5 Nights / 6 Days
Eastern Anatolia & Ancient Kingdoms
5 Nights | 3 Mardin · 1 Van · 1 Kars — honey-colored limestone, Akdamar Island and the haunting ruins of Ani.
Turkey / Ancient site
Van Castle
On a volcanic hill above Lake Van, the stone walls and rock-cut chambers of an ancient Urartian fortress look out over eastern Türkiye.
The approach to Van Castle climbs a rocky hillside from the plain below, passing through scrubland with the town of Van spreading out behind you. The path steepens and the landscape changes as ancient basalt walls begin to appear, rising directly from the volcanic rock. The fortress was built here by the Urartian kingdom, a civilization that established itself across this high plateau around the first millennium BCE. The stones are dark and heavy, fitted without mortar, and the scale of the surviving ramparts makes clear why this site commanded the surrounding plain for centuries.
Walls and rock-cut chambers
The fortress occupies a natural outcrop of trachyte rock, and Urartian builders incorporated the stone itself into their design. Passages and chambers were cut directly into the hillside, with drainage channels and cisterns carved to manage water in a landscape where rainfall can be sudden and heavy. The outer walls still stand in places to considerable height, following the contours of the hilltop and creating a sense of enclosure as you move between them. Near the summit, the ruins become denser, with the remains of what were once interior structures visible as low stone outlines against the rock.
Views over Lake Van
From the upper levels of the fortress, the view opens across the plain to Lake Van. The lake sits at an elevation of over 1,600 metres, and on clear days its blue-grey surface reflects the sky with almost no horizon visible — it reads more as an inland sea than a lake. Mountains rise on the far side, their slopes often snow-capped in spring and early summer. The wind that comes up from the plain carries the smell of sage and dry earth. Standing among the ruins, the scale of the landscape is immediate and undiluted.
Layers of time
The Urartian period forms the core of what survives, but later peoples occupied and modified the site, and their presence is visible in different stonework and the placement of pathways. Cuneiform inscriptions occur on carved rock faces at several points around the site. Visitors who spend time moving through the different levels of the fortress rather than heading directly for the highest viewpoint will find the site most rewarding — the walls change character as you move through them, and the relationship between the built structures and the natural rock becomes clearer away from the summit.
On the map
Find it on the map
- Van Castle Ancient site
Tours that visit Van Castle
8 Nights / 9 Days
From Mesopotamia to the Caucasus
8 Nights | 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır · 3 Mardin · 1 Van · 1 Kars — Göbeklitepe, Mardin and the haunting ruins of Ani.
11 Nights / 12 Days
The Ultimate Eastern Turkey Expedition
11 Nights | 3 Cappadocia · 1 Gaziantep · 1 Şanlıurfa · 1 Diyarbakır · 3 Mardin · 1 Van · 1 Kars — fairy chimneys, Mount Nemrut, Mardin and the haunting ruins of Ani.
14 Nights / 15 Days
The Ultimate Journey Across Turkey
3 Nights Istanbul | 3 Nights Cappadocia | 1 Night Gaziantep | 1 Night Sanliurfa | 1 Night Diyarbakir | 3 Nights Mardin | 1 Night Van | 1 Night Kars
Good to know
Before you book you should know
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
