Çanakkale.
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Overview

Çanakkale (pronounced chah-NAK-kah-leh) is a city in the Southern Marmara region of Turkey. It stands at the outlet of the Dardanelles, the straits between European and Asian Turkey, and has been a travel hub in peace and war since antiquity. With a population in 2021 of 144,000, it has a student buzz thanks to ÇOMÜ, the Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University.

Understand

This area has been settled at least since 3000 BC. Çanakkale is the closest modern town to ancient Troy. Scholars disagree over the historicity of the ten-year conflict described in the Odyssey and Iliad, but the Hellenistic city-states were often at war. The Grecian settlement here was called Dardanellia (Δαρδανέλλια). It was at a pinchpoint in the straits of Dardanelles, here only 1.5 km across, so it had double strategic value: as a crossing place, and as a redoubt for controlling shipping through the straits. The Persian Empire under Xerxes and the Macedonians under Alexander the Great were two of the armies that marched this way.

The stakes were raised in 1462 when the Ottomans became established in Thrace, and built the fortress of Kale-i-Sultaniye. By then a cannon-blast could reach over halfway across the straits, so with an artillery position here and another on the opposite bank at Kilitbahir you had control. Those straits to the northeast broaden out into the Sea of Marmara, then pinch again into the Bosphorus, so Çanakkale controlled access to Istanbul, the Black Sea, and Russia.

This enabled the Ottomans to build a great empire by land and sea. The town became known for its fine-glazed pottery and from the 18th century was dubbed Çanak kalesi - "pottery castle". During the 19th and 20th century the Ottoman Empire crumbled, with national independence movements and other Great Powers wresting away territories in the Balkans, and Russia chafing at being bottled up in the Black Sea. During World War I, Turkey sided with Germany and Austria, separating the western Allies from Russia, so it was the nut that the west needed to crack.

By then, artillery power had greatly increased thanks to the engineering advances of Alfred Krupp. Gun positions didn't just line the straits, but were ranged around the coasts to control the sea approaches. In March 1915 the Allied navies tried to blast their way into the straits, fatally underestimating the firepower of this "pottery castle". A combination of minefields and cannonade inflicted great damage on them and on 18 March the survivors of their fleet limped away, a date still celebrated in Turkey. The Allies therefore made shore landings on the Gallipoli peninsula from 25 April to knock out those guns. They also sought to stop Turkish reinforcements pouring into the area and re-arming the coast. It was never their plan to fight a land battle all the way up the peninsula, but once the fleet could sail through the straits, Turkey's flank would be turned and its defences would unravel. The landings did capture their beachheads but the whole operation was bungled and far too slow, so the Allies were pinned down, couldn't advance beyond the beachheads and never silenced the guns: see Eceabat#Understand for more. The Allies endured their hopeless positions for almost a year, with great loss of life on both sides, then evacuated. It was a conflict that became seared into western political memory, and shaped the modern identity of Turkey. Climate

The climate of Çanakkale is Mediterranean, but the slight influence of the oceanic Black Sea coast and the continental Balkans causes it to experience colder than average winter temperatures for typical Mediterranean climates. Therefore, Çanakkale experiences hot, dry summers and cool to chilly, rainy winters with occasional snow. The city is famously very windy year-round.

Summers are hot, with highs around 30°C, even though the hottest days can have highs above 35°C. Rain is uncommon, but a few, moderately heavy showers can interrupt the generally sunny, dry weather.

Winters are cool, sometimes chilly, with highs just below 10°C and occasional night-time frosts. Rain is common, and rainy spells often follow the infamous violent windstorms of the Marmara region, a southwesterly called Lodos. These windstorms tend to cancel ferries, so watch out for these days if you want to take them. Snow isn't very common, but falls and accumulates almost every year and heavier snowstorms can happen once every two or three years.

Spring (especially April and May) and fall are mild, and therefore are the best times to visit the city. There are occasional rain showers, but these generally don't last for long.

Get in

By road Çanakkale is 310 km from Istanbul, 325 km from Izmir and 653 km from Ankara.

From Istanbul, head west then south on O-6 down the Gallipoli peninsula. From Europe head for Keşan, by E90 coming from Greece or by E87 coming from Bulgaria, then go south to join O-6. Keşan and E87 was the route from Istanbul before the bridge and otoyol opened.

1915 Çanakkale Bridge opened in March 2022. This 3.563 km suspension bridge sweeps across the Dardanelles high above Gelibolu. The bridge is closed to high-sided vehicles if winds exceed 50 km/h, and to all traffic above 125 km/h. Asia-side of the bridge, take the first Lapseki exit to go east along the Marmara coast towards Bursa, but for Çanakkale stay on to rejoin the former highway at Kemiklialan.

Ferries continue to cross the Dardanelles, see below and Gelibolu#Get in.

You can also reach Çanakkale from Istanbul by circling the Sea of Marmara clockwise via Bursa. It's a much slower route but you might take it for a tourist itinerary.

By bus Buses from Istanbul run around the clock, taking 5 hours. Operators on the route are Truva Turizm, Metro Turizm, Flixbus and Pamukkale . The operators' websites are only in Turkish but are easy to use - the only pitfall is that no buses go to "Canakkale", you must use the letter "Ç" not standard on western keyboards. Either select your extended character set or cut-and-paste from the correct spelling.

One bus by Isparta runs nightly from Edirne via Uzunköprü, Keşan and Gelibolu, 4 hours, 110 TL.

Buses from Ankara take 10 hours via Eskişehir, Bursa and Bandırma, 240 TL. Buses from Izmir take six hours, 150 TL.

the bus station is 5 km east of town in the industrial park at the intersection of D200 and D210. There are frequent buses going from Otogar to the city center. You can pay on the bus with a tap of you credit card.

By boat Gestaş car ferries ply across the strait to the : From Eceabat sailing hourly 06:00-22:00 and every two hours through the night, 25 min. Adult 15 TL, car 155 TL (Aug 2023). From Kilitbahir (5 km south of Eceabat) sailing more or less hourly 07:30-23:00, 15 min, no overnight service. Adult 15 TL, car 145 TL. In summer there's a waterbus for foot passengers to the island of Gökçeada, one hour. Otherwise take the year-round car-ferry from Kabatepe, 12 km west of Eceabat.

You can also cross the strait further north from Gelibolu — car ferries sail round the clock to Lapseki Asia-side, see Gelibolu for details.

Extra sailings are laid on at peak times, with long fractious queues to join them. Sailings may of course be suspended in bad weather.

There is a marina, rumored to be reasonably cheap up until 2023 but very expensive as of 2024. It's also possible to anchor up for free right outside the marina, or south of the city by the airport.

Get around

Most of the places in Çanakkale are in walking distance. Dolmuşes run toward the War History Museum and beach strip to the south.

The Tourist Office has closed down, but lots of travel agents will sell you tours. These are the best way to reach Troy and the Gallipoli memorials if you don't have your own car.

Car rental: Avis are by the ferry pier, and Budget are 500 m north along the waterfront.

See

City Museum. Small museum of city history and, uh, local bicycling? It's cramped and signage in only in Turkish.

(Truva Atı): The war has dragged on for nine years, the troops are near mutiny, and the last counter-attack from the besieged city was costly — we may have to quit. Say, let's pretend to quit and sail away, but leave behind by a giant model horse full of malware, which they'll import into the city... the tumult of Athens against Troy was matched by the tumoils of making the film Troy in 2004. Its Mediterranean scenes were filmed in Malta; it got mixed critical reviews but had a big-name cast and did well at the box office. When the movie-makers left (or pretended to do so) they left behind this giant steel and fibreglass film prop. The Maltese were understandably suspicious and wouldn't accept it, so it ended up here. Whatever you do, don't open it up! A cannon used in the battle of 1915 now guards Cumhuriyet Blvd by the ferry pier. It was this and similar artillery plus minefields that repulsed the naval attack, with the Allied fleet retreating on 18 March, a date still celebrated as a national victory. So the Allies' next ploy was the Gallipoli landings from 25 April, to try to knock out the shore guns.

Naval Museum. This is centred on Çimenlik Castle (aka Kale-i Sultaniye), built in 1452 to command the straits, and remaining in use to 1915, when it was bombarded by the Allies. The museum has various boats, artefacts and exhibits on local battles. At anchor is a replica of the minelayer Nusret. The original ship laid mines that sank three Allied warships and crippled three others. She had various post-war roles and sank near Mersin in 1989. She was eventually refloated and converted into a museum ship in Mersin, meanwhile this replica had been built, and opened as a museum in 2011.

Piri Reis (Ahmet Muhiddin Piri 1465-1553) was an admiral, best known for his maps, among the first to depict North America. This gallery is near the Trojan Horse. The collection has also been housed in the Naval Museum and it's not known which, if any, are open in 2022. Necip Paşa Mosque is at the north end of the promenade. It's a rebuild of 1953, as an earthquake in 1903 beach demolished the original.

Ceramics Museum. Museum with interesting ceramics - many of the modern pieces are for sale - sited in an old hammam.

Colouring-book stairs (Renkli Kitap Merdivenler) are a piece of street art a block south of the Ceramic Museum. Commonwealth war graves are in two plots 1 km inland up İsmetpaşa.

War History Museum. Extensive museum set in the shore fortifications depicting the battles of World War I.

is an ancient burial chamber. In 2022 the site is a mess. In legend Dardanos was the son of Zeus and Elektra, and an ancestor of Aeneas. Zeus flooded the world so only a few mountain tops remained as islands, so Dardanos initially lived on Samothrace but moved to found a settlement on Mount Ida. The real mountain of that name is 50 km further south, and Dardanos little suspected that when the waters receded, they would uncover the seaside resort that now bears his name. is the next beach strip south. You're unlikely to find the village museum open, nor the military museum 1 km inland. See Geyikli for sights further south, and for ferries to Bozcaada. is the pleasant forested hill overlooking the town. is a gnarly stump 6 km east of town off D210 towards Çan. The oldest parts may be 2700 years old, and they look every day of that. The castle remained in use to about 1000 AD, guarding the road through the mountains, and nowadays it overlooks a reservoir lake. is a town further east along D210/555, which by this point becomes particularly scenic but starts to feel like you're well past that wrong turn you shouldn't have taken towards nowhere. The town runs a thermal resort on its lush outskirts and that's about all that can be said about it — except it happens to be the hometown of internationally-acclaimed Turkish director and screenwriter Nuri Bilge Ceylan, a potential claim to fame the town doesn't wish to acknowledge. A single short visit is plenty to understand where the prevalent theme of soul-crushing countryside monotony in Ceylan's films apparently springs from. 6 km north of town is a fortress built in 1807, but off-limits as it's still in military use. It was built over the site of ancient Abydos, so nothing remains of that. From 670 BC it was a fishing port (especially for tuna) and the main ferry port for crossing the Dardanelles. Someone should have mentioned this to Leander, who in legend swam across nightly to visit his ladyfriend Hero in Sestos, but who met a watery end. Lord Byron in 1810 also swam the straits with even less excuse, as he'd brought a Royal Navy frigate with him: see Gelibolu for more on both stories and for the ruins of Sestos. Abydos was abandoned by the 14th century when the crossing route shifted north, and its masonry was briskly removed for use elsewhere.

Do

Aqualand on the coast between Kepez and Dardanos beaches has water-rides, flumes and so on. Suitable for younger children, older teens will be bored. It's open year-round daily 10:00-18:00, adult 80 TL, child 50-60 TL. Don't swim across the Hellespont unless you're an experienced distance swimmer and have proper back-up and local expertise over currents and shipping lanes. Swimming specialist agencies can organise this, such as Swimtrek, and there's an annual Hellespont swim race in late August. Never treat it as an afternoon lark of "last across buys the beers". The channel here is 1.5 km wide by 70 m deep, and the pinchpoint makes the currents all the stronger. The main flow is outbound, as all the drainage into the Black Sea comes this way to join the Med. But there's a deep backflow, and where they meet creates turbulence felt on the surface.

Buy

Lots of ATMs near the ferry pier. The stores are a few blocks inland.

Eat

Local specialties are bomba (a döner in half a loaf with an omelette inside), and peynir helvasi a dessert of cheese, egg yolk, semolina and sugar. There are several places around the ferry pier and east along the waterfont, but the main cluster is west on Yalı Cd towards the Naval Museum. Husmenoglu is a patisserie famous for its peynir helvasi. It's at Yalı Cd 29 and open daily 08:00-23:30.

Drink

Town nightlife is west of the harbour near the clock tower. Many places have live music at weekends.

Dolmuş Pub. Coffees and beers in a renovated historic house with an open-air backyard where smoking is allowed.

Yalı Hanı. A coffee house with rustic wooden tables and chairs, offering tea, coffee, and beer in the courtyard of an inn dating back to the 1880s. Visit in the spring, when the huge wisteria vine covering the courtyard is in full purple bloom - in summer the yard lacks shade. No food, but you can bring in eats from a nearby bakery.

Sleep

This isn't a tourist town, but its position as regional capital means lots of small hotels for business and other domestic travel. They're clustered along the street leading from the ferry pier. Another strip is by the beach a few km south.

Hotel Helen. The first hotel you encounter coming off the ferry. Basic place, mostly good reviews.

Anzac Hotel. Basic but very central hotel, cleanliness erratic.

Hotel Kervansaray. Pleasant central hotel 2 blocks back from waterfront. Small but comfortable rooms, helpful staff and lovely courtyard. Some street noise.

Hotel Akol. Clean comfy place with waterfront views.

Büyük Truva Hotel. Clean spacious waterfront hotel.

Otel Marmara. Comfy enough but street-facing rooms get a lot of traffic noise.

Cura Hotel. Smart hotel with free parking.

Kolin Hotel. Pleasant hotel with pool on Kepez beach strip.

Sunsan Hotel. Spacious hotel on Dardanos beach.

Iris Hotel. Good reviews for comfort and service at this smart beach hotel.