2 Days Ankara, Gordion and Hattusas Tour

Highlights of the 2 Days Ankara, Gordion and Hattusas Tour

This two-day private tour from Ankara is a journey into the two great lost kingdoms of Anatolia — the Phrygians of King Midas and the Hittites who ruled the Bronze-Age Near East. Guided throughout by a professional English-speaking expert and travelling by private vehicle, it combines the capital’s world-class museums and national monuments with two extraordinary ancient capitals set out on the central steppe. For travellers fascinated by archaeology and the deep roots of civilisation, it is one of the most rewarding short programs in the country.

Day one heads west to Gordion (Yassihoyuk) near Polatli, the ancient capital of Phrygia and the legendary home of King Midas — the king of the golden touch and of the famous Gordian Knot cut by Alexander the Great. You explore the city walls and the ruins of the royal palace quarter, step inside the colossal Tumulus of King Midas, a 53-metre burial mound sheltering one of the oldest standing wooden structures on earth, and visit the Gordion Museum with its Phrygian treasures.

Day two begins in Ankara itself with Anitkabir, the imposing mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and the adjoining War of Independence Museum, followed by the superb Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, whose Hittite, Phrygian and Neolithic collections are among the finest in the world. You then drive to Hattusas (Bogazkoy), the UNESCO-listed Hittite capital, to see the Great Temple, the Lion Gate, the King’s Gate and the famous Yerkapi tunnel, and the open-air rock sanctuary of Yazilikaya with its carved processions of gods. With expert guiding, lunches and all site entries included, this tour connects the museum pieces to the landscapes and monuments they came from.