Diyarbakır is southeastern Turkey's cultural capital, anchored by some 6 km of UNESCO-listed black basalt city walls—among the longest and best-preserved in the world. Perched above the Tigris River, the ancient walled city (Sur) shelters mosques, Armenian churches, Kurdish cultural centres and bustling bazaars that have thrived here for more than 7,000 years. The city is famous throughout Turkey for its colossal watermelons, its layered Anatolian-Kurdish cuisine and the plaintive vocal tradition of dengbêj storytellers.
Top day trips
Handpicked excursions within easy reach.
Mardin
Mardin is a hill town of vaulted limestone houses stacked in tiers above the Mesopotamian plain, shaped over centuries by Artuqid, Ottoman, Syriac Christian and Kurdish presence. The day is spent walking the old quarter's narrow stone lanes rather than covering ground, since the courtyard mansions and flat-roofed houses are the attraction in themselves. It also works as a base for visiting a still-active Syriac Orthodox monastery just outside town.
Highlights: Deyrulzafaran Monastery - working Syriac Orthodox monastery a short drive outside town, seat of the Patriarchate for centuries · Mardin bazaar (Kayseriye) - stone-vaulted market street through the old town · Kasımiye Medresesi - Artuqid-era stone theological school with a courtyard and pool · Mardin Museum - housed in a former Assyrian mansion, holding regional archaeological finds
Hasankeyf Archaeological Site
Hasankeyf sits on the Tigris and was one of Anatolia's oldest continuously inhabited settlements until the Ilısu Dam flooded most of the old town in 2020. What remains is the old citadel rock rising above the reservoir, the surviving piers of the medieval bridge, and a cluster of monuments - including the minaret of the Great Mosque - that were physically relocated to a new archaeological park before the flooding. It's a strange, sobering visit rather than a conventional ruin.
Highlights: Hasankeyf Citadel rock - the fortified outcrop above the Tigris, now only partly accessible following relocation works · Old Tigris bridge piers - surviving medieval stone piers standing in or near the water · Relocated monuments park - where minarets and tombs saved from the flood zone were re-erected · El-Rizk Mosque minaret - one of the Islamic-era monuments moved to the new site
Şanlıurfa (Urfa) and Göbekli Tepe
This trip pairs Turkey's oldest known monumental site with a working provincial city built around a sacred pool tied to the Abraham legend. Göbekli Tepe, roughly 11,000-12,000 years old, predates Stonehenge and Egypt's pyramids by millennia and is the reason to make the long drive; Urfa itself gives you a walkable old city, a bazaar, and the museum that displays material excavated from the site. Given the distance from Diyarbakır, this is a long full day rather than a relaxed one.
Highlights: Göbekli Tepe - carved T-shaped stone pillar enclosures under a protective canopy, viewed from a raised walkway · Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum - holds original carved pillars and the 'Urfa Man' statue from the site · Balıklıgöl (Pool of Abraham) - the sacred carp pool and gardens tied to the Abraham birthplace legend · Urfa Castle - hilltop citadel overlooking the old town and Balıklıgöl · Urfa bazaar - covered market streets around the pool
Nemrut Dağı (Mount Nemrut)
The summit of Nemrut Dağı holds the tomb-sanctuary of the Commagene king Antiochus I, guarded by colossal stone heads - once mounted on seated statues - now toppled and scattered across the East and West Terraces. This is a genuinely long trip from Diyarbakır, and most visitors treat it as an overnight rather than a single day, timing the summit for sunrise or sunset when the heads are lit low and the plateau stretches out in both directions.
Highlights: East Terrace - the better-preserved row of giant carved heads (gods and the king) with the tumulus behind them · West Terrace - a second set of toppled heads, usually visited for sunset · Tumulus - the artificial stone mound believed to cover Antiochus I's tomb chamber, between the two terraces · Lion and eagle statues - carved guardian figures set among the terraces
Lice Canyon and Waterfall
Karacadağ Volcanic Plateau
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Multi-day tours from Diyarbakır
If you have longer than a day, these are organised multi-day trips that start here.
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