3 Days in Gaziantep: Zeugma Mosaics, Copper Bazaar, Baklava and Halfeti

In Gaziantep, sightseeing and eating are inseparable: this three-day route alternates two hours of walking through museums and craft souks with small, shared tastings at the city's historic kitchens so you experience every classic dish without ever feeling overly full. Read our dining rules before Day 1.

Day 1: Morning Beyran, Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Halil Usta, Castle & Copper Bazaar

• Morning: skip your hotel breakfast and head straight to Metanet near the bazaar for a fiery morning bowl of flambéed lamb beyran.
• Morning: arrive early at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum to spend 2.5 hours with the "Gypsy Girl", the bronze statue of Mars and the reconstructed Roman Euphrates villas.
• Midday: walk five minutes behind the museum to legendary Kebapçı Halil Usta for a midday copper-bowl lunch of melt-in-the-mouth lamb tenderloin küşleme and simit kebabı.
• Afternoon: return to the historic centre to view Gaziantep Castle, the 1577 Hamam Museum, the Mevlevihane Vakıf Museum and the underground water chamber of Pişirici Kasteli.
• Afternoon: wander the ringing lanes of Bakırcılar Çarşısı (Copper Bazaar) and Yemeniciler Arastası, pause at 1639 Tahmis Kahvesi for a cup of foamy wild-pistachio menengiç coffee, and finish the evening at İmam Çağdaş with smoky ali nazik kebab and a slice of warm square Gaziantep baklava.

Day 2: Pistachio Katmer, Bey Mahallesi, Archaeology Museum & Spice Shopping

• Morning: watch paper-thin dough stretched and baked in an oak-fired oven for a morning plate of clotted-cream and pistachio katmer at Zekeriya Usta.
• Morning: spend the morning exploring the black-and-white stone alleys of Bey Mahallesi, visiting the cave-cellar Game and Toy Museum, Kurtuluş Mosque and the Ethnography Museum.
• Midday: try a spicy street-style chickpea wrap (nohut dürümü) or yuvalama soup, then visit the Gaziantep Archaeology Museum to see the 3,000-year-old Neo-Hittite basalt reliefs from Carchemish.
• Afternoon: shop for sun-dried spices, İpek pul biber and early-harvest pistachios at Almacı Pazarı, and order your vacuum-sealed travel tin of Koçak or Güllüoğlu baklava.

Day 3: Euphrates Canyon Boat Trip to Rumkale & Sunken Halfeti (or Yesemek Quarry)

• Morning: head 60 km north-east to the Euphrates River Canyon to stand on the Rumkale Glass Terrace and take a 1-hour wooden boat cruise beneath the cliff fortress of Rumkale past the submerged stone minaret of Savaşan and Old Halfeti, dining on grilled Euphrates şabut fish by the water before returning to Gaziantep.