Eastern Turkey Tour 2027: Which Season for Nemrut, Van and Kars

The season decides an Eastern Turkey tour more than anywhere else in the country: September and early October suit the whole loop from Göbekli Tepe and Mount Nemrut to Van and Kars, summer is best for the cool northeast, and in winter the road to Nemrut's summit closes for snow, usually until about April. A 9-day trip that covers Nemrut, Göbekli Tepe, Mardin, Lake Van, Ani and Sumela with domestic flights, our Eastern Turkey tour from Nemrut to Sumela, starts from $2,980 per person.

This page sets out what each part of the east is like in each season, which sites close or become hard to reach, how to get around, and which of our routes fits the month you travel in 2027. For an overview of the region itself, see our Eastern Turkey destination guide.

Three regions, three climates

"Eastern Turkey" on a tour usually means three quite different areas, and they peak at different times of year.

The southeast: Şanlıurfa, Göbekli Tepe, Harran, Mardin and Mount Nemrut. Low, dry and hot. This is the edge of Upper Mesopotamia, with stone towns above the plain and some of the oldest monuments on earth. Spring and autumn are the best seasons; July and August are very hot.

Lake Van and the Ararat area: Van, Akdamar, Doğubayazıt. High plateau around Turkey's largest lake. Winters are long and cold; summers are warm and dry.

The northeast: Kars, Ani, Erzurum. The highest and coldest part of the route, with snowy winters and short, green summers. Further north, the Black Sea coast around Rize and Trabzon is mild and wet all year.

A long tour that links all three will always meet one of them out of season. The skill is picking the order and the month so that most of the trip is in the right weather.

Season by season at a glance

The figures are long-term average daily highs and lows from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).

Two things stand out. Şanlıurfa in July averages a high of almost 39°C, so sightseeing there in summer means early starts. And Kars stays below freezing by day through the winter months, with average January lows around –16°C.

Winter: the southeast without Nemrut

From late autumn to spring, snow closes the road to the summit of Mount Nemrut, usually until about April. The tomb-sanctuary of King Antiochus I of Commagene sits at about 2,150 m, and the last part of the visit is on foot. The exact opening and closing dates depend on the snow each year, so in March, April and November we confirm access shortly before the trip.

The rest of the southeast is at its quietest and easiest in winter. Şanlıurfa averages a January high of about 10°C, which is pleasant for walking, and the sites are not crowded.

A winter plan for the southeast:

• Göbekli Tepe. The site, with monumental T-shaped pillars built from about 9500 BCE, is under a protective roof with walkways around the enclosures. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2018. Nearby Karahan Tepe has similar pillars.
• Şanlıurfa. The pools of sacred fish at Balıklıgöl, linked by tradition to the prophet Abraham, the old bazaar and the archaeology museum.
• Harran. The beehive-shaped mud-brick houses and the ruins of an early Islamic university.
• Mardin. Honey-coloured stone houses, madrasas and churches stacked on a hillside above the Mesopotamian plain.

Our 2-day Istanbul and Göbekli Tepe tour with Harran and flights, from $845 per person, does not depend on the Nemrut road and works in any month. Read more on our Göbekli Tepe destination page.

Winter in the northeast. Kars in January averages a high of about –5°C. Some travellers go precisely for this: the ruins of Ani under snow and the Eastern Express (Doğu Ekspresi), the train that runs between Ankara and Kars on a journey of more than a day. A separate tourist service with longer stops runs on set days in the winter season and sells out quickly; tickets are sold by TCDD Taşımacılık. For winter trips around the country, see our guide to Turkey in winter.

Spring: April and May in the southeast

Spring is the best season for the southeast. The plain around Şanlıurfa and Harran is green after the winter rain, and Şanlıurfa averages highs of about 22°C in April and 29°C in May.

Mount Nemrut usually reopens in spring. The summit is famous for its rows of colossal stone heads of gods and kings on the east and west terraces, in front of a burial mound of loose stones about 50 m high. Most visitors time the visit for sunrise or sunset. Even in May, the summit is cold before dawn and after dark, so bring a warm layer and a hat.

Longer tours add the Commagene sites below the mountain: the Roman bridge at Cendere and the Karakuş tumulus with its columns. Nemrut is 87 km from the centre of Adıyaman and 43 km from the town of Kahta, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Our page on a Mount Nemrut tour from Istanbul explains the timing in more detail, and our Mount Nemrut attraction guide covers the monuments.

In the northeast, spring arrives late. Kars still averages a high of only about 12°C in April, and nights are around freezing, so the high plateau is better left to summer.

Summer: the northeast and Lake Van

June to August is the season for the high east. Kars averages highs of about 26°C in July and nights around 10°C. Van averages about 28°C, and the lake is a deep blue against the mountains.

What to see in this season:

• Akdamar Island. A boat from the shore of Lake Van takes you to the 10th-century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross, with relief carvings of biblical scenes on its outer walls.
• Ishak Pasha Palace. An Ottoman palace on a ledge above Doğubayazıt, with views to Mount Ararat, at 5,137 m the highest mountain in Turkey.
• Ani. The ruins of a medieval Armenian capital on the edge of a gorge, on the border with Armenia, a short drive from Kars. A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016. See our Ani ruins guide.
• The Black Sea edge. The tea gardens of Rize, the Ayder plateau and the Sumela Monastery near Trabzon are cool and green in summer. Our Black Sea Turkey tour page covers that region.

The southeast is very hot in July and August, with Adıyaman averaging a high of about 38°C. Nemrut itself is far cooler at the summit, which is another reason to visit at sunset, but the hours in Şanlıurfa and Harran need an early start and a long lunch break.

Autumn: the best time for the whole loop

September and the first half of October are the only weeks when all three regions are comfortable at once. Şanlıurfa cools from about 34°C in September to 27°C in October; Van averages about 24°C in September; and Kars is still around 22°C by day in September, though nights are cold.

That is why our longest eastern routes work best in this window. The 9-day loop runs from Nemrut and Göbekli Tepe through Mardin, Hasankeyf and Ahlat to Lake Van, then north to Doğubayazıt, Kars and Ani, and on to Rize and Sumela before the flight back to Istanbul. At Hasankeyf, several monuments were moved to a new site before the reservoir of the Ilısu Dam flooded the old town.

By late October, the northeast is turning cold, with Kars averaging highs of about 15°C and nights around freezing, and snow can come early to the passes. If you travel in late October or November, start in the northeast and end in the southeast, not the other way round.

Getting around: flights, roads and the train

Distances in the east are long, and the best tours use domestic flights to skip the longest drives. There are airports at Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, Van, Kars, Erzurum and Trabzon, with flights from Istanbul. A typical pattern is to fly into Adıyaman or Şanlıurfa, travel overland by private vehicle through the southeast and around Lake Van, and fly home from Van, Kars or Trabzon.

Driving days on a full loop are long. A private vehicle with a driver who knows the region makes these days manageable, and a licensed guide links the sites, from the Neolithic to the Ottoman period, into one story.

Safety. Check your government's current travel advice before you go. The UK Foreign Office, for example, advises against all travel within 10 km of the border with Syria. The main sights on these routes lie outside that strip, but check the advice for your exact plan. Our guide Is Turkey safe to travel? covers the rest of the country.

Our eastern routes compared

Starting prices per person from our current list, with domestic flights as listed in each itinerary:

Tours that cover this

• Eastern Turkey tour, 9 days from Nemrut to Sumela, from $2,980 per person.
• Eastern Turkey and Black Sea tour, 7 days from Rize to Van, from $2,480 per person.
• Mount Nemrut and Göbekli Tepe from Istanbul, 2 days with flights, from $1,050 per person.
• Istanbul and Göbekli Tepe, 2 days with Harran and flights, from $845 per person.

See all our Eastern Turkey tours, or ask for a tailor-made Turkey tour if your dates fall between seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions