Safranbolu Day Trip from Ankara – Ottoman Old Town, Cinci Han & Bazaar

Daily Safranbolu Tour from Ankara: UNESCO Ottoman Town, Mansions and Saffron

A Safranbolu day trip from Ankara is the easiest way to experience the best-preserved Ottoman town in Turkey, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its streets of timber-framed mansions, historic inns and lively craft bazaar. This guided day tour lets you walk through living history, taste local cooking and enjoy wide views over a sea of red-tiled roofs.

• Cinci Han – a grand 17th-century caravanserai that once sheltered merchants and their goods
• Cinci Hamamı – the town's historic bathhouse with classic Ottoman domes
• Old Bazaar – coppersmiths, woodworkers, textiles and saffron products
• Kaymakamlar House – a restored mansion museum showing Ottoman family life
• Hıdırlık Hill and the Clock Tower – the classic panorama of the old town
• Traditional lunch – regional dishes at a local restaurant

Safranbolu owes its name and early wealth to saffron, once grown in the surrounding fields, and to its position on caravan routes linking the Black Sea with inner Anatolia. Prosperous families built large wooden houses with separate rooms for men and women, built-in cupboards and inner courtyards; Kaymakamlar House, now a museum, shows how these homes worked. Cinci Han, completed in the 1640s, is one of the finest surviving caravanserais in the region, while the hilltop Clock Tower dates from the late 18th century. From Hıdırlık Hill the whole valley of mansions spreads out below you.

This daily excursion is guided by a licensed English-speaking guide and includes hotel pick-up and drop-off in central Ankara, return transport, lunch, parking fees and entrance to the historical sites in the programme. The drive takes about three hours each way. Walking is moderate on cobbled lanes, so comfortable shoes are essential; spring and autumn bring the most pleasant weather. Bathing at the Turkish bath is optional and not included.