Troy Travel Guide

Troy stands on a low hill roughly 30 km south of Canakkale, a few kilometres in from the Aegean. People often come expecting mighty walls and go away with something more rewarding: a mound holding at least nine cities stacked on top of each other, spanning the early Bronze Age through Roman times, roughly 4,000 years. UNESCO added the site to its World Heritage List in 1998.

Reasons to go

For most visitors Homer is the starting point. The Iliad describes a ten-year war fought over Helen, and for more than a hundred years archaeologists have debated which layer, if any, fits the tale. In the 1870s Heinrich Schliemann excavated here, uncovered gold jewellery he named "Priam's Treasure", and in doing so sliced a deep trench right through the mound. The trench remains, and a good guide can point out the separate layers in its sides. You will also find a small Roman theatre, a sanctuary, houses, a ramp and ramparts.

Time needed

Allow around 1.5 to 2 hours for the ruins with a guide, and give the Troy Museum another 1.5 hours; it opened in 2018 close to the site entrance. This big modern museum displays finds from Troy and the surrounding region, including some of the gold that came back to Turkey. Lots of travellers come on a single day out of Istanbul, or combine Troy with Gallipoli across two days.

When to go

The ideal seasons are April to June in spring and September to October in autumn. The site is open to the elements: summer afternoons are hot, and winter brings strong winds from the north. Spring also turns the surrounding fields green, with wild flowers everywhere.

Getting there from Istanbul

By road Troy is about 5 hours from Istanbul. One route hugs the Sea of Marmara's northern shore and crosses the 1915 Canakkale Bridge; the other runs down the Asian side via Balikesir and Bursa. Some day trips save driving time with a fast ferry over the Marmara: see our ferry day trip to Troy with lunch. For a day that is entirely private, choose our private one-day Troy tour. Domestic flights to Canakkale airport are limited.

Highlights

• Walking the circuit path past the Troy VI walls and around the mound.
• Schliemann's trench, with several periods visible in cross-section along its walls.
• The Troy Museum, in particular its gold jewellery and the Polyxena sarcophagus.
• The wooden horse replica on site, and the one used in the 2004 film, now on the Canakkale seafront.
• Assos, one hour to the south, where a temple of Athena overlooks the sea.

Bases

Most visitors base themselves in Canakkale, with hotels along or near the waterfront, close to Troy by car and a ferry or bridge crossing away from Gallipoli. Villages near the site offer very few rooms.

Food

In Canakkale, eat grilled fish and meze, dishes cooked in olive oil, plus peynir helvasi, a sweet cheese dessert served warm. The farmland around Troy grows olives and tomatoes and produces wine.

Practical advice

• Pack sun protection, as the mound has little shade.
• A guide adds more at Troy than at most ruins, because the walls are low and the story is complicated.
• Add Gallipoli. Our two-day private tour of Gallipoli and Troy includes both.

Browse all our Troy tours.