Things to do in Mardin
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Mardin
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best weather, walkable all day, terraces open. Peak domestic demand, book ahead.
Hot but bearable, with long evenings for Hasankeyf and the plateau.
Worst sightseeing months, 38 to 42 degrees. Sightsee at dawn, rest at midday, live in the evening.
Cooler, crowds vanish, a connoisseur month.
Properly cold at altitude with occasional snow, beautiful stone, treacherous steps, some shorter hours.
Early spring, changeable, the plain turning green.
What's on
- Easter at the Syriac Churches Spring, Orthodox Easter dates vary
Kirklar Church and the monasteries at their most alive, with Aramaic liturgy visitors may witness respectfully.
- Shahro at Mor Gabriel Monastery Late summer, reported in early September in recent years, confirm locally
The great Tur Abdin homecoming gathering of Assyrians from Turkey and the diaspora, with liturgy and a communal table.
- Yaldo, Syriac Christmas at Kirklar Church 25 December
Nativity feast with Syriac and Turkish hymns and a fire lighting ritual, per community reporting.
Best things to do in Mardin
Deyrulzafaran Monastery
A living Syriac Orthodox monastery founded in the 5th century over a sun temple, still praying in Aramaic.
Zinciriye Medresesi
A 14th century madrasa whose roof terrace gives the best in town panorama over the Mesopotamian plain.
Kasımiye Medresesi
A vast, calm 15th century madrasa around a courtyard pool, facing the plain on the edge of town.
Great Mosque of Mardin
The 12th century Ulu Cami, whose single inscribed minaret is the signature of the Mardin skyline.
Kırklar Kilisesi
A working Syriac Orthodox church famous for its hand painted altar curtains, best visited around a service.
Mardin Museum
Archaeology and ethnography in the grand 1895 former Syriac Catholic Patriarchate, the right first morning stop.
Sakıp Sabancı Mardin City Museum
Social history in an 1889 cavalry barracks, showing how Mardin actually lived for the last 150 years.
Eski Mardin
The old town lanes themselves, honey coloured stone houses and vaulted passages above the plain, free to wander.
Where to stay in Mardin
Eski Mardin (Old Town, Artuklu)
first trip, atmosphere, walkers
Every sight is a walk or staircase away and the terraces face the Mesopotamian sunset.
Yenisehir (New City)
drivers, families needing a pool, business
Modern hotels with parking, lifts and pools, at the cost of taxiing up to the old town for everything.
Midyat Old Town
a quiet second base on a Tur Abdin loop
Flatter Syriac stone streets, silversmiths and plateau air, best as a supplement to Mardin itself.
Think twice about
- Nusaybin and the immediate Syrian border strip
Do not base or sleep inside the border zone. Visit the province from Mardin city, in daylight, with local awareness.
- Yenisehir as a sightseeing base
Not unsafe, just soulless sprawl that leaves you taxi dependent for every sight, meal and sunset in the old town.
- Unlit upper lanes near the castle hill at night
The castle is closed and military and the lanes below it are steep, uneven and deserted after dark. Use the main street as your spine.
Best restaurants in Mardin
Cercis Murat Konağı
The famous mansion table for ceremonial Mardin cooking, above all dobo and Assyrian kitel raha.
Bagdadi Restaurant
The forum favourite old town dinner, traditional Mardin dishes in a calm historic stone setting.
Seyr-i Merdin
A big terrace restaurant whose tables look straight over the rooftops to the plain at sunset.
Leyli Restoran
Polished versions of the Mardin classics in a stone dining room, the calmer alternative to the big mansion table.
Al Hayaal
The main street value star, home style Mardin cooking at prices that invite a second visit.
Han Mutfak Sanatlari Restaurant
A small heritage kitchen for indigenous Mardin stews, bulgur dishes and soups at local prices.
Kebapçı Yusuf Usta
The local kebab master's plain tables, Adana and Urfa kebabs and lamb shish done right on the grill.
Kafro's Pizzeria
Wood fired pizza in an Assyrian diaspora return village, a cultural sight told as a long lunch.
Best coffee in Mardin
Marangozlar Kahvesi
A vaulted bazaar coffee house for mirra, the bitter ceremonial coffee poured until you shake the cup.
Outdoor things to do in Mardin
Dara Ancient City
A Roman frontier city of rock cut tombs and vast underground cisterns scattered through a modern village.
Mor Gabriel Monastery
Founded in 397, the oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the world, visited on guided tours only.
Midyat Old Town
Mardin's quieter sister town of Syriac stone houses, churches and telkari silversmith workshops.
Beyazsu
Ice cold spring water racing through a green valley, with riverside restaurants setting tables at the stream.
Hasankeyf
The historic Tigris town partly submerged by the Ilisu Dam, its rescued monuments gathered in a new park.
Mardin Castle
The castle is closed and military, but the public paths toward its hill give the highest panorama in town.
Best hotels in Mardin
Mardius Tarihi Konak
Mardin's benchmark luxury konak, a family mansion with a great terrace and feast like breakfasts.
Izala Hotel
The smart mid range default, a boutique stone hotel in the old city with Mesopotamia views.
Reyhani Kasri Hotel
A carved stone mansion hotel on the old town slope with generous rooms and helpful staff.
Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Mardin
The full service modern hotel with pool, spa and parking, for drivers and families who need systems.
Zinciriye Hotel
Huge vaulted rooms and superb terraces in a restored stone building facing the madrasa, at budget prices.
AZD House Hotel
Apartment style rooms and a strong breakfast at guesthouse prices, ideal for longer budget stays.
Is Mardin expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TRY 2,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TRY 5,500 a person |
| Splurge | TRY 12,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Cercis Murat Konağı: weeks ahead
- Bagdadi Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Seyr-i Merdin: a few days ahead
- Leyli Restoran: a few days ahead
- Mardius Tarihi Konak: weeks ahead
- Izala Hotel: weeks ahead
- Reyhani Kasri Hotel: weeks ahead
- Book old town konaks weeks ahead for April to May and September to October and for Eid holiday stretches.
- Reserve Cercis Murat Konagi in season and Seyr-i Merdin terrace tables for sunset.
- Book domestic flights to Mardin early, capacity is limited and holiday prices rise steeply.
Is Mardin safe?
- Turkey's Syria and Iraq border region is a no-go zone.
- Mardin province borders the risk zone; check current advice again before travel.
- Never photograph military sites, convoys or checkpoints, and carry your passport for road checkpoints.
- Standard insurance may not cover travel into a no-go zone; read the government advice clause in your policy.
Mardin travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Very cheap silver near the square is often alloy, buy telkari from workshops, especially in Midyat.
- Mardin Castle is closed and military, any tour promising entry is a scam.
- The old post office is a working post office, admire the facade rather than expecting a museum.
- Check menu prices before repeat refills at view cafes.
Getting around Mardin: public transport and more
- Walk the old town, cars mostly cannot enter it and its lanes are steep and stepped.
- Use taxis or dolmus minibuses for Deyrulzafaran, Kasimiye and the bus station.
- Book a driver through your hotel for Dara, Midyat and Mor Gabriel, and Hasankeyf.
- Midyat is a solid hour east and Hasankeyf about two hours west by car.
Who Mardin suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Mardin your trip
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