The Anatolian Loop

Pick up the car at Antalya Airport. Water, coffee — and straight onto the D695: ahead lie switchbacks through the Taurus Mountains (Akseki, the Irmasan pass, ~1,825 m). The road is an attraction in its own right.

An option if you're off to a brisk start: just past Akseki, a turn-off leads to the Altınbeşik cave, hiding Turkey's largest underground lake: turquoise water, explored by boat (~150 TL). The water is low in summer, so the cave is open. The price tag: +1.5 hours of driving and ~250 steps — the whole day's schedule shifts back by that hour and a half.

Beyşehir. Lunch overlooking the lake — Turkey's largest freshwater lake, shallow and turquoise.

Eşrefoğlu Mosque (1299) — the "forest mosque" with 48 cedar columns, a UNESCO site. Inside: half-light and the scent of seven-hundred-year-old timber. 30–40 minutes.

A short stroll along the waterfront and across the old stone regulator bridge, Beyşehir Taş Köprü.

Set off for Konya — an even hour and a half across the steppe.

A detour at the brown road sign: Eflatunpınar — a Hittite sacred spring of the 13th century BC. A monolithic façade of gods stands right in the water, and the water beneath it has been flowing for 3,200 years. Free, always open, 25–30 minutes including the approach.

Check in at the hotel, a breather from the heat.

Mevlana Museum — Rumi's mausoleum beneath the turquoise dome, the heart of Sufi Turkey. Open until 19:00 in summer, entry is free. 1–1.5 hours — just enough before closing.

Dinner: etli ekmek (the metre-long Konya flatbread pizza) and fırın kebab. An evening walk around the illuminated Mevlana Square.

Thursday's gift: on summer Thursdays the rose garden of the Mevlana Museum hosts a free evening sema — whirling dervishes under the open sky, a genuine ceremony rather than a tourist show. The exact time isn't published in advance (usually after sunset) — ask at the museum or your hotel during the day.

Leave Konya heading east on the D300 — an arrow-straight stretch of the old Konya–Aksaray caravan route.

Obruk Han — a Seljuk caravanserai standing on the very rim of a 30-metre karst sinkhole with a turquoise lake at the bottom. 4 km off the highway, half an hour including the stop — a warm-up before the day's main han.

Sultanhanı caravanserai (1229) — the largest Seljuk han in Anatolia. A lace-like carved portal, a covered hall like a cathedral. 45–60 minutes; there's tea up by the entrance.

Turn north onto the D750 along the eastern shore of Tuz Gölü.

Lake Tuz: pull off to the salt mirror. In summer the water retreats — you walk across a crunchy white crust all the way to the horizon, and in late July it's all but guaranteed to glow pink: the microalgae peak precisely in the heat. Flamingos nest on the far southern shore — bring binoculars if you're after the birds. Flip-flops you won't mourn and sunglasses are a must. ~1 hour.

Lunch in Aksaray on the way through (or a snack by the lake) — it's a transit town, no lingering.

Göreme / Uçhisar: check in to a cave hotel. Exhale; pool or shower.

Sunset at Sunset Point (Lover's Hill) above Göreme — first views of the valleys in golden light.

Dinner: testi kebab (pottery kebab — meat in a clay pot smashed open at the table). Two scripts for the evening: the BalonFest programme (the Night Glow usually lands on the weekend — exactly your dates) or a sema in the Saruhan caravanserai of 1249 near Avanos — €25–45 with transfer; book ahead on festival dates.

Wake-up call. Yes, really. This is the day the whole trip was built around.

Dawn balloons at BalonFest: either you're in a basket (book 1–2 months ahead at the very least — festival slots go first), or on the hotel terrace / a Göreme viewpoint with a thermos of coffee — all the festival viewpoints are free. Inflation begins in the half-dark; lift-off comes in waves around sunrise (~05:50). Nights in Göreme run +13–14° even in August — a jumper is non-negotiable. The bonus of these dates: a nearly full moon will be setting over the valleys.

A big hotel breakfast. You're allowed back to bed for an hour — you've earned it.

Göreme Open Air Museum — rock-cut churches of the 10th–12th centuries with frescoes (the Dark Church is a separate ticket, and worth every penny). Arrive at opening, before the heat and the tour groups. 1.5–2 hours.

Uçhisar: the castle rock, the highest point in Cappadocia. A 15-minute climb; every valley laid out at once.

Lunch in Uçhisar with the panorama. Then siesta: in August there's nothing to be done outdoors between 2 and 4 pm.

Pigeon Valley: the wishing-tree viewpoint or an easy walk along the trail between Uçhisar and Göreme.

Love Valley — the famous "mushroom" hoodoos in the sunset light. The best photo spot of the day.

If the festival programme features a Night Glow — glowing balloons set to music. If not: dinner on the terrace under a full moon — you'll see hardly any stars on these dates (full moon on the 30th), but moonlight over the hoodoos is a show all of its own.

Optional bonus: one last balloon dawn — 2 August is BalonFest's closing day. You can watch it straight from the terrace over tea.

Head south via Kaymaklı to Derinkuyu.

Derinkuyu underground city — 8 levels reaching down to ~85 m: stables, wineries, a church, millstone doors. It's +13…15°C inside — bring a jumper. Not one for the claustrophobic. Arrive at opening: on an August Sunday the queues build by noon. 1–1.5 hours.

Drive over to the Ihlara valley along a steppe road beneath the Hasandağ volcano. On the way you can swing by the crater lake Nar — a "heart" with thermal springs (+30–40 minutes, a photo stop from the viewpoint).

Lunch in the village of Belisırma right on the river — the tables stand on platforms over the water.

The Ihlara canyon: descend the staircase (~360 steps) at the main entrance, walk along the Melendiz river beneath the poplars, rock churches with frescoes (Ağaçaltı, Yılanlı). The canyon stays cool even in August. 2–2.5 hours.

Selime Monastery — a giant rock-cut complex, a "cathedral" carved into the tuff. The climb is dusty, but the views over the valley are epic. ~45 minutes. Ten minutes away is Aşıklı Höyük, where people settled down 10,200 years ago (a thousand years before Çatalhöyük); the ticket office closes at 16:30 — you'll only make it if you shortened the canyon hike.

A short hop to Aksaray (30 km); check in.

A quiet dinner and an early night — tomorrow is the longest leg.

Head west on the D300. We take Konya's northern ring road — no detour into the city, the route never repeats itself.

Akşehir — home town of Nasreddin Hodja. A short stop: the Hodja's tomb with its trademark locked door and no walls, the back-to-front donkey monument, tea on the square. 40–50 minutes.

Lunch in Akşehir (or a quick option on the highway). The town is famous for its cherries — in early August you can still catch the late crop.

The final stretch: through Şarkikaraağaç between the lakes, the mountains drawing closer all the time.

Eğirdir: check in on Yeşilada island — a narrow causeway runs to it straight from town. A lake the colour of turquoise, the Barla mountains above the water.

A walk around Yeşilada: stone guesthouse cottages, the Greek church of Ayios Stefanos, fishermen mending their nets. Feeling the heat? Take a dip: in early August the lake sits at ~23°, with swimming from the platforms on the island or off the sandy Altınkum beach just outside town.

Fish dinner on the shore: lake pike-perch or carp, meze, cold ayran. Sunset over the water — the mountains turn violet.

Breakfast on the terrace above the lake, then an unhurried departure via Isparta — capital of the Turkish rose. The harvest season is May–June, so by August the fields are already bare: the roses come in the form of the Rose Museum and shops of rose cosmetics along the way.

The climb from the village of Ağlasun up to Sagalassos — an ancient city at 1,500–1,700 m on the slopes of the Taurus. It's 5–7 degrees cooler at the top.

Sagalassos: the Antonine nymphaeum — a restored Roman fountain with mountain water still flowing through it; a theatre on the edge of the precipice overlooking half the valley; the agora and a library with mosaics. Tourists: a mere handful. 2–2.5 hours.

Lunch in Ağlasun — simple lokantas, home cooking.

Descend to the sea on the D685 via Bucak — the mountains part, the pines appear, and finally: the Mediterranean.

Antalya: finish at Kaleiçi Marina. Drop off the car / park by the old town.

Wash off the road: Mermerli beach — a swim right in the old town, beneath the fortress wall, the water at +28–29°. There's an entry fee, and the ticket booth may close towards evening — don't dawdle. Next door is the mansion-museum Suna & İnan Kıraç (open on Tuesdays, until ~18:00). The Antalya Archaeological Museum is closed for rebuilding in 2026 — don't plan around it.

A farewell stroll: Hadrian's Gate, the Yivli Minaret, down to the old Roman harbour.

Dinner with a view of the cliffs and the sea; catch the sunset from Karaalioğlu Park on the clifftop. The circle is complete. If you have anything left: Tuesday is the typical show day for Fire of Anatolia at Gloria Aspendos Arena by the ancient theatre (~45 min from the city — check the August schedule in advance).