Things to do in Kars
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Kars
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best winter months, with snow, frozen Lake Cildir, skiing and the February ice festival.
Quiet shoulder, snowmelt waterfall, green steppe and Ani without extreme weather.
Cheese production at Bogatepe, mild high plateau days and forest hiking, with no snow product.
Peak waterfowl gatherings at Lake Kuyucuk and golden steppe, with November the weakest month overall.
Worst months, with mud and melt in April and neither summer nor reliable winter product in November.
What's on
- Lake Cildir Golden Horse Crystal Lake Festival February, on the frozen lake
Sleigh and horse racing, horse archery and folk dance on the ice, with lake fish and goose.
- Sarikamis Martyrs Commemoration Early January
National remembrance of the 1914 to 1915 Sarikamis disaster, with a mass winter walk. Solemn, not festive.
- Touristic Eastern Express season 21 December 2026 to 12 March 2027
Sightseeing sleeper trains between Ankara and Kars. Individual tickets went on sale on 26 October 2026 and go fast.
Best things to do in Kars
Ani Archaeological Site
A ruined medieval Armenian capital on a gorge above the closed border, with a great cathedral, frescoed churches and vast walls.
Kars Castle
The hilltop fortress above the river gives the best free panorama over the Russian grid, the bridge and the steppe.
Kümbet Mosque
A 10th century Armenian church with apostle reliefs on its dome, now a working mosque at the foot of the castle.
Fethiye Mosque
A 19th century Russian church with twin bell towers converted to a mosque, and the most photogenic building in Kars.
Kars Russian Architecture Walk
A self guided walk past Baltic style Russian mansions and public buildings on the black stone grid of central Kars.
Kars Museum
The provincial museum that puts Ani in sequence, with regional archaeology and village ethnography including cheese making.
Kafkas Cephesi Harp Tarihi Müzesi
The Caucasus Front war museum inside the Bloody Bastion, covering the First World War front and the Sarikamis disaster.
Kars Cheese Museum
The city cheese museum tells the gravyer and kasar story, from high plateau grazing to brine rooms and ageing wheels.
Where to stay in Kars
Central Kars Russian grid
first trip, Ani tours, food and the train
Walkable grid with restaurants, cheese shops and taxis, and centre hotels at every tier.
Kaleici and the river below the castle
couples, photographers, quiet character stay
Older streets under the fortress, a short walk uphill to the grid and its restaurants.
Sarikamis ski base
ski trips only
Sleep at the lifts and ski from the door, an hour from Kars city and its sights.
Think twice about
- Kars airport and arterial road hotels
Nothing to walk to and taxi dependent for every meal. Base in the centre or Kaleici instead.
- Sarikamis town
A functional town with little for visitors. Sleep at the ski base or back in Kars, not in town.
Best restaurants in Kars
Kars Kaz Evi
Kars's signature goose house, serving winter goose with bulgur, regional dishes and a castle view terrace.
Han-ı Hanedan
A large, well run regional restaurant for goose, cag kebab and piti, and the safest group dinner in Kars.
Pushkin Cafe Restaurant
A Russian style restaurant for borscht, manti, goose and cheese platters, with Caucasian dancing on winter evenings.
Hanımeli Kars Mutfağı
A women run home style kitchen serving daily stews, manti and goose in season, and the best value regional lunch in town.
Kale Cafe & Restaurant
The castle foot all rounder for long cheese breakfasts, kebabs and late tea, open from morning to past midnight.
Koşor Cağ Kebap
Kars's cağ kebab specialist, shaving horizontal spit lamb onto small skewers to order until you stop.
Atalay'ın Yeri Balık Lokantası
The lakeshore fish restaurant and sleigh base, serving ice caught yellow carp in winter and trout in summer.
Petersburg Cafe & Restaurant
A Russian themed cafe restaurant for honey cake, desserts and coffee, and a calmer dinner when the goose houses are packed.
Outdoor things to do in Kars
Sarıkamış Kayak Merkezi
Dry crystal powder through Scots pines at 2100 to 2634 metres, with quiet slopes and a season from late December to March.
Lake Çıldır
A high lake that freezes for horse sleighs and ice fishing in winter and opens for boats, birds and fish lunches in summer.
Boğatepe Cheese Museum
Turkey's first cheese museum in the village where Kars gravyer began in 1878, best paired with the cheesemaker's breakfast.
Susuz Şelalesi
A roughly 75 metre waterfall west of Kars, powerful in spring snowmelt and best visited in May or June.
Aygır Gölü
A small volcanic crater lake on the steppe, a quiet picnic and photography stop with almost no facilities.
Kuyucuk Gölü
A Ramsar wetland east of Kars with over 200 bird species and huge autumn gatherings of waterfowl.
Katerina Av Köşkü
A Baltic style wooden hunting lodge from 1896 in the Sarikamis pines, the photo stop for forest snowshoe and summer walks.
Best hotels in Kars
Grand Ani Hotel
Kars's top full service hotel, with pool, hammam and sauna, huge local cheese breakfasts and reliable winter service.
Cheltikov Hotel
A 19th century Russian mansion hotel with high ceilings and a strong cheese breakfast, a short walk from the castle.
Kars Konak Hotel
A plain, dependable budget hotel in the middle of the grid, valued for location, warmth and a helpful desk.
Katerina Palace 1877
A Russian era palace hotel of 1877 below the castle, with garden, terrace and the most beautiful rooms in Kars.
Kar's Hotel
A small boutique stone hotel with castle views, personal service and strong breakfasts, walkable to everything.
Duja Chalet Ski Center
The province's luxury ski in ski out hotel at the Sarikamis lifts, with spa, indoor pool and full ski services in season.
Is Kars expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TRY 2,200 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TRY 4,800 a person |
| Splurge | TRY 11,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Ani Archaeological Site: a few days ahead
- Sarıkamış Kayak Merkezi: a few days ahead
- Boğatepe Cheese Museum: a few days ahead
- Katerina Av Köşkü: a few days ahead
- Kars Kaz Evi: a few days ahead
- Grand Ani Hotel: weeks ahead
- Cheltikov Hotel: weeks ahead
- Katerina Palace 1877: weeks ahead
- Touristic Eastern Express sleepers for the winter season go on sale in late October and sell out fast, so book the day they open.
- Book Katerina Palace, Cheltikov and Duja Chalet early for late December to February.
- Order goose a day ahead at Kars Kaz Evi or Hanimeli in winter season.
Is Kars safe?
- Turkey's high-risk areas are in the southeast. Kars province is not among them.
- Winter cold and ice are the main risks, with nights below minus 20 and far lower at Lake Cildir.
- Do not photograph military installations, especially near the closed Armenian border at Ani. Emergency number is 112.
Kars travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Ani in ninety minutes on a tour bus misses the frescoed church, citadel and gorge edge.
- Buying cheese at tour stops instead of tasting in centre shops or Bogatepe.
- Expecting any border crossing into Armenia at Ani. The border has been closed since 1993.
Getting around Kars: public transport and more
- Walk the central grid. Everything in town is within about 15 minutes on foot.
- Hire a taxi or hotel day tour for Ani, Lake Cildir and Bogatepe, arranged a day ahead in winter.
- Rent a car at Kars Harakani Airport only if you are confident driving on snow and ice in winter.
Who Kars suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Kars your trip
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