Ride the Evliya Çelebi Way, Marmara region
Evliya Çelebi was the Turkish Marco Polo. For more than 40 years in the mid-1600s he travelled the Ottoman Sultan's domains and beyond, from Vienna to the Nile. With Kate Clow, Ottoman historian Caroline Finkel and friends have traced 650km of riding, biking and walking trails, following routes travelled by the entertaining, intrepid Çelebi. Buy Kate and Caroline's new guidebook to the trail (The Evliya Çelebi Way, Cordee, £17.99), then ride beautiful Arabian/Anatolian-cross horses along part of the Way this September, travelling the largely unvisited Turkish north-west, from the Sea of Marmara to Küthaya.
• A 14-night Anatolian Way trek through In The Saddle (01299 272997, inthesaddle.com) costs from £2,299 full-board excluding flights, departing 15 September
Take a train from Istanbul to Tehran
With a change of trains at Ankara, you can now travel for four days in air-conditioned comfort from Istanbul to the Iranian border and beyond. The end of the Turkish line is Tatvan, on the shore of Lake Van, famous for its swimming cats. Continue via train-ferry to Van, and then on to Tehran. The area around Lake Van was the seat of the Urartu kingdom between the ninth and sixth centuries BC. Strong Armenian and Kurdish influences persist, as does an excellent kebab-based cuisine. The route east and south takes in the roadless borderlands between Armenia and Iran.
• Recliners and sleepers from £120 return, see seat61.com/turkey2. EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies from Gatwick to Istanbul from £136 return in April
Cycle or walk the 500km Saint Paul Trail, Mediterranean region
In 1999, amateur British/Turkish historian Kate Clow walked and marked the coastal Lycian Trail from Fethiye to Antalya. It proved so popular that Kate was encouraged to plot (with GPS coordinates) more routes, all offering unforgettable adventures through Turkey's rural soul. The Saint Paul Trail follows two of his missionary journeys along Roman roads and mountain tracks, starting at sea level in Perge, near Antalya airport, climbing to 2,200m and ending at Egirdir in the Turkish lake district. A second branch starts at Aspendos, 40km east of Antalya and joins the route at the Roman site of Adada. Along the way you will enjoy spectacular views, herb-scented air and wild rose gardens, with heart-warming hospitality at many family-run pansiyons.
• Find maps of the two routes on the Saint Paul Trail, and suggestions of places to stay, at cultureroutesinturkey.com. Thomson (thomson.co.uk/flights) flies from Gatwick to Antalya from around £140 return
Rafting on the Çoruh river, Black Sea region
Close to the seaside resorts near Antalya, there's a good day's white-water rafting to be had at Köprülü canyon, near Manavgat. Operator Alpine Rafting caters for everyone from beginner to advanced: most adventurous is an expedition to the remote Kaçkar mountains and the River Çoruh, which flows into the Black Sea. The Kaçkars are home to bears, boar, wolves and millions of butterflies. Rafting on the Çoruh is still in the raw: you'll need advanced white-water skills (grade five and above). There'll also be water buffalo wrestling competitions, abandoned stone fortresses and pebbly riverside camping.
• Five-day trips with Alpine Rafting turkeyrafting.com, including two days' rafting, cost €395 full-board, including transfers but not flights. Onur Air (onurair.com.tr) flies from Istanbul to Erzurum from £80 return in June
Climb Mount Ararat, Eastern Anatolia
In the Van province of eastern Turkey is 5,137m Mount Ararat, said by some to be the final resting place of Noah's Ark. Ararat is difficult to climb: parts of the mountain remain unmapped, and there's a succession of false summits before you reach the top. The ascent takes three or four (pretty tough) days, the descent a day. Special permission is required (send a photocopy of your passport two months in advance), and you'll need ice equipment as you'll be skirting the glacier. Travelling with a specialist tour operator is essential.
• A seven-night trip with Middle Earth Travel (+90 384 271 2559, middleearthtravel.com/mount_ararat) costs £590, including all meals, five nights' camping and two nights in a hotel, departing 29 July. Turkish Airlines (turkishairlines.com) flies from Heathrow to Van with a stopover in Istanbul from £533 return
Stay in a Kurdish village, South-east Anatolia
A remarkable heart-touching homestay scheme is run in the Kurdish village of Yuvacali by Englishwoman Alison Tanik. Here in Upper Mesopotamia, near the banks of the Euphrates, you're encouraged to experience the jewel that is Kurdish hospitality, and to participate in village life. Alison also runs tours to exotic Urfa, nearby, and to Nemrut Dag with its mysterious mountain-top idols.
• A seven-night trip with Nomad Tours Turkey (+90 533 747 1850, nomadtoursturkey.com) costs €405 full-board, including trips to Urfa and Nemrut Dag but not transfers and flights. Turkish Airlines (turkishairlines.com) flies from Istanbul to Sanliurfa from £129 return
Walk the Honey Road, Eastern Anatolia
Close to the borders with Georgia and Armenia, the area around Kars is known for its cold winters (see Orhan Pamuk's tense, dream-like novel Snow – in Turkish, Kar, the word for snow) but also for its natural beauty and its honey. Balyolu, a community-based tour company set up by NGO entrepreneur Cat Jaffee, takes you on an eight-day rural tour along the Honey Road that promises village stays, soaring mountain views, abandoned churches at Ani, and an insight into the lives of the women who harvest the region's gorgeous organic honeys. Your fees fund precious new opportunities for local communities.
• The eight-day trip with Balyolu balyolu.com) costs from £1,330, including full-board accommodation but not flights, departing 9 June, 20 June and 26 July. Turkish Airlines (turkishairlines.com) flies from Gatwick to Kars with an overnight stop in Istanbul on 8 June from £342 return
The Izmir Bicycle Club, Aegean region
Join or make a group of up to 10 riders and cycle from Izmir to Bodrum in four to five days. This non-profit activist group provides excellent local guides, sensitively planned routes and a healthy dose of Turkish hospitality. You'll do up to six hours' riding a day along seaside and lakeshore routes. Expect new insights into ancient sites such as Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis, a mixture of village byways and asphalt roads, and family hotels with hot showers and cold beers.
• Trips with Izmir Bicycle Club (+90 232 483 4046, tinyurl.com/izmirbisiklet) cost £415pp for a group of 10 riders, including bike hire, B&B accommodation and guide
Trek the Toros mountains and kayak to a sunken city, Mediterranean region
Blow the cobwebs away with a trek into the Toros mountains along coastal goat tracks. Ruined temples and scented maquis lead to village pansiyons; the last two days are spent sea kayaking to the sunken city of Kekova, with an overnight wild camp.
• A five-night trip with Exclusive Escapes (020-8605 3500, tinyurl.com/torostrek) costs £610 including meals, guide, equipment and transfers from Kas. Atlas Jet (atlasjet.com) flies from Istanbul to Dalaman, two hours 40 minutes from Kas, from £70 return
