Having spent a cumulative 1.5 years of my life in India, I’d have to say that Mandu is my favorite Indian town. That honor previously belonged to Jaisalmer, a place which has since
Located 90 km northeast of Sarajevo, Travnik is one of Bosnia’s most charming small towns. But while its main attractions can be seen in just a couple of hours, Travnik is much more historically important
Prizren, the cultural capital of Ottoman Kosovo during the centuries-long occupation, remains the country’s most atmospheric city. And despite being Kosovo’s second-largest, Prizren is among the best-preserved Ottoman towns in the Balkans. If
The small and unassuming city of Tetovo, less than an hour from North Macedonia’s capital of Skopje, is home to two hidden gems that largely get overlooked by tourists. It doesn’t matter if
Despite being located by Turkey’s borders with Greece and Bulgaria, Edirne maintains a distinctly Ottoman feel. The city functioned as the empire’s capital from 1369 until the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. But
Konya, one of Turkey’s most significant cities from the medieval period, is still steeped in tradition. It was the capital of the Seljuk Empire’s Sultanate of Rum, and ornate buildings from this period
In the late 1990s, residents of the ancient town of Halfeti, situated on the east bank of the Euphrates, found themselves in a dire predicament. The Birecik Dam was set to flood the
With the recent discovery of nearby Göbekli Tepe, the city of Şanlıurfa has been placed firmly on Turkey’s tourism map. But Urfa, as most people call it, is an essential destination in its own right. In
Mardin, with its elegant limestone buildings overlooking the Mesopotamian plains, is arguably Turkey’s most beautiful city. It’s also one of the country’s most historically rich and culturally interesting, with the region being home
Diyarbakır has long been considered a prized possession of the many kingdoms who managed to control it. Due to its strategic location along the Tigris River, it’s been continuously inhabited for thousands of
No visit to Cairo is complete without a walk through Islamic Cairo, the medieval city established by the Fatimids in the 10th century. As you stroll down the district’s narrow alleyways, you’ll encounter