# Kars A northeastern Turkish city with stone-built streets and a fortress skyline, shaped by Russian imperial history and its position on the high Anatolian plateau. From the moment you arrive in Kars, the landscape tells you something is different. The city sits on a high plateau at the edge of Anatolia, where winters are long and the air carries a sharpness that the rest of Turkey rarely knows. This is a place that has changed hands more than once, and the buildings reflect it — particularly in the older quarters where pale stone facades line streets in patterns that owe as much to Caucasian planning as to Ottoman tradition. ## The Fortress and the Old Quarters The fortress rises above the city on a basalt outcrop, its walls a reminder of centuries of strategic importance. Walking toward it from the main square, you pass buildings constructed during the brief period of Russian rule in the early twentieth century: solid, rectangular, with steep roofs designed for heavy snowfall. The stonework is deliberate and enduring. In the lanes that branch off from the main streets, the buildings are lower, the pavement uneven, and the sense of a city that grew slowly, layer by layer, becomes tangible. ## Walking Through the City A walk in Kars means adjusting expectations. The pace is steady rather than urgent. The main thoroughfares carry traffic and commerce, but step a block or two away and the sound softens. Market stalls sell local produce — honey from the surrounding plateau, cheese from highland herds, dried legumes and grains. The smell of bread from small ovens drifts across the street. In the early morning, mist can settle in the valleys below the plateau, and the fortress appears suspended above it. ## A City of the Plateau Kars does not announce itself. It requires a few days to read — the way certain streets catch the afternoon light, the change in temperature after sunset, the particular quality of silence on a winter morning when snow covers the rooftops. The people of Kars are accustomed to a climate that shapes daily life profoundly, and this practicality runs through the city's character. It is not a city designed for tourists. It is a working city where the rhythms of plateau life continue, and where a visitor who slows down enough to notice finds a place with a distinct and unhurried identity. ## Also around here - Ancient City of Ani - Church of the Apostles (Kars) - Kars Castle ## Tours that visit Kars - Eastern Anatolia & Ancient Kingdoms — https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/eastern-anatolia-ancient-kingdoms/index.md (page: https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/eastern-anatolia-ancient-kingdoms/) - From Mesopotamia to the Caucasus — https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/from-mesopotamia-to-the-caucasus/index.md (page: https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/from-mesopotamia-to-the-caucasus/) - The Ultimate Eastern Turkey Expedition — https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/ultimate-eastern-turkey-expedition/index.md (page: https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/ultimate-eastern-turkey-expedition/) - The Ultimate Journey Across Turkey — https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/ultimate-journey-across-turkey/index.md (page: https://www.smallvoyage.com/tours/ultimate-journey-across-turkey/95/2026-10-30/) ## Before you book you should know ### Is this trip right for you? Our groups are capped at eight travellers, which is about a third of what the industry calls a small group. Eight people share one vehicle, one table at dinner and one guide's attention, and the day can change on the road without anybody being left behind. If you are looking for a coach, a fixed script and a microphone, this is not that. Most days involve real walking, often on ground that was laid two thousand years before walking shoes: marble worn smooth, cobbles, uneven steps and long site paths with little shade. Bring shoes you can spend a morning in. Some days move between regions and are largely a drive, with stops along the way. Summers are hot — well over 35°C inland — and winters are colder than most people expect, so layers, a hat and sunscreen earn their place in the bag whatever the month. How demanding a particular trip is, is written on the trip itself: the physical rating in the header, and the day-by-day itinerary above. ### Rooms, and travelling on your own Trip prices are per person, sharing a twin room. Each traveller picks their own room while booking, so a party can mix the three: - **Twin share** — two single beds, shared with someone you are travelling with or with a traveller of the same gender. - **Travelling as a couple** — one double room. - **Individual room** — a room of your own, for a single supplement on top of the trip price. Availability is limited, and the supplement for a given date is shown next to the option when you book. Solo travellers are welcome on every departure, and most of our groups have one or two aboard. ### Accommodation The hotels named in an itinerary are a guideline rather than a guarantee. Where one is full, or has dropped below the standard we booked it for, we substitute a property of a similar standard in the same area — we would rather change the hotel than the trip. Check-in is usually mid-afternoon. If you arrive early we will ask for the room, but no hotel can promise one before its own check-in time; luggage can normally be left at reception in the meantime. If you want the room from the night before, ask us and we will add the extra night to your booking. ### Passports, visas and insurance Entry requirements depend on your nationality and change without much notice, so the only reliable source is the official one: the government of the country you are travelling to, and your own foreign ministry's travel advice. Check both before you book a flight. Many countries ask for a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, and for blank pages. It is worth looking at yours now rather than at the airport. We ask every traveller to carry travel insurance covering medical treatment and repatriation, and we would strongly encourage cover for cancellation and for your luggage as well. ### Your departure is guaranteed — the day can change Once a departure is on the calendar it runs. We do not cancel a trip for want of a minimum number of bookings, so a booked date is one you can plan flights and leave around. What can move is the shape of a day. Museums and archaeological sites change their hours, roads close, weather turns, a local holiday lands in the middle of the week. Where that happens your guide reorders the day, or swaps a stop for one of the same weight, and tells you why. Changes to a booked itinerary are covered by our Booking Terms & Conditions. --- Full page: https://www.smallvoyage.com/destination/kars/