The far east of Türkiye is high plateau and volcano country. This road follows the shore of Lake Van, the heart of the kingdom of Urartu, then climbs north past Mount Ararat to the ruined Armenian capital of Ani.
A 10th-century Armenian church on an island in Lake Van, its outer walls carved with scenes from the Bible.
An Urartian fortress-palace on a ridge south-east of Van, with temple foundations, storerooms and inscriptions in Urartian cuneiform.
🚗 37 km between today’s places, as the crow flies. Sleep in Van.
Capital of the kingdom of Urartu, on a long rock above the shore of Lake Van, with royal rock-cut tombs and inscriptions in cuneiform on the cliff.
An Ottoman palace mixing Ottoman, Persian and Seljuk ideas, on a terrace above Doğubayazıt with Mount Ararat across the plain.
🚗 about 20 km from the day before, 132 km between today’s places, as the crow flies. Sleep in Doğubayazıt.
A medieval Armenian capital of churches and walls on a plateau above the Arpaçay gorge, on today’s border with Armenia.
🚗 about 120 km from the day before, as the crow flies. End in Kars.
Distances are straight lines between places, so allow more on the road. Times on site are our estimates.