Best Things to Do in Eskişehir

Eskişehir packs more museums, parks and architectural surprises into a walkable two-kilometre radius than almost any city of its size in Europe. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit.

1. Wander the pastel Ottoman timber alleys of UNESCO-tentative Odunpazarı. Explore 300 restored 18th- and 19th-century overhanging bay-window houses along cobblestone lanes like Beyler Sokak and Atlıhan Craft Bazaar.
2. Step inside Kengo Kuma's Odunpazarı Modern Museum (OMM). Admire the soaring interlocking timber-box architecture and the monumental permanent bamboo installation by Tanabe Chikuunsai IV.
3. Ride a Venetian Gondola or Motor Launch on the Porsuk River. Glide beneath seven themed bridges along the willow-shaded canal at Adalar in the heart of town.
4. Visit the 1525 Kurşunlu Complex and the Meerschaum (Lületaşı) Museum. Watch hot-glass blowers and see the world's only museum dedicated to carved snow-white sea-foam stone inside a 16th-century Ottoman courtyard.

5. Explore the Yılmaz Büyükerşen Wax Museum and Contemporary Glass Arts Museum. Tour four interconnected boutique museums right along Atatürk Bulvarı in Odunpazarı.
6. Spend an afternoon at Sazova Science, Art and Culture Park. Photograph the 8-tower Fairytale Castle reflected in the lake, board a replica of Columbus's Santa María and ride the miniature park train.
7. See Turkey's first 1961 indigenous automobile Devrim and the Haller Youth Centre. Inspect the surviving working prototype built in 129 days by Turkish railway engineers, then drink coffee in a 1930s fruit market hall.
8. Feast on sizzling Crimean Tatar çibörek and butter-drenched balaban kebabı. Hear the crunch of freshly fried half-moon meat turnovers paired with cold ayran.

9. Take a day trip south to the Phrygian Valley and the 17-Metre Midas Monument (Yazılıkaya). Stand before a 7th-century BC geometric temple facade carved straight into volcanic rock and explore the underground city of Han.
10. Visit the 67 wooden columns of UNESCO-listed 1274 Sivrihisar Ulu Cami. Marvel at one of the greatest medieval wooden-pillared mosques in the Islamic world.