Best Day Trips from Bingöl 2026

Göynük Canyon Day Trip

Göynük Canyon is a narrow gorge cut by the Göynük Stream just north of Bingöl city, where the stream widens into a series of shallow, very cold pools between steep rock walls. A network of wooden boardwalks lets you follow the canyon floor without wading the whole way, and it functions as Bingöl's default half-day outing since it needs no permit or guide. The appeal is mostly the water itself — clear, glacier-cold, and a sharp contrast to the dry hills above the canyon.

Highlights: Göynük Stream pools — shallow turquoise pools in the canyon floor where visitors wade or swim in spring-fed cold water · Wooden boardwalk trail — elevated walkways built over sections of the stream so you can follow the canyon without wading its full length · Canyon narrows — points where the rock walls close to only a few metres apart · Trout restaurants at the canyon entrance — roadside places grilling trout raised in the cold local water

Solhan Hot Springs & District

Elazığ City & Harput Castle

Harput is the original hilltop town above modern Elazığ, abandoned as the region's main settlement in the early twentieth century in favour of the newer city below, which is why its castle and mosques now stand largely on their own rather than inside a living town center. It gives a day trip two layers: the ruined fortress and Seljuk/Artuqid-era mosques on the hill, and the ordinary working city of Elazığ at its base for lunch and a museum stop. It reads as a place that was once the regional capital and was gradually left behind, rather than a restored showpiece.

Highlights: Harput Castle — hilltop fortress ruins, with foundations going back to the Urartian period, overlooking the Elazığ plain · Harput Ulu Camii — a 12th-century Artuqid mosque known for its visibly leaning minaret · Sarahatun Camii — another historic Harput mosque, smaller and less visited than the Ulu Camii · Elazığ Archaeology and Ethnography Museum — the city's main museum, holding finds excavated from Harput and the wider region · Hazar Lake — a large lake south of Elazığ; only worth adding if you have extra time, since it pulls the day further from Bingöl

Muş City & Muradiye Mosque

Karlıova Plateau & Mountain Village

Karlıova is a small district town known primarily as the geological point where the North Anatolian and East Anatolian fault lines are commonly said to meet, making it a landmark for anyone interested in Turkey's earthquake geography rather than a conventional sightseeing town. Around it lie high summer plateaus (yaylas) used by local herders, reached by rough roads that climb well above the town. The trip is really two separate things — a specific geological point of interest, and a drive into open highland pasture country.

Highlights: Fault line confluence point — the marked location in Karlıova commonly cited as where the North Anatolian and East Anatolian fault systems join · Surrounding yaylas — high summer pastures above the town, reached by unpaved roads and used for grazing in the warmer months · Karlıova town center — the small district center itself, a stop for tea and a meal before or after the plateau drive

Peri River Gorge (Genç District)

Yedisu Plateau & Servi Lake

Kiğı District Canyon & Village