ASSOS, KAZDAĞLARI & Zeus Altar – Turkey’s Hidden Gems

We explore some of the UNDISCOVERED MUST VISIT PLACES of TURKEY in Gökçe’s home region of Turkey in 2020 by visiting the ancient city of ASSOS (Behramkale), KAZDAĞLARI or Ida Mountains and Zeus Altları, located right next to Adatepe Köyü (a Turkish Village) and act as a guide to TRAVEL TURKEY in 2020.

We start with a village tour of Adatepe Köyü located in Kazdağları (Ida Mountains) on the border of çanakkale and Balikesir and also visit the nearby Zeus Altarı which provides one of the best views in all of Turkey of Edremit Körfez (Gulf of Edremit) and was where Zeus watched the Trojan War and fell in love with hera. We also visited the villages of Yeşilyurt, Çamlıbel and other beautiful Turkish mountain villages and made a quick stop at Turkey's first ever village museum to learn more about the Turkmen culture of the mountains!

After spending time in the mountains we visit the ancient city of Assos (Behramkale), where Aristotle lived prior to fleeing to Macedonia and teaching Alexander the Great. We start at the Assos Antik Liman (Assos Ancient Port), where you will find one of the most amazing swimming spots in all of Turkey, with Assos Antik Kenti (Assos Ancient City) above you and the Greek island of Lesvos/Mytilini in front of you. Then we climb up the hill to visit the ancient city and Temple of Athena with incredible views directly across to Lesvos/Myttilini and finally come back down into the ancient port to enjoy a beautiful dinner to end the day.

These are some of Turkey’s truly hidden gems, mixing natural beauty and history so easily and really are MUST SEE PLACES in TURKIYE. We hope you can make it to the next time you visit Turkey!

Our full blog post on Assos, Kazdaglari and Zeus Altar and Turkey’s hidden gems is coming soon.