Things to do in Adana
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Adana
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Orange blossom month and the carnival, with comfortable temperatures in the twenties, the best single time to come.
October pairs the Lezzet Festival with broken heat, and November is mild, quiet and made for castle climbs.
Cool, green and crowd free late winter into March, with the theatre festival in spring.
Mild winter with rain rather than snow, the lowest prices, and the food liturgy and museum all working.
Hot shoulder months, high thirties possible, manageable only with an early and late sightseeing rhythm.
The worst months, highs routinely in the high thirties to mid forties with humidity, a city running on air conditioning.
Warming fast through May, pleasant early in the month and already a heat plan by the end of it.
What's on
- Orange Blossom Carnival Early April
Turkey's first modern carnival since 2013, parade, concerts and street parties while the orange trees are in blossom.
- Adana Theatre Festival March to April
The state theatres' international festival, adding evening performances to blossom season in good years.
- Altın Koza Film Festival September, one week
One of Turkey's oldest film festivals, the Golden Boll, in the city of Yılmaz Güney, as the heat loosens.
- Adana Lezzet Festivali 9-11 October in the 10th edition
The International Adana Taste Festival in Merkez Park, hundreds of stalls serving kebab, liver, şırdan and şalgam at festival scale.
Best things to do in Adana
Taşköprü
A Roman bridge from Hadrian's reign, now pedestrians only, and the viewpoint that links the old town to the great mosque.
Sabancı Merkez Camii
One of Turkey's largest mosques, six minarets over the Seyhan, serene inside and the city's defining riverside view.
Adana Müze Kompleksi
A converted factory holding archaeology, mosaics and ethnography, the one museum that explains the whole Çukurova region.
Ulu Cami
The Ramazanoğlu Grand Mosque of 1541, with striped doorways, Iznik tiles and stained glass unlike any other in Turkey.
Büyük Saat
The Great Clock Tower of 1882, symbol of the modernising cotton city, anchoring the old commercial district.
Kazancılar Çarşısı
The coppersmiths' bazaar, where Adana shops and eats breakfast, best in the morning when the workshops and grills are lit.
Tepebağ
Adana's only surviving historic quarter, traditional cotton boom houses on the ancient mound above the Stone Bridge.
Adana Sinema Müzesi
A small museum in a restored riverfront house celebrating Adana's outsized role in Turkish cinema and Yılmaz Güney.
Where to stay in Adana
Central Seyhan: Reşatbey, Kurtuluş and Ziyapaşa
first trip, all-round base
Both Adanas within walking distance, the café boulevard, Atatürk Park, the station and the old town all close.
Seyhan Riverfront
splurge stays and summer pool time
Big riverfront hotels facing the Sabancı Mosque and Merkez Park, trading neighbourhood atmosphere for facilities and views.
Çukurova: Turgut Özal, Güzelyalı and the lake side
longer, quieter and family stays
The newer residential north with the modern restaurant row and the lake promenade, a taxi ride from the old town sights.
Think twice about
- Budget hotel streets around the old otogar and the D400 strip south of the centre
Noisy, unattractive streets flagged by specialist guides, with a walk home that is not the Adana you came for.
- Tepebağ and the deep old town as a night base
The right morning walk and the wrong midnight one, poorly lit and largely deserted once the bazaar closes, with almost no hotel stock.
- Şakirpaşa, around the old airport
The airport closed to commercial flights in August 2024, so the area lost its one convenience while keeping its distance from everything.
Best restaurants in Adana
Kebapçı Mesut
The century old kebab institution near the bazaar, walls of famous visitors and the canonical Adana kebab.
Ciğerci Mahmut
Grilled liver for breakfast from 7.30am, plus an Adana kebab reviewers repeatedly call the best in the city.
Birbiçer Kebap Adana
The busy all day favourite for ciğer, kuşbaşı and Adana kebap, the living everyday champion of the city.
Yüzevler Kebap
Adana's white tablecloth kebab address on Ziyapaşa, the same dishes with the best meat, service and ceremony.
Onbaşılar Kebap
The destination kebab house of the lake side districts, where locals drive on purpose for the full repertoire.
Kazım Büfe
A beloved snack counter landmarked for its muzlu süt banana milk, the sweet cold intermission of every food crawl.
Şırdancı Güven
The late night şırdan specialist on the local must try lists, eaten hot with cumin, chilli and a şalgam in reach.
Taşköprü Ağaç Altı Bici Bici
Bici bici shaved ice dessert under the trees by the Stone Bridge, Adana's heat antidote with the river in front of you.
Outdoor things to do in Adana
Kapıkaya Canyon
A shaded canyon walk along the Çakıt creek, with cliffs, running water and a picnic area at the northern end.
Varda Viaduct
The German built railway viaduct from Skyfall, still carrying trains across a deep Taurus gorge near Kapıkaya.
Anavarza Ancient City
A vast Roman Byzantine city on the plain, crowned by a castle climb with a panorama across all of Cilicia.
Yılankale
A medieval castle wrapped around a crag above the Ceyhan plain, reached by a short steep scramble.
Seyhan Dam Lake
Adana's pressure valve, a lakeside promenade of cafés, boats and long breakfasts above the city heat.
Küp Şelaleleri
A series of waterfalls and cold pools in a green foothill gorge, the local summer answer to Adana's heat.
Karataş Beach
A working fishing town beach where Adana families swim, with the ruins of ancient Magarsus at its edge.
Tarsus Waterfall
Cafés over the Berdan river falls, the active start to a train easy Tarsus day of old town and St Paul's Well.
Best hotels in Adana
Sheraton Grand Adana
The riverfront flagship by Merkez Park, with river view rooms, a spa and the outdoor pool an Adana summer demands.
Adana HiltonSA
The riverside tower by the Stone Bridge, with indoor and outdoor pools and rooms facing the Sabancı Mosque.
Divan Adana
The calm business favourite in central Seyhan, walkable to the Ziyapaşa café strip, with reliable Divan polish.
Hotel Bosnalı
A restored historic mansion by the river, the only genuinely atmospheric address in the city.
DoubleTree by Hilton Adana
The newer chain mid ranger for the Çukurova and lake side, sensible for longer stays and families.
ibis Adana
The predictable budget base in central Seyhan, removing the guesswork from Adana's variable cheap hotel stock.
Is Adana expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TRY 1,800 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TRY 3,500 a person |
| Splurge | TRY 9,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Yüzevler Kebap: a few days ahead
- Onbaşılar Kebap: a few days ahead
- Sheraton Grand Adana: a few days ahead
- Adana HiltonSA: a few days ahead
- Divan Adana: a few days ahead
- Book hotels early for the Orange Blossom Carnival in April, Altın Koza in September and the Lezzet Festival in October.
- Reserve Yüzevler and Onbaşılar for weekend evenings, normally a same day phone call outside festival weeks.
- Book the excursion car or driver the day before through your hotel.
Is Adana safe?
- Heat is the main risk, with weeks near 44°C in summer, so sightsee early and late and carry water.
- Dial 112 for emergencies, and travellers with cardiac conditions should avoid July and August.
- Petty theft and taxi overcharging are the realistic nuisances, and violent crime against visitors is rare.
- Smoking is common inside restaurants, so choose garden and lakeside seating if it bothers you.
- Never walk the Varda railway, which is a live line, and prefer professional drivers on mountain roads.
Adana travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- A kebab bill that charges for the included salads, or a mixed grill for two near 3000 lira, breaks local custom.
- The Optimum and M1 malls are air conditioned local hangouts, not a travel experience.
- Avoid the foul smelling underpass between the Stone Bridge and the Sabancı Mosque and take the surface route.
- Karataş is a fishing town with a beach, not a resort, and Yumurtalık is the softer coast option.
- Any itinerary on a castle or canyon at 1pm in August is a trap you set for yourself.
Getting around Adana: public transport and more
- Fly into Çukurova International Airport (COV), about 35 to 45 minutes away, not the closed Şakirpaşa Airport.
- Walk the central cluster of old town, bridge and Merkez Park, and taxi to Ziyapaşa, Çukurova and the lake.
- The metro does not serve the centre usefully for visitors, so buses, taxis and walking are the system.
- Trains from Adana station run frequently west to Tarsus and Mersin, the easiest car free day trips.
- Rent a car or hire a driver for Kapıkaya, Anavarza, Yılankale and the Küp Waterfalls.
Who Adana suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Adana your trip
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