Things to do in Erzincan
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Erzincan
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months. Green or golden plateau, Girlevik running strong, Kemaliye warm, every road open.
Ski season at Ergan and the Eastern Express snow run. The non ski city is deeply cold.
City bearable at altitude, canyon country hotter. Boats, rafting and picnic season, with domestic crowds.
Between seasons, neither ski nor summer, reduced canyon operators. The connoisseur avoids it.
Mud season tail, late snow possible on mountain roads, sights quiet.
What's on
- Kemaliye International Culture and Nature Sports Festival Late June to early July, confirm the year's dates
BASE jumping, wingsuit, climbing and rafting in the Dark Canyon. The town fills completely, book beds and boats ahead.
- FIS Snowboard Europa Cup at Ergan Dagi Usually mid January
World level snowboard racing on the home mountain. City hotels fill, book early for that weekend.
- Eastern Express Winter Sleeper Season December to February
Sleeper berths for the Ankara to Kars snow run via Erzincan sell out on release. Book months ahead.
Best things to do in Erzincan
Kemaliye
A Cittaslow town of terraced timber and stone Egin houses stacked above the Euphrates, worth an overnight, not a day trip.
Lökhane
The workshop where lok, Kemaliye's mulberry and walnut sweet, is pounded by hand in stone mortars and tasted warm.
Terzibaba Camii ve Külliyesi
The tomb complex of the Sufi sheikh Terzi Baba, the city's most atmospheric interior and a living pilgrimage site.
Bakırcılar Çarşısı
The coppersmiths' bazaar, where Erzincan's centuries old hammered copper trade is still worked and sold at source.
Altıntepe
A 9th to 7th century BC Urartian fortress and temple hill with chamber tombs and a Byzantine mosaic church. Verify opening locally.
Mama Hatun Türbesi
The 12th century Saltukid tomb, mosque, hammam and caravanserai of the woman ruler Melike Mama Hatun at Tercan.
Erzincan Müzesi
The province museum for Urartian to Ottoman finds. Opening on a normal schedule could not be verified for 2026, check first.
Ahmet Kutsi Tecer Kültür Evi
The poet Ahmet Kutsi Tecer's family house, a small museum of an educated Egin household a century ago.
Where to stay in Erzincan
Erzincan City Centre (Dörtyol grid)
first trip, practical base, skiers and rail travellers
Flat walkable grid with every hotel, the bazaar and the tulum shops close, Ergan 20 minutes and the airport 15 km away.
Ergan Dağı Ski Base (Yaylabaşı)
dedicated ski weekends
First lifts and dark skies, but a thin evening and little open outside ski season. Most skiers sleep in the city.
Kemaliye Old Town
the canyon trip done properly, couples and slow travellers
Konaks above the Euphrates, dawn light on the canyon, but 2.5 to 3 hours from Erzincan airport and station.
Think twice about
- Highway strip motels east and west of Erzincan city
Not unsafe, just isolating. You will taxi to every sight, meal and breakfast. Sleep in the centre grid instead.
- Tercan, Kemah and Ilic as overnight bases
Real towns worth visiting, but with very few beds and nothing to do at night. Base in Erzincan or Kemaliye.
- Ergan ski base as an evening base
After the lifts stop it is a gondola station and a car park. Skiers who want dinner and a town should sleep in Erzincan city.
Best restaurants in Erzincan
Seven Kevser Restaurant
The city's one formal table and its priciest by local standards, kebabs, grills and mezes for occasions.
Simay Restaurant
The Grand Simay's cafe restaurant, the centre's default nice dinner with a broad Turkish menu.
Gaziantep Sofrası Erzincan
Gaziantep cooking in Erzincan, lahmacun, ezme and Adana with Antep spice architecture, the variety pick.
Lökhane Restoran
Kemaliye's own kitchen by the lok workshop, regional dishes and lok itself for dessert.
Kebapistan
One of the city's standard bearing doner houses, leaf doner and lahmacun at working city prices.
Evin Döner
The heritage doner house trading since 1979, a home leave pilgrimage for expatriate Erzincanlis.
Kuşoğlu Döner 1948 Erzincan
Doner since 1948, older than the rebuilt city around it, doner, lahmacun and Iskender in a plain room.
Közz Cağ Kebap
The city's cag kebab specialist, horizontal lamb skewers in lavas, order by the skewer until you stop.
Best coffee in Erzincan
Kanyon Teras Kafe
Tea and Turkish coffee on a terrace above the Dark Canyon, best at sunset as the light leaves the gorge.
Outdoor things to do in Erzincan
Kemaliye Karanlık Kanyon
The Dark Canyon boat ride, 45 minutes into a Euphrates gorge with walls up to 600 metres overhead.
Taş Yol
The hand carved Stone Road along the canyon cliff, best ridden with a local driver or walked in sections.
Ergan Dağı Kayak Merkezi
Eastern Turkey's modern ski centre, wide long pistes 20 minutes from the city, a lake and lifts in summer.
Girlevik Şelalesi
A broad travertine waterfall hillside 30 minutes from the city, picnic ground in summer, an ice curtain in winter.
Karasu River Rafting
Guided rafting on the young Euphrates through gorge country, seasonal, booked locally through hotels in season.
Ekşisu Mesire Alanı
The city's picnic park around fizzy mineral springs, where Erzincan fills its bottles and spends its Sundays.
Kemah Kalesi
An ancient fortress rock above the Karasu gorge at Kemah, partly restored, with the Sultan Melik tomb below.
Otlukbeli Gölü
A remote travertine dam lake with red mineral waters, a singular landform for completists with a rental car.
Best hotels in Erzincan
Hilton Garden Inn Erzincan
The province's top hotel, a reliable international midscale with pool and restaurant. The local ceiling, not true luxury.
Grand Simay Hotel
The big local full service hotel in the centre, with a cafe restaurant locals use, a walk from the bazaar.
Eriza Hotel
A small design conscious boutique with a hands on owner, the personal register pick in the city centre.
Meva Hotel
A sound modern mid ranger used by Turkish tour operators, reliable breakfast and group ready staff.
Konak Mazlum
A konak style budget stay with big central rooms. Ask for a non smoking room, reviews report smoke smell.
Moonlight Apart Otel
Large new apart hotel rooms in the centre at near hostel prices, staff praised for tips and logistics.
Eğin Konağı
Kemaliye's benchmark family konak, restored Egin house, home cooking and canyon logistics from the owners.
Otel Vadi Kemaliye
A garden hotel at Kemaliye's edge rated as highly for its restaurant as its rooms, with strong breakfasts.
Is Erzincan expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TRY 1,800 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TRY 4,500 a person |
| Splurge | TRY 12,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Kemaliye Karanlık Kanyon: a few days ahead
- Taş Yol: a few days ahead
- Karasu River Rafting: a few days ahead
- Hilton Garden Inn Erzincan: weeks ahead
- Eğin Konağı: weeks ahead
- Otel Vadi Kemaliye: a few days ahead
- Seven Kevser Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Book Eastern Express sleeping berths weeks ahead, months for December to February snow season departures.
- Book Kemaliye konaks ahead for the late June festival and summer weekends, bed stock is small.
- Book city hotels early for the January Ergan Europa Cup weekend and for Eid holiday stretches.
- Arrange rafting and canyon boats a day or two ahead through your hotel, never months ahead online.
Is Erzincan safe?
- Erzincan sits by the North Anatolian Fault and was destroyed in 1939. Prefer modern code built hotels and know your exit route.
- Never criticise the Turkish government publicly or on social media, and avoid political gatherings, anywhere in Turkey.
Erzincan travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Tas Yol is a working cliff road, not an amusement ride. Take the local driver.
- Agree canyon boat prices in full before boarding in low season, and ask for life jackets explicitly.
- Buy copper by weight and workmanship, and be suspicious of antique claims in the bazaar.
- Buy tulum from established cheese shops that vacuum pack and can name their producers.
Getting around Erzincan: public transport and more
- Walk the flat city grid and use short cheap taxis for Girlevik, Eksisu, Altintepe and Ergan.
- Erzincan is a principal Eastern Express stop between Ankara and Kars, a legitimate way to arrive or leave.
- Kemaliye is 160 to 170 km and 2.5 to 3 hours each way by mountain road. Plan it, do not improvise it.
- Arrange a Kemaliye based driver for the Tas Yol through your konak rather than driving it yourself.
Who Erzincan suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Erzincan your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store