Daily Eskisehir Tour from Ankara – Odunpazari, Porsuk River & Sazova Park

Eskisehir Day Trip from Ankara: Wooden Houses, River Cruise and Fairy Tale Castle

Our daily Eskisehir tour from Ankara takes you to one of Central Anatolia's liveliest university cities, a place where carefully restored Ottoman streets sit beside a canal-like river and green modern parks. This guided day tour combines heritage, local food and relaxed sightseeing in a single, well-paced journey.

• Yılmaz Büyükerşen Wax Museum – Turkey's first wax museum, with figures of sultans, statesmen, poets and modern celebrities
• Odunpazarı – the old quarter of colourful timber-framed houses, craft workshops and small cafés
• Glass Arts Museum – contemporary handmade glass pieces displayed in a historic setting
• Porsuk River boat ride – a calm cruise past bridges and riverside terraces
• Sazova Science, Culture and Art Park – the Fairy Tale Castle, Japanese Garden and miniature landmarks
• Regional lunch – a chance to taste çibörek, Balaban kebab and met helvası

Eskişehir's name means "old city", and Odunpazarı is the reason: this hillside district, once a firewood market, preserves rows of two-storey Ottoman homes with projecting bays, now home to galleries, glass studios and coffee houses. The wax museum, founded by the city's long-serving mayor, is a light-hearted way to meet famous faces from Turkish history, while the Porsuk River, lined with footbridges and cafés, has earned the city its nickname "the Venice of Turkey". Sazova Park spreads over some 400,000 square metres and is loved by families and photographers for its storybook castle, pirate ship and space house.

This daily excursion is fully guided in English and Turkish, with lunch and the entrance fees for the sites in the programme included. The drive from Ankara takes about three hours each way with a short break, so expect a long but rewarding day. Wear comfortable shoes for the cobbled lanes of Odunpazarı and the paths of Sazova, and bring a light layer for the evening in spring and autumn. A gondola ride on the river is available as an optional extra.

Photo credits: Honacan at Turkish Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons); Murat Özsoy 1958 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Murat Özsoy 1958 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Zeynel Cebeci (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Zeynel Cebeci (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Dosseman (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Dosseman (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Nedim Ardoğa (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Murat Özsoy 1958 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons); Murat Özsoy 1958 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)