Van

Van (pronounced vahn in Turkish, wahn in Kurdish) is a city in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. For Turks from the other regions of Turkey, it has a surprising beach resort feel in an area where their country is farthest from the sea. For Armenians from all over the world, it's sort of a homecoming, where they reconnect with their long-lost heritage. For Iranians from just next door, it's a quick breath of fresh air, where they freely and happily flout the Islamic fiat enforced in their homeland. For all of them, and for everybody else, Van is the highlight of travelling in eastern Turkey, with great historic sites and equally great lake and mountain vistas.

Understand
Van is near the eastern shore of Lake Van (Van Gölü), a soda-salt lake also known locally as Van Denizi ("the sea of Van") for its size – it's the largest lake in Turkey. The lake surface is 1640 metres above sea level and ringed by high mountains, so the area has a harsh continental climate. An active tectonic boundary runs beneath, so earthquakes are not uncommon, and the nearby volcano Mount Nemrut is only dormant, not extinct.

The region is historically important as the centre of the kingdom of Urartu – established in the area between the 9th and 6th centuries BC by an Iron Age people who named their country Biainili, a word which eventually morphed into "Van" – and later of the Armenians. Afterwards, Van was ruled by the Byzantines, Seljuks, and Ottomans. At its dramatic lakeside setting just beneath the striking rock of the castle, the multicultural Van of old was known as one of the most beautiful cities of "the East", and was especially famous for its fine silverwork and the jewellers' bazaar on the Silk Road. During World War I, it changed hands several times between the Ottoman Empire, mostly supported by local Kurds and other Muslims, and the Russian Empire, mostly supported by local Armenians and other Christians. By the end of the war the old city had been devastated, and many of its people massacred. The remaining inhabitants relocated to the city's present location, 5 km further east inland. What was left of the old walled city was later reduced to rubble by strong earthquakes, including a 7.1-magnitude quake in 2011. Only a couple of mosques have been rebuilt.

Talk
Local people mainly speak Turkish and Kurdish. The national language is Turkish, while the native language, Kurdish, is also very common. People, especially the young generation, understand some basic English.

In case you need to brush up your rusty Urartian, an extinct language written in the cuneiform imported from Mesopotamia to the south and not closely related to any other (perhaps except also extinct Hurrian once spoken in the surrounding area), one great opportunity to do so is to meet Mehmet Kuşman (b. 1940), the retired security guard of the Urartu-era Sarduruhinilli Castle in his village, Çavuştepe. While discussing with the scholars visiting the site, he was fascinated by Urartian and self-taught himself in the language without any academic degree in history or linguistics, thus becoming one of a handful of people in the world proficient in it.

By bus
Buses run several times a day from Ankara (19 hours), Istanbul (25 hours) and all major cities in Turkey, some involving a change to a connecting bus.

Frequent dolmuşes run to town from Tatvan (100 km, 2 hrs) via the south lake shore, Highway D300. There are no direct services around the north shore. Dolmuses also run from Doğubayazıt (185 km, 2½ hrs) to the minibus terminal next to the otogar. Buses leave at 07:30, 09:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00. 150TL (Oct 2023).

The border crossing to Iran, 100 km away at Kapikoy/Razi, is open for light vehicles, but (as of 2016) no buses or dolmuşes cross by this route: instead go to Dogubeyazit to travel into Iran via Bazargan.

is at the highway junction 3 km northwest of town. Your inter-city ticket should be valid for the shuttle buses to town, check when booking.

By train
Van is the western terminus of the railway from Iran, but the weekly train from Tehran and Tabriz has been suspended since 2019. Van railway station is locked up.

By plane
is just 5 km from the centre, in the southwestern suburbs. It has daily flights from Istanbul (IST and SAW), Ankara, Adana and Izmir.

Outside the airport there are taxis to the city, but you can also walk to the main road where dolmuses take you to the city much more cheaply. A bus run by the municipality serves the security entrance to the airport (past the taxis and towards the main road).

To get to the airport from the city centre, dolmuşes marked Hava Alanı leave from near Hotel Akdamar (Kazım Karabekir Cd), and take about 15 minutes.

By boat
Ferries across the lake from Tatvan sail infrequently and irregularly and take 4 hours.

Get around
Dolmuşes and taxis take you anywhere beyond walking distance, such as the castle.

See



 * Tuşpa, the ancient Urartian capital, was at the same site with Old Van. Save for some cobbled roads and the occasional ruin of stone buildings, it is now a massive expanse of empty land extending from below the fortress to the lake. Don't confuse it with the metropolitan municipality of Tuşba, which governs the northern half of the modern city.

West


At the other abandoned monasteries listed below, don't expect any tourist facilities – or good roads or even signposts towards many of them.


 * Mount Nemrut and the Ahlat tombs on the western shore of the lake: Tatvan is the better base for these, see that page.
 * Mount Nemrut and the Ahlat tombs on the western shore of the lake: Tatvan is the better base for these, see that page.
 * Mount Nemrut and the Ahlat tombs on the western shore of the lake: Tatvan is the better base for these, see that page.
 * Mount Nemrut and the Ahlat tombs on the western shore of the lake: Tatvan is the better base for these, see that page.

Southeast


The countryside further southeast is dotted by a series of historic and natural attractions, on and off the highway to Hakkari, D975.



Çavuştepe and Hoşap are both on the highway, so they are easy to visit by taking buses to Başkale or Hakkari. For St Bartholomew and the fairy chimneys, you have to self-drive or arrange a taxi.

Do

 * Beaches are found south of Edremit (sandy) and around Mollakasım north of Cape Çarpanak (pebble).
 * Birdwatching — Lake Erçek (Erçek Gölü) 30 km east along D300 towards Kapıköy on the Iranian border is an important site for migrating waterbirds, about 180 species of them, several endangered.

Buy
Van Shopping Center is in the city centre: it offers shops, restaurants, cafes, and cinemas.

Eat
The city is famous for its breakfast halls (kahvaltı salonu) where you are served a huge amount of food including local cheese and honey, and an unlimited supply of tea. Look around.



Sleep
There are plenty of hotels around the northern end of the bazaar.



Stay safe
Do not take an unofficial route into and up to the castle as it can be much more difficult and dangerous to get down again.

Connect
Van has 4G from all Turkish carriers, but only Turkcell has a signal on the highways around. 5G has not yet reached this area.

Go next

 * Doğubayazıt 185 km north is the main border gate to Iran. (Be sure to have your visa in advance, there are no visa facilities in this area.) Even if you don't intend to cross the border, Doğubeyazıt itself is worth a visit for the nearby attractions of the stunning İshak Pasha Palace, and the legendary Mount Ararat, the highest mountain of Turkey. Doğubeyazıt has good bus connections to other destinations in Eastern Anatolia.