.

TravelTips24 : Europe : Mediterranean Europe : Turkey : South-eastern Anatolia : Diyarbakir

Diyarbakir

Diyarbakir (Turkish: Diyarbakır; Zazaisch and Kurdish: Amed) is a city in southern Turkish region South-eastern Anatolia.

Travel to Diyarbakir & Visa Requirements

Turkish Airlines [1] offers daily domestic flights from Istanbul (IST) and Ankara to Diyarbakir (DIY).

There are trains three times a week from Istanbul (Güney Express). There is also a daily train from Ankara (4 Eylül Mavi Treni).

When traveling from Diyarbakir to west by bus be prepared for several ID check ups by jandarma; they are looking for Kurdish separatists and terrorists or their possible partners.

Tours & Getting around Diyarbakir

The old city containing the mosque is a little run down but enclosed in some magnificent walls. It is like a village in the middle of the city with village mentality; goose running around, women having cay in front of their houses and kids shouting to foreigners the few English words they know. To avoid problems, dress modestly. There is extensive development outside including a pleasant park. It's called Gazi Köske and it contains many teahouses and traditional bed-like constructions, where you sink into cushions and drink tea while overlooking the Dicle river below.

Diyarbakir attractions and sightseeing

  • Virgin Mary Syrian church, in the centre of the old town(signposts indicate where the church is). posted on the entrance. free.  edit
  • Ruined Armenian church, Next to the Syrian church(signposts indicate where the church is). free.  edit
  • The famous grand mosque (Ulu cami).
  • Kervansaray .

Diyarbakir city tours

Diyarbakir souvenirs & shopping

Diyarbakir Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Diyarbakir nightlife, bars, clubs & pubs

There are many teagardens in Ofis and along the Basalt city walls, where you can meet locals. People in Diyarbakir are very open towards foreigners and you'll have a hard time paying for your own tea.

  • Mahya (mosque lamp of coloured glass), Dicle sokak 2a(In Ofis, just off the main street where buses run from bus station to city center). Open till late at night. This coffeehouse has over 70 varieties of coffee and a nice interior. The owners and customers are very friendly and easygoing. edit

Diyarbakir cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels & lodging

There are very many clean and reasonably comfortable hotels with air con, etc. There is an engaging hotel in the old han building.

Get out

This page was last edited at 19:09, on 18 August 2008 by Wikitravel user Morph. Based on work by Bas van der Veen, Bertil Videt, John Fremlin, Tim Sandell, Tom Holland and Evan Prodromou, Wikitravel user(s) Vidimian, DorganBot and PierreAbbat and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel.

Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license