Table of contents
Travel to Hasankeyf, visa requirements / Get around / Hasankeyf attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Shopping, Hasankeyf souvenirs / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Hasankeyf nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Hotels, youth hostels, lodging / Get outHasankeyf is a small village located along the banks of the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey.
It has been settled for perhaps as long as three millennia, though most cliff dwellings are around 2,000 years old. It was perhaps inhabited first by Assyrians and/or Urartians, and then most certainly by successive Roman, Byzantine, Turkic, and Arabic dynasties.
The unforunate thing about Hasankeyf is that it is slated to be inundated upon the completion of a dam project that has been in the works for a couple decades now.
Travel to Hasankeyf - Visa Requirements
Hasankeyf is far from the rest of Turkey, but one can easily reach the city of Batman by bus or rail, and then cover the remaining hour or so of travel by dolmus.
Tours and Getting around Hasankeyf
Hasankeyf tourist attractions and sightseeing
There isn't much else to do in Hasankeyf but see the ruins. But considering how extensive these ruins are, an entire day (or two) could easily be spent exploring old shepherd paths through narrow side canyons and along the tops of towering limestone cliffs. Until the 1970s many families still lived in the ancient cliff dwellings along the river, but now there aren't more than a few inhabitants. The great thing about Hasankeyf is that the lack of Western tourists- and pretty much anyone at all- really makes you feel that you're pretty off-the-beaten track.
Hasankeyf city tours
Hasankeyf souvenirs and shopping
Hasankeyf Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive
There are a couple of places to eat in town, offering typical Turkish fare and good prices.
Hasankeyf nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs
Hasankeyf cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging
As far as sleeping options are concerned, there is only one hotel on the river and the prices are reasonable but not as cheap as other similar quality hotels in this region of the country. However, the rooms are clean and some even have small balconies overlooking the Tigris River.
Get out
This page was last edited by Peter Fitzgerald. Based on work by Ricardo, Wikitravel user(s) Vidimian and Huttite and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license
