Gallipoli and Anzac Cove: visiting the battlefields
Day 3 of every Istanbul start is the Gallipoli peninsula. For Australians and New Zealanders it is often the reason for the trip; for everyone else it is one of the most moving afternoons in Turkey, and the guide's commentary is what makes it.
What happened here
On 25 April 1915 the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed at a small cove on the Aegean side of the peninsula - a mile north of where they were meant to - as part of an Allied attempt to force the Dardanelles and take Constantinople. The campaign lasted eight months. By the evacuation in January 1916 around 130,000 men were dead on both sides, including more than 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders and about 87,000 Ottoman soldiers. The Ottoman commander at the critical moment was a lieutenant colonel named Mustafa Kemal, later Ataturk. The cove was officially named Anzac Cove in 1985.
What you see
We drive down from Istanbul in the morning (about four and a half hours) and spend the afternoon on the battlefields with the guide:
- Anzac Cove and Ariburnu Cemetery, with Ataturk's 1934 words to the mothers of the fallen on the memorial
- Lone Pine, the Australian memorial and the site of the August offensive
- Chunuk Bair, the New Zealand memorial on the ridge the attack was meant to reach
- The Nek, Johnston's Jolly and the preserved Turkish and Allied trenches, a few metres apart
- The 57th Infantry Regiment cemetery, the Turkish memorial to the regiment that stopped the first advance
- The Mehmetcik monument, the Turkish soldier carrying a wounded Allied officer
Night is in Canakkale, across the strait, and the next morning we cross to Troy.
Anzac Day
The dawn service on 25 April is a ticketed event run by the Australian and New Zealand governments; attendance passes are allocated by ballot months in advance and the peninsula is closed to normal traffic that day. If you want to be there for it, tell us when you enquire about a mid-April departure and we will explain what is and is not possible that year. On every other day of the season the sites are quiet and you have time at each.
Tours that include Gallipoli
Istanbul to Fethiye, All Around Turkey, Istanbul to Antalya with 3-Night Gulet Cruise, Istanbul to Fethiye with Gulet Cruise and All Around Turkey with Gulet Cruise.
