the government or had business with the government. It kind of reminded me of an Art Deco version of Washington DC, except that there aren't any huge monuments like the Lincoln Memorial ...... except for the Ataturk Mausoleum, which I did not visit.

I have not been to Hattusa, but I thought very seriously about going there a couple of years ago. It's a 2.5+ hour drive each way out of Ankara, which is a bit more than I am willing to do for a day trip. My other impression, which may be wrong, is that Hattusa is a large site -- too large to cover comfortably on foot -- which means that you need a car or a tour. In the end, I figured that it would require a car rental and three nights at my preferred leisurely pace to visit Hattusa the way I wanted. I opted instead to do an Aphrodisias/Pamukkale/Sagalassos loop in western Turkey.

Thanks, Marie! I will check Pegasus schedules again. I may have missed something.

Sigh, the Museum sounds fascinating! Wish it was more accessible for this trip. If not this time. maybe I can fit it in on another trip to the broader region. I appreciate your review!

For me, the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations was definitely a must-see. I visited as part of the RS Turkey tour, and we didn't stay nearly long enough for me. As someone fascinated by ancient cultures, I wanted to carefully comb through and read about every artifact, but there wasn't time. I would like to return to Ankara in the future just to visit the museum again. As you also describe yourself as a fan of ancient history and cultures, I definitely think it would be worth going. I can't provide advice on the transit, since it was all planned for me as part of the RS tour.

Thanks, Katrina!

Oh dear, the itinerary would be easier if the consensus was the opposite of your report. I think I would enjoy the museum also. I will have to work on an Ankara stop.

I also went to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations as part of a RS tour. It was indeed very interesting and as mentioned earlier, we did not get enough time to see it properly. You don't say how long your trip is or how many nights you might have planned in each stop. I think you'd have plenty to suit your interests in the three cities you list, but not knowing how much time you have altogether it's hard to advise whether to take time from one of them to give to Ankara plus the inconvenient travel time to get to/from. I can't advise any other Ankara activities as our tour spent less than 16 hours there total (slept, ate breakfast, went to museum, left by noon), but I personally would not go out of the way given you have some very interesting stops already planned.

Thanks, CL. You have precisely expressed my dilemma. The length of travel will be somewhat flexible. I want to have this planned to present to my "travel partner" whose time will be more limited than mine. You are correct that I don't want to "short" any of the other stops I've planned. I think I will include a stop at this museum as an option. Even though I know we'd both enjoy it, it may not be feasible and "Travel partner" can decide if it is realistic time-wise.

I appreciated your perspective on this!

This is one of the few museums I have visited where I bought the book in the gift shop just so I could mentally revisit some of the artifacts. Also, it's not ancient but do not sell the Ataturk mausoleum short. It increased my understanding of the Turkish people's love for their leader who truly brought the country into modern times. The setting on the highest point in town is spectacular. I can't comment on transit as I was on the RS tour.

Thanks, ponygirl. I've done the same thing myself a couple times when I've run out of time to explore a museum as much as I would like - your comment is "high praise" for the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations based on my experiences!

If I can make this work, the Ataturk mausoleum will be the second stop on a quick Ankara visit. I plan more detailed reading on the man whether I get there or not. Certainly an important person in an interesting period of time.

I don't know if this would help at all, but there is a relatively new "bullet" train to Ankara. You can start in Istanbul but also possibly other areas.

Only part of the line is truly bullet speed, starting from what I understand about 50 minutes after Istanbul.

This is a new train and the photos make it seem like an attractive option if the timing fits.

The advantage is that you don't have to go out to any airport but go from downtown to downtown.

Definitely helpful! Thanks for posting. The info, which was not on my radar, gives another option to explore. Thanks again!

ORDtraveler, I can't really help you as I was in Ankara in 2007, and took a sleeper train to get there from Istanbul. And sadly the train was several hours late arriving so I had to forgo the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and head for the bus to Goreme.

But your question brought back some memories, so I figured I'd throw this post in here. A little bit of self-indulgence, I guess. 😊

Travel memories are very hard to keep to oneself! Thanks for sharing- no need to apologize for “self-indulgence”.

You have reminded me to check the average timeliness of Turkey’s trains - a consideration I wouldn’t have thought of and norms I should probably be aware of.

Well, I envy you. Turkey is probably one of my most favorite countries I've been to. I still feel this deep love for the place, and one of these days I'm going to try and make it back there. It's absolutely beautiful and so diverse. I think you will have an incredible trip!