Things to see and do in Turkey

Experience the charm of the Mediterranean city of Antalya, with its atmospheric old town and harbour, Kaleiçi. Visit the superb Archaeological Museum and tour the many historic sights surrounding the city.

Explore the northern suburbs of Istanbul by ferry-boat, criss-crossing the Bosphorus to visit villages that stretch up to the mouth of the Black Sea.

Charter a gulet, a traditional wooden boat (www.boatingturkey.net), for a leisurely cruise along the Aegean or Mediterranean coast. Itineraries of a week or more are possible, with a variety of destinations and ports of call.

Do not miss Cappadocia. Marvel at the spectacular landscape of rock cones, pinnacles and ravines. There are cave houses, underground cities and subterranean churches to explore, plus visitors can stay in a cave hotel too.

Go trekking in the wild Kaçkar mountain range of Turkey's northeast, close to the Georgian frontier.

Witness the bizarre sport of grease wrestling at the Kirkpinar Festival (www.kirkpinar.com) outside Edirne in early summer, or the even stranger spectacle of camel wrestling that takes place in mid winter at Selçuk on the Aegean coast.

Discover Istanbul's Old City which was the capital of the Christian Byzantines and then the Islamic Ottoman empire. Highlights include the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, Aya Sofya Museum and the city's Archaeological Museum.

Use the far eastern city of Van as a base to travel along the south shore of Lake Van and catch a boat out to the 10th-century Armenian church (www.akdamarkilisesi.com) on Akdamar island, famous for its intricate stone reliefs depicting biblical scenes.

Look for fragments of Noah's Ark, reputed to have washed up here, on the slopes of 5,165m (16,945ft) Mount Ararat in Turkey's far eastern region (www.ararattrek.com).

Take a ferry from the Eminönü dock in Istanbul to the Princes' Islands, a tranquil summer getaway popular with Istanbulis where cars are banned and horse-drawn carriages and bicycles are the transport of choice.

See the spectacular 14th-century Greek Orthodox Sumela Monastery, 54km (34 miles) from Trabzon. Set into a sheer cliff, 300m (1,000ft) above the valley floor, it contains some magnificent frescoes.

Trek the Lycian Way, which stretches for 500km (311 miles) between Fethiye and Antalya, providing a month's walking through some of Turkey's most spectacular scenery (www.lycianway.com).

Catch a ceremony by the renowned Whirling Dervishes (www.whirlingdervishistanbul.com), who are members of the Mevlevi Order and who perform the famous whirling dance (Sema). Their amazing ceremony can be seen in Konya, where the Order originated, or in Istanbul.