Mersin Travel Guide

   I am pretty sure most of you havent heard its name or dont know where it is or what it is. To the contrary its wonderful sea and must-see places, Mersin is not known well by tourists. Mersin is a city in Turkey with the population of just over1 million. It is a port on the Mediterranean coast. In Turkey, Mersin is called as `Pearl of the Mediterranean`.

   The best route which i also followed to travel Mersin is:

1. Promenade

   Mersin has a wonderful coast. First day when you come over there, you will need to arrange your accommodation and then be tired. Hence, the best to do in the first day is a walk alonside the coast. Be advised that having walk in Mersin at night is the best due to hot temperature with high moisture.

2. Have a swim and enjoy the sun

   Most of you think i am going to start off with a destination in Mersin. But, if you thought so, you are wrong. It is beacuse Mersin is a hot place and you will need to get familier with its conditions. Because of that, you better begin your travel from the best part of Mersin -Beach-.

   There are many beach places. Be advised to get to Korykos where is in Erdemli and 60 km away from city center. If you dont rent a car, there is a bus service taking passengers from city center to there or vice versa during the day.

3. Kiz Kalesi (Maiden`s Castle)

   If you follow my route, you should be in Korykos in your second day. Korykos is a beach with amazing sea. There, there is also something worth to see. It is Maiden`s Castle. The castle is close to the beach if you want, you can get there by swimming. There is also a boat service taking you from Korykos Beach to the castle. 

   The castle is small but a historical place. There are limited places which tourists could visit inside the castle. What is the most interesting is mosaic area inside the castle. The area was made using opus technique.

4. Mersin Culture Center

   After the second day, you are ready to start your visit to must-see places in Mersin. Culture center was the city center in the past. There is a big area with the culture house (shown on the photo below), a church next to the house and a circus. If you are there in winter, there are many opera, ballet and theatre shows in the culture house and the church is still active.

5. Ataturk Museum

   Ataturk is the founder of modern Turkey. This museum was a house at his time and is named as Ataturk museum because, when he paid a visit to Mersin, he lived in the house for 11 days.

   Almost nothing interesting there but worth to get there if you value past things good. The house shows past architecture style of Mersin and has historical Ottoman items inside the museum.

6. Ataturk Park

    The park is in front of Ataturk Museum. The park lies through the coast. The view there is amazing. Near to the park, there is a lunapark which includes all kinds of amusement items.

   So far, you visited the area marked red in the map. After this point, the places to go in Mersin marked green.

 7. Forum Mersin

    It is a shopping center in and around which shopers can find whatever they want to buy. It consists of two main sections. One of which is open and the second is closed. Around the forum, there are many little shopping centers.

8. Kushimoto Street

   Kushimoto is the name of a city in Japan. One of Turkish frigate -Ertugrul Firketeyni- sunk in there. Many Turkish sailors including admiral dead. In the memory of these sailors and to emphises the friendship between Japan and Turkey, this street named Kushimoto. In this street, visitors can find restaurants.

9. Mersin Sea Museum

   The museum is near to the street.Inside the museum, the stuff used by Turkish sailors are shown.

10. Mugdat Mosque

   It is the second largest mosque built after modern Turkey has been founded. The mosque`s location is marked in green area in the map above and is near to the museum. If you are interested in religion stuff, here is the place you should visit in Mersin. The inside of the mosque is totally stunning.



11. Mersin Marina

   Dont think the marina is only used for yachts. In this marina, there are many shops and restaurants. Be strongly advised to get there at night.

12. Tarsus

   It is one of Mersin districts and is a historical places. During the Roman Empire, it serviced as the capital of the province of Cilicia. For more read, please visit -will be availble here soon-




Enjoy your visit to Mersin...