Belemedik Valley (The Taurus Railway Gorge), Pozantı and Yumurtalık Coast

Because Adana province stretches from the sea-level beaches of the Mediterranean Gulf of İskenderun right up to the 3,500-metre alpine peaks of the Bolkar and Aladağlar (Taurus) Mountains in the north, you can escape to cool mountain canyons or warm sandy beaches within an hour of downtown.

1. Belemedik Nature Park

Located in the deep, narrow gorge of the Çakıt Stream just 9 kilometres south of Pozantı (and one station north of Hacıkırı / Varda Viaduct on the TCDD Toros Express train line, 1 hour 15 minutes from Adana), Belemedik Valley served between 1904 and 1918 as the main headquarters and hospital town for the thousands of German and Ottoman engineers and quarrymen blasting 12 kilometres of railway tunnels straight through the solid rock of the Cilician Gates (Gülek Boğazı):

• What to see in Belemedik: walk along the flat river bank beneath monumental 200-year-old Oriental plane trees (designated natural monuments) past the stone ruins of the 1905 German Railway Hospital, narrow-gauge locomotive repair sheds, stone bakeries and lime kilns, watching trains emerge from one vertical rock tunnel only to cross a steel bridge and disappear into the next tunnel fifty metres later.
• Best season to visit: while summer is 10°C cooler here than in Adana city, late October and November turn the entire valley floor into a blazing golden-and-orange autumn foliage carpet. Above Pozantı also sit the historic 1832 Egyptian redoubts of İbrahim Pasha Bastions (Akçatekir) and the dramatic viewpoint of Gülek Castle looking down onto the highway pass.

2. Adana's Mediterranean Coast: Yumurtalık (Ancient Aegeae / Ayas) & Karataş

When you want a sunny Mediterranean beach swim and fresh sea bream 50 to 75 minutes south of central Adana (connected by hourly minibuses from Yüreğir / Otogar):

• Yumurtalık (Medieval Ayas, Where Marco Polo Landed in 1271): in the 13th century, Ayas was the principal Mediterranean port of the Silk Road, where young Marco Polo stepped ashore in 1271 at the start of his 24-year journey to China. Swim along the Blue-Flag sandy beach facing the offshore island fortress of Ayas Kızkalesi (Deniz Kalesi) and climb the octagonal 1536 Ottoman Tower of Suleiman the Magnificent overlooking the harbour.
• Karataş (Ancient Magarsus, 48 km south of Adana): home to Adana's closest wide sandy beaches, the cliffside Hellenistic theatre ruins of Magarsus, and the flamingo-filled coastal lagoons of Akyatan and Tuzla Wildlife Sanctuaries.