Best Things to Do in Gaziantep

Gaziantep is a sensory feast where acclaimed Roman and Hittite archaeology sits right beside living Ottoman craft guilds and wood-fired ovens. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit. Before setting out, review our gaziantep travel guide and antakya gaziantep border and silk road guide so you can coordinate local transport, walking distances and seasonal daylight hours across each neighbourhood.

1. Stand before the "Gypsy Girl" at the Zeugma Mosaic Museum. Explore the world's largest mosaic museum, where entire Roman Euphrates villas have been reconstructed with their original floor pavements, fountains and wall frescoes.
2. Walk the ringing lanes of Bakırcılar Çarşısı (Copper Bazaar) and Yemeniciler Arastası. Watch master tinsmiths and coppersmiths hammering single sheets of metal into coffee pots alongside cobblers stitching red leather yemeni shoes.
3. Drink menengiç (wild pistachio) coffee at Tahmis Kahvesi (1639). Sit under the high painted timber ceiling of one of Turkey's oldest continuously operating coffeehouses.
4. Take a boat trip through the Euphrates canyon to Rumkale and Sunken Halfeti. Sail beneath the sheer cliff fortress of Rumkale and glide past the half-submerged stone minaret of Savaşan village.
5. Start the morning with pistachio katmer and beyran soup. Watch pastry chefs stretch dough paper-thin around clotted cream and emerald pistachios before sliding it into a stone oven.
6. Taste 40-layer Gaziantep Baklava and shop at Almacı Pazarı. Hear the crunch of genuine PGI-protected Antep baklava and buy sun-dried aubergines, red pepper flakes and pistachios.
7. Explore Gaziantep Castle, the Hamam Museum and the Underground Kasteller. Descend into unique medieval subterranean rock-cut water distribution chambers beneath the mosques.
8. Wander the basalt alleys of Bey Mahallesi and the Game & Toy Museum. Admire black-and-white stone mansions with high courtyard walls and kuş takası bird windows.
9. Visit the Gaziantep Archaeology Museum and Yesemek Open-Air Sculpture Quarry. See monumental 3,000-year-old Neo-Hittite basalt sphinxes and lions.
10. Dine on küşleme and ali nazik at historic kebab masters. Experience Turkey's most celebrated charcoal grills and the Emine Göğüş Culinary Museum.