- Join for free
- Sign In
Latest Van hotel reviews
Pro
Breakfasts, lake, history, people
Con
Water & electricity cut off
In a nutshell
SUNSETs
ozalp Says: Van Lake is the biggest lake of Turkiye. It is a saline and soda lake and has no outlet (“endorheic” says wikipedia). Lake’s surface is 1640m above sea level. Its widest point is 119 km, average depth is 171m and maximum dept is 451m. Its area is 3755 square km.The only fish...
Behi Says: Van Museum hold objects since pre-historic & Urartian era to Ottoman Turks era.such as red potteries, gold jewelery, bronze artifacts at lower floor. Hakkari Stelae & cuneiform tablets At the inner courtyard. Hakkari Stelae was surprise, we have hundreds of those at Ardebil...
Behi Says: Iranian objects & depiction such as Fravahr(pic1), Anahita(pic2), Drafsh-e Kavyan(pic3) & lion head in Achaemenid shape(pic4) was great Surprise for us.I'm sure Turkey don't know these are obviously Iranian else those have not been shown as the empty place of Achamenid,...
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...
Akdamar Restaurant: Akdamar Restaurant and Camping
easterndream Says: The Restaurant is just opposite the Akdmar Island where the boats go to the Island.They have very delicious fish from the Lake and traditional foodsand camping is available with hot water. Camping is free Tava and Lake Van fish
o Gun Pide: Traditional Lahmacun
Behi Says: 2nd & last meal was 2 another dishes of Lahmacuna (a Traditional meal, like pizza) in 2nd visit of Van.this time at small shop in far west of Kazim Karabekir cad. as I guess no tourist go there.the good point was u can see the Lahmacun process also this small restaurant main...
Halil Ibrahim Sofrasi: 1st taste of Lahmacun
Behi Says: we had our 1st launch in 2nd visit of Van at Halil Ibrahim Sofrasi a clean & Lux restaurant with polite waiters.this time we looked for Lahmacun, a Traditional meal, it's like pizza.they have 4 type of Lahmacun in Halil Ibrahim Sofrasi.we tried ordinary Lahmacun (5TL) & one...
Damak Kebap: Aduna Kebap at Damak Kebap
Behi Says: we arrived to van at ~10 pm, we were very hungry, walked to south of Cumhuriyet cad. & found small shop the Damak Kebap & it's very hospitable owner.we had Aduna Kebap, it is something like as Kabab Kobide in Iran but different Delicious taste.2 skewer of spicy grind meat...
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...
Behi Says: at Orumiyeh Terminal you can find some company that leaves Orumiyeh to Van & vice versa.they stop somewhere at beginning of Cumhuriyet Cad. in Van.most buses smuggle gasoil or carry cargo, they just need some passengers (2-5) for crossing border legality. try to find buses...
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...
Mehmet Kusman himself: Buy some souvenirs in Cavustepe
ozalp Says: Mehmet Kusman is a clever man. He manages to earn his life and this deserves respect. He told his little adventure of finding the perfect stone to carve and carving Urartian symbols and writings as souvenirs, too. He was wearing some of them and showed us the rest after...
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...
Iranians pay attention please!
Behi Says: It was just once forever in Khoshap that we see this hi-tech device at Turkey.It's impossible to find it in any WC in Turkey thus made us to comprehend how useful this technology is.without this device relaxation was not easy pleasurable!
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: The archeological Urartian site of Chavush tape is located at about 25 km of southeast Van on the road to Hakkari. Chavushtepe impressive remains of the Urartian castle and seat of King Sardur II (764-735 B.C.).These remains, including the walls and the palace complex with...
KoshAp Fortress (Hosap Kalesi)
Behi Says: Kosh Ap Fortress (means sweet Water in Pahlavi Persian) about 60km/37mi southeast of Van on the way to Baskale. It was built in 1643 by the local Kurdish "Sari Soleyman" on the ruins of older one. The massive construction on and around a steep-sided rock was used in...
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.
Sponsored Links
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...
Read 2 Replies
1
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...
2
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...
3
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......
4
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...
5
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...
Build your own Van page
Sponsored Links
