Where to Stay in Konya: Mevlana Quarter (Karatay), Selçuklu and Meram Compared

Accommodation in Konya divides clearly into three districts that correspond to the city's three central municipalities: historic, walkable Karatay (around the Mevlana Museum and Bedesten), modern high-rise Selçuklu (along the northern tram line), and green residential Meram (in the south-west).

1. Karatay: Mevlana Quarter, Aziziye & Alaeddin (Best for Walkability & First-Timers)

Stretching along the flat 1.2-kilometre corridor between Alaeddin Hill, the Bedesten Bazaar and the Mevlana Museum. For 90 percent of cultural travellers staying 1 to 3 nights without a car, this is the unbeatable place to sleep: you can step out of your hotel door early in the morning straight into the Mevlana Rose Garden, lunch on 6-hour fırın kebabı in the bazaar two blocks away, walk to the Saturday evening Sema ceremony at the Mevlana Cultural Centre in ten minutes, and photograph the floodlit Green Dome after dinner. Choose between restored 19th-century Ottoman courtyard boutique hotels in the pedestrian lanes of Türbeönü and Mengüç Caddesi (such as Hich Hotel right beside the museum wall or Rumi/Araf hotels) and reliable four-star business hotels along Mevlana Caddesi. (Note: almost all hotels in the historic Mevlana quarter are alcohol-free family properties).

2. Selçuklu: KuleSite, Musalla Bağları & Yeni İstanbul Caddesi (Best for 5-Star Chain Hotels, Spas & Car Parking)

Running two to five kilometres north of Alaeddin Hill along Tram Line 1 (near the 42-storey KuleSite skyscraper, Novotel/Ibis, Dedeman, Grand Hotel and Ramada Plaza, and right beside Selçuklu YHT High-Speed Train Station). If you are driving a rental car (as parking lots here are spacious and directly off the ring road), want a full-service international five-star hotel with an indoor swimming pool, fitness centre and licensed hotel bar, or want to be halfway between downtown and Sille / the Butterfly Garden, book in Selçuklu, Tram 1 carries you straight to Alaeddin Hill in 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Meram & Sille (Best for Green Valley Calm or Stone Village Stays)

Eight kilometres south-west in leafy Meram Bağları or north-west inside the restored stone houses of Sille Village for a peaceful rural atmosphere.