• Turkey Guide

  • Introduction to Turkey
  • 17 things not to miss
  • Red tape and visas
  • Opening hours and public holidays
  • Getting around

• Explore Turkey

  • İstanbul
  • Around the Sea of Marmara
  • The North Aegean
  • The central and southern Aegean
  • The Turquoise Coast
  • The Mediterranean coast and the Hatay
  • South Central Anatolia
  • North Central Anatolia
  • The Black Sea coast
  • Northeastern Anatolia
  • The Euphrates and Tigris basin
  • Lake Van and the southeast

• Cities

  • Ankara
    
  • Antalya
    
  • Edirne
    
  • Erzurum
    
  • İstanbul
    

Turkey Guide

South Central Anatolia

Eğirdir

• Accommodation
• Eating

Eğirdir is the natural focus of Turkey's Lakeland, boasting an astonishingly beautiful setting, clinging to a strip of flat land between the Toros (Taurus) mountains and Turkey's second largest freshwater lake (488 square kilometres). Lying around 900m above sea level, air temperatures are warm in summer (around 30°C), while the clear waters usually remain swimmable until the end of September (though sudden storms can cool things off at any time of year). In April the lake basin's numerous apple orchards bloom and in August/September the apples are harvested.

The lakeside town tends to suffer from its convenience as a stopover between the coast and Cappadocia, and most travellers stay only a night or two. This is a pity as Yeşilada, a tiny island connected to mainland Eğirdir by a kilometre-long causeway, is a wonderfully relaxing place to stay. It has many excellent pansiyons and makes a useful base from which to explore the region's natural and historic sights. Watersports are in their infancy in Eğirdir, though it is possible to rent small sailing dinghies and windsurfing is beginning to take off. Tandem paragliding is on offer for the more adventurous, but Eğirdir is best suited to its role as the Lakeland's trekking centre and major stop on the long-distance walking route, the St Paul Trail).