Troy (Canakkale)

About — Troy (Canakkale)

Troy is the archaeological site linked to Homer's Iliad and listed by UNESCO, on the Dardanelles about 30 km south of Canakkale city centre. The drive from Istanbul takes around 5 hours, so most visitors spend a night in Canakkale, where hotels and restaurants line the seafront. The site and the museum together need about three hours.

The ruins contain nine main layers of settlement built one on top of another over thousands of years, and information boards help you tell the cities apart. Highlights include the stone ramp of Troy II, the sloping defensive walls of Troy VI and a small Roman odeon. The replica Trojan Horse at the entrance is a favourite photo stop, and children can climb inside it. The modern Troy Museum in nearby Tevfikiye village displays finds from the excavations, including gold jewellery. Back in Canakkale, the wooden horse used in a Hollywood film stands on the waterfront.

Family tips: the site has little shade, so bring hats, water and sun cream, and avoid the midday heat in summer. Paths are uneven and not ideal for pushchairs. Halal food is easy to find in Canakkale; try the local cheese dessert, peynir helvasi, and fresh fish. There are mosques in Canakkale and the nearby villages. A private vehicle or guided tour is the practical way to reach the site, and Troy is easily combined with the Gallipoli battlefields in two days on our Gallipoli & Troy Tour, or seen as part of our multi-city packages.