Daily Konya Tour from Ankara – Mevlana Museum & Karatay Madrasa

Konya Day Trip from Ankara: Rumi's Mausoleum, Seljuk Mosques and Karatay Madrasa

This daily Konya tour from Ankara takes you south across the Anatolian plateau to the city where the poet and mystic Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi lived, taught and was laid to rest. With a professional English-speaking guide, round-trip road transport and a local lunch, this full-day excursion lets you see the essential landmarks of Konya without changing hotels.

• Mevlana Museum & Mausoleum – Rumi's tomb under its famous turquoise dome, with manuscripts and personal belongings
• Selimiye Mosque – an elegant 16th-century Ottoman mosque beside the museum
• Traditional lunch – Konya specialities such as etli ekmek and firin kebab
• Alaeddin Hill & Alaeddin Mosque – the oldest Seljuk mosque in the city and remains of the Seljuk palace
• Karatay Madrasa Tile Museum – a 13th-century school decorated with superb Seljuk tiles
• Sille village (optional) – the 4th-century Aya Eleni Church and a riverside tea break

The Mevlana Museum, once the lodge of the Whirling Dervishes, is the spiritual centre of this day tour. Your guide explains Sufism and Rumi's message of tolerance while you walk past illuminated manuscripts and objects linked to the order. Next door, the Selimiye Mosque was built under Sultan Selim II and shows classical Ottoman design at its finest.

After lunch the daily excursion turns to the Seljuk era, when Konya was the capital of the Sultanate of Rum. Alaeddin Mosque crowns a hill with wide views over the city, and the nearby Karatay Madrasa, now a tile museum, displays glazed tilework and Quranic calligraphy from the 13th century. Time permitting, the optional stop in Sille reveals a village shaped by both Greek and Turkish heritage.

Practical notes: the drive takes about three and a half hours each way with a comfort break. Wear comfortable shoes and modest clothing; shoulders and knees should be covered in mosques for both men and women. Vegetarian and vegan meals can be arranged on request.