Ankara is overlooked by travellers who don't know what awaits: the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, housed in a 15th-century bedesten in the old citadel, contains the world's finest collection of Hittite artefacts and a sweep of Anatolian prehistory from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age that puts most national museums to shame. Anıtkabir, Atatürk's mausoleum on a commanding hilltop, is one of the 20th century's most powerful architectural statements and a place of profound national meaning. The citadel district of Ulus retains its Ottoman character — kahvehane coffee houses, copper workshops and Roman column stumps embedded in later walls — while the modern Kızılay and Çankaya neighbourhoods offer sophisticated restaurants, galleries and the kind of lived-in urban culture that Istanbul's tourist centre has largely lost.
- Suggested duration: 2–3 days
- Best time to visit: April to June and September to October for pleasant temperatures; summers are dry and hot, winters cold but manageable.