Eskişehir

Last update October 6, 2026

Although it calls itself the “old city”, almost nothing in Eskişehir has an old appearance. The presence of two universities and a population of about 800,000 gives the city a vibrant, young atmosphere that seems more like a typical European university town than a city in the central part of Anatolia. The Porsuk River runs directly through the downtown area and, many years ago, the residents cleaned it up and removed the cars from the streets surrounding it, so that there are now pedestrian walks, cycle paths on either side of the river, and gondolas which take visitors across the water much like a Venetian-style experience in a landlocked setting.

It is the only district in which the word “old” in the name is truly reflected by the presence of Ottoman-period houses in red, blue, and yellow colours, the houses being set along cobbled streets that have managed to survive while the rest of the city has been rebuilt. The Odunpazarı Modern Museum is located right amongst these historic houses and opened in 2019 to display contemporary Turkish art; the contrast between the centuries-old wood and the modern gallery space is greater than it should be. If you want to see meerschaum carving, which is a craft native to the area, visit the nearby Kurşunlu Mosque complex and if odd local establishments appeal to you more than another mosque, make sure you don’t miss the Wax Museum.

The river is the place for the evenings. The road known as Hamam Yolu Caddesi is a pedestrian area filled with parks and links Odunpazarı with the water, and the restaurants and bars on the Porsuk remain cheap because of the constant flow of students as customers. Go to a café by the river, order çibörek at one of the Crimean Tatar restaurants in Odunpazarı and watch the gondolas go by while the tram passes overhead at Köprübaşı, the point where the two parts of the city come together.

Eskişehir can be easily reached by high-speed train—just about ninety minutes from Ankara and three hours from Istanbul, making it a feasible weekend trip rather than a long detour. Spend two days there: one day for Odunpazarı and the museum and another for the river walk, a thermal hammam, and whichever riverside café is worth returning to. Although the city doesn’t overwhelm you with attractions, it does offer a completely different pace from Turkey’s larger cities, one that corresponds to the cost of a college town rather than that of a tourist destination.