3 Days in Konya: Mevlana Museum, Seljuk Madrasas, Çatalhöyük, Sille and Sema

If possible, time your three-day stay in Konya to include a Saturday evening so you can attend the official weekly Whirling Dervish Sema ceremony at the Mevlana Cultural Centre. Read our tram guide before Day 1.

Day 1: Mevlana Museum, Panorama Konya, Bedesten Bazaar & Seljuk Madrasas

• Morning: arrive at the Mevlana Museum when gates open; spend two unhurried hours visiting the Green Dome, the Semahane, the Dervish Cells and the Sacred Kitchen (Matbah), then step into 16th-century Selimiye Mosque next door.
• Morning: cross the street to Panorama Konya to walk through the 360-degree dome of 1240s Seljuk Konya and the courtyard of 30 miniature Mevlevi lodges.
• Midday: walk ten minutes west into the restored Historic Bedesten Bazaar for a midday feast of 6-hour slow-roasted Konya fırın kebabı at Hacı Şükrü or Ali Baba, admiring the twin Baroque fountain-minarets of 1874 Aziziye Mosque and the shrine of Shams of Tabriz.
• Afternoon: reach Alaeddin Hill to tour the starry turquoise tile dome of 1251 Karatay Madrasa, the calligraphic stone portal of 1265 İnce Minareli Madrasa and the 1155 ebony pulpit inside Alaeddin Mosque.
• Evening: attend the official Whirling Dervish Sema Ceremony at the Mevlana Cultural Centre.

Day 2: UNESCO Çatalhöyük, Tropical Butterfly Garden & Sille Village

• Morning: travel 40 minutes south-east across the Konya Plain to UNESCO-listed Çatalhöyük; tour the new all-timber Welcome Centre, climb down the ladder into the reconstructed 7400 BC mudbrick houses, and walk through the North and South excavation shelters.
• Midday: return to Konya for a crispy metre-long etli ekmek and bıçak arası lunch at Bolu Lokantası, then visit the 1258 Sahip Ata Complex and Archaeological Museum.
• Afternoon: take Bus 47/64 or a taxi north-west to walk among 10,000 live butterflies at the Konya Tropical Butterfly Garden, then continue five minutes up the valley into 5,000-year-old Sille Village to visit 327 AD Aya Eleni Church and dine by the stream.

Day 3: UNESCO Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque & Eflatunpınar

• Morning: take a day trip 75 minutes west to Lake Beyşehir to stand among the 48 cedar columns of the 1299 Eşrefoğlu Mosque and visit the 1250 BC Hittite spring monument of Eflatunpınar, finishing with sunset tea by the river in Meram Vineyards.