Pro

Breakfasts, lake, history, people
Con

Water & electricity cut off
In a nutshell

SUNSETs
Thousands christian crosses, Van kalesi
Behi Says: Thousands christian crosses engraved on southern slopes of Van kalesi mainly below Ottoman sections.such this numerous crosses shows many people were under heavy mental pressure.I guess, Armenian engraved those during WWI when Ottomans started genocide.very sad to see the...
Safa 3 chorba Pacha: 1st breakfast at Safa 3
Behi Says: We start 1st morning at van with Chorba (soup) in Safa 3.chorba Pacha restaurants are same as Kale pazi in Iran, serve head & leg of limbs but difference is they don't serve a full leg or head just slice of meat in soup (Pacha).Chorba seems was simple delicious spicy soup...
ozalp Says: We easily found the busses to Gevas, Edremit, Dogubayazit in Van center. But some the busses to some towns were hard to find, like Cavustepe. There are two kind of transportation in city: Small busses (dolmus) and big blue busses of municipality. Both were cheap, about 1.5-3...
Behi Says: Change money at Doviz shops.mind that they are closed on all official holidays & on evening (~5pm).then always have enough TL.some shopping malls change money at lower rateEuro exchange rate is better than $
ozalp Says: It started to be boring to say “Our people’s hospitality, generosity…” again and again, but I must tell you these stories:- Most of the population is Kurdish people in Van. So, in busses they use to listen to Kurdish folk songs. When we asked for the price or something in...
Behi Says: No sigin in the cities or in roads are in English, also least people know English.It's difficult to make connection.The good part for us as Iranian is that Van is Kurdish area & some people know Persian.
Behi Says: Akhtamar is a small island in Lake Van, at southwest of van & about 3 km from the shoreline.It is home to a tenth century Armenian church, known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross (915-921), and was the seat of an Armenian Catholicos from 1116 to 1895.The unique...
Behi Says: we had chance to see to van cats, one at Van kalesi & one at Akdamar restaurant.both were white with a blue & a green eye.The driver told this cats will die if take them out more than 10km far from lake.
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Plan a Van vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Van locals

“Corba” means soup and “paca” the legs of cow and lamb. This restaurant offers only soups, especially the soups from the lower parts of legs, heads and tripe. I...
8 members live in Van

Q: hi may i ask which way you advise for going from van to konya ? is there an sleeper train ? if yes i need to know the time table ...

A: hi i ve read your previous post as well if you dont want to spend anytime in van you can take a direct train from tabriz to ankara every thursday for around 40 euros...
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A big, terrible earthquake hit Van on my birthday in 2011. Lots of places and buildings I've visited destroyed. The area is still dangerous. After shocks are still fatal. Plus the cold is getting...
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Van (means "place" in Persian) (ancient Tushpa) located on the southeastern shores of Lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey & 200km west of Iranian border. It has often been called "The Pearl of the...
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The city Van is not a beautiful or picturesque city but quite modern, but nice with great view of the mountains around. It's a good place to stay at while exploring the surroundings and to see, for......
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Visiting Lake Van was one of the highlights of my week long whistle-stop trip round South-Eastern Turkey. It was somewhere I had always been intrigued by, having seen some photos of it in a National...
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I don't know about you, but one thing that occupies some of my time is studying maps. This is what took me to Van, I could see a big lake surrounded by mountains far away from Western Turkey. So I...
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