Things to do in Karaman
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Karaman
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best month: mild spring weather and the Turkish Language Festival on 13 May, the city's festive peak.
Cool, clear and excursion perfect, with apple harvest colour in October.
Hot dry plateau summer, so start excursions at dawn. Ermenek swimming and Zeyve springs are at their best.
Worst months: cold continental winter with snow on the Ermenek and Taşkale roads and short days.
What's on
- Turkish Language Festival 13 May
Türk Dil Bayramı marks Karamanoğlu Mehmet Bey's 1277 decree making Turkish the official language, with parades and concerts.
- Ermenek summer season June to September
Reservoir boat trips, swimming stops and the Zeyve Pazarı springs and market at full strength.
Best things to do in Karaman
Karaman Museum
The small museum that unlocks the whole province, above all the preserved Manazan Woman from the cave city.
Hatuniye Medresesi
Karaman's finest building, a 1382 medrese with a monumental marble portal built for Nefise Sultan.
Karaman Castle
The inner castle on its ancient mound, nine bastions and the best view over the old city at sunset.
Aktekke Mosque
The 1370 mosque holding the tomb of Rumi's mother, where the Mevlana story begins before Konya.
Yunus Emre Mosque
Mosque and tomb of Yunus Emre, the poet who made Turkish a language of plain spoken mystic verse.
İmaret Mosque
The Karamanid imaret mosque that completes the central walk with Aktekke and the Hatuniye Medresesi.
Karaman Tanıtım Merkezi
The free orientation centre to visit first, with wax figures and previews of the province's excursions.
Tartan Evi
An early 19th century mansion museum showing how a prosperous Karaman household actually lived.
Where to stay in Karaman
Central old city
first stay, walkability, no car needed
The museum, castle, Aktekke and Hatuniye are all within about a kilometre, with the lokantas and evening life.
Mut road east side
full service hotels with a car
Established hotels on Zeytin Dalı Bulvarı and Mut Caddesi, a short hop from the centre.
Highway convention side
facilities, pool and spa, drivers
The city's one five star scale property sits here, best reached and used with a car.
Think twice about
- Organised industrial and far highway fringe
Isolated after dark with nothing walkable and truck traffic. You pay in taxis and tedium what you saved on the room.
- Castle mound streets late at night
Not dangerous, but deserted and poorly lit once the centre empties. Fine by day, a dreary walk home at night.
Best restaurants in Karaman
Larende Restaurant
The most formal table in the city, a calm hotel dining room used by local families for occasion dinners.
PÖÇ TANDIR & ZEMZEM RESTAURANT
The consensus best meal in Karaman, oxtail and lamb from the tandır plus trotter soup by the station.
Fırın Sahara
A beloved oven restaurant with the city's highest rating at serious review volume, built on fresh fırın cooking.
Keskinler Etli Ekmek
The best evidenced specialist for etliekmek, the long crisp meat flatbread of the Konya plain.
Kardelen Etliekmek Doğan Usta
The other side of the city's etliekmek argument, the name that recurs in every popularity list.
Birtat Lokantası
A tradesmen's canteen for the day's stews and bulgur pilavı, where the city's bulgur cooking lives.
Nazif Kara Köfte & Kokoreç
Köfte and kokoreç served to the biggest crowd of any restaurant in the city, all day long.
Karadağlı Restaurant
The Anatolian roadhouse pick, buffet breakfasts and a short menu of soups, lamb stew and pilav done properly.
Outdoor things to do in Karaman
Binbirkilise
Around forty Byzantine church ruins scattered over a dead volcano, in splendid and empty isolation.
Taşkale Granaries
About 250 hand carved grain chambers pierced into a cliff, some still used to store grain and chickpeas.
Manazan Caves
A five storey Byzantine cave city in one great rock, visited within its rockfall safety limits.
İncesu Cave
A lit travertine cave of stalactites and pools that completes the Taşkale and Manazan day east of the city.
Ermenek Reservoir
A turquoise dam lake in a deep limestone gorge, seen best by boat toward Nadire Canyon in summer.
Zeyve Pazarı
A spring side market and picnic ground near Ermenek where cold water runs in channels under plane trees.
Karadağ
Self reliant walking on the extinct volcano above Binbirkilise, with huge views over the Konya plain.
Best hotels in Karaman
Grand Karaman Hotel & Convention Center
The city's five star ceiling, with pool, spa and convention polish, a short drive from the old centre.
Demosan Hotel
The established full service workhorse near the centre, with indoor pools, spa and the Larende Restaurant.
Ayten Hanım Konağı
A boutique mansion hotel near the centre with a local cuisine restaurant, the city's one character stay.
Nas Otel
A dependable four star business hotel noted for its breakfast spread and balcony rooms.
Karaman Kent Otel
The sensible budget central pick, a no frills city hotel with a strong local review volume.
Pasha Suite Apart Otel
Studio suites with kitchens for a multi night excursion base on a budget, with parking and balconies.
Is Karaman expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TRY 1,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TRY 3,000 a person |
| Splurge | TRY 6,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Ermenek Reservoir: a few days ahead
- Grand Karaman Hotel & Convention Center: a few days ahead
- Book hotels early for the 13 May Turkish Language Festival weekend and wedding heavy summer weekends.
- Arrange a car and driver a day ahead through your hotel for the excursion days.
- Confirm the seasonal Ermenek boat through your hotel the day before rather than assuming a timetable.
Is Karaman safe?
- Manazan was declared a disaster zone for rockfall risk, so obey closures and fencing without exception.
- Carry all water for Binbirkilise and Karadağ: the plateau is shadeless and there is none to buy.
- Dress modestly for mosques, with a headscarf for women to enter, and expect alcohol to be scarce. Emergency number 112.
Karaman travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Under staying is the main trap: the city is half a day, so leaving without Binbirkilise and Taşkale misses the point.
- Do not expect a smaller Konya: Karaman is plainer and more provincial, with Turkish only signage.
- The castle is 45 minutes, not a morning, and there is no grand bazaar or shopping quarter to plan around.
Getting around Karaman: public transport and more
- Walk the centre: museum, castle, Aktekke and Hatuniye sit within about a kilometre.
- Karaman is about 110 km south of Konya, with fast trains to Konya and onward to Ankara and Istanbul.
- Hire a car for Binbirkilise, Taşkale and Manazan, or agree a full taxi price including waiting time before setting out.
- Ermenek is about two hours each way on mountain roads, so plan it as a full day or stay a night.
Who Karaman suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Karaman your trip
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