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This ancient city clings to the side of a mountain high in the hills inland from Finike, on the Lycian coast of Turkey.
It's known as the 'Turkish Delphi', but one of the great things about Arykanda is that it's right off the beaten track, so you don't get the huge crowds you do in Greece. The ruins and setting are equally beautiful and impressive.
We were lucky enough to go there with an archaeologist, Peter Sommer, who knew the site and truly brought it alive for us. We were on a gulet cruise, visiting ancient cities along the way. I had no idea there were so many ruins in Turkey - and so well preserved! But it was Arykanda that really shone out.
Tourists to Egypt hear much of Akhenaten, the probable father of Tutankhamun, who tried to replace worship of the traditional Egyptian gods with a sort of monotheism devoted to the sun-disk.
Objects from his reign form one of the most spectacular displays in the Cairo Museum but few ever visit his short lived capital city at Tell el-Amarna (which gives its name to the period and the artistic style of the times). Little remains of the city itself (although the setting is highly atmospheric) but the tombs of the king and his courtiers in the cliffs and wadis to the east are among the finest in the country, and mercifully free of marauding tourists – I was the only person at the site the day I visited.
A visit requires several hours and is probably best arranged as part of a stop-over in the nearby city of el-Minya (150 miles south of Cairo) which has several comfortable hotels. A military escort is required to travel through this part of the country although there is no real threat – it’s more like getting the VIP treatment.
Often overlooked in favour of Giza, Saqqara is a far more varied archaeological site, and is much less crowded, both with tourists and the tat-hawkers that tend to go with them.
Here, you get to see the earliest pyramid – the so-called ‘Step Pyramid’, which is still impressive in size and is set in a partly-restored ‘complex’ of buildings. Various other pyramids in more or less romantically-ruinous states are scattered around the site, together with some of the most wonderfully decorated private tombs in Egypt.
With these, though, as with lots of sites in Egypt, it’s almost impossible to say what will be open and what won’t, because that information seems to change rather haphazardly. Get here under your own steam by a taxi from Cairo to make sure you can wander around the many acres of ruins without worrying about getting back on to a coach.
One thing not to miss is the pyramid of Unas – start at his pyramid and then walk down its ‘causeway’, which has private tombs built all around it.
Travelling through the Nile delta from Cairo gives a very different perspective on the country from the usual boat trip down the Nile.
Arriving at Tell Basta, now a suburb of Zagazig) provides an idea of how the ruins across the whole country may once have looked (a true Ozymandias moment). This monumental site (once the home of a huge temple structure dedicated to the cat goddess Bastet) accommodated religious festivals that numbered hundreds of thousands of participants, now it is little more than a field of rubble.
However, if you have been to any of the great temple structures (Luxor, Karnak etc) you will be able to see the layout and structure of the site through the debris. The lack of tourists, combined with the thrill of identifying key elements within the site, as well as coming across the scattered remains of monumental statues, secured this as one of the most unique parts of our Egyptian trip. There is also an interesting cat necropolis on the site.
We took a day trip from Istanbul to Ephesus, the most famous ancient city in Turkey, by flying down in the morning and returning the same day in the evening.
It was a very convenient way of doing it for us as we only had a few days in Istanbul but this is somewhere we really wanted to visit as well.
Ephesus itself is only about 1 hours' drive away from Izmir airport and the flights take about an hour each way. We arranged it through a local tour company and found it very convenient as everything was included from the tour to flights and transfers. It was all very well organized so that we didn't find it too rushed or tiring, just as a very interesting day out.
You can see the day trip we did with them and some others here: www.toursistanbul.com/day-trips.htm
Even though it was just for a day, we found it very worthwhile and the city beautifully preserved.
The ancient cultural remains at Sanxingdui are world famous, being among the most spectacular in the world. Their historical, scientific, cultural and artistic value is immense and still being uncovered.
Two large sacrificial pits discovered from July to September 1986 at Sanxingdui constitute one of the most important archaeological finds of the twentieth century.
You can get there by bus from Chendu's northern bus station. It's a couple of hours and a local bus or taxi from the nearest town.
The National Archaeological museum is the largest museum in Greece. It has collections from all the eras of the Greek civilization from the 6th millennium BC until the late Antiquity. Large collections of sculpture and ceramics from the Geometric Period. The most famous items are the bronze statue of Poseidon, the Mycenaean death Mask of Agamenon, the small marble statue of The Harp player from Keros from the prehistoric Cycladic period, the bronze statue of the Young man from Antikythera, the bronze statue - Boy and Horse from Artemision and many others.
Patission Street 44 Athens
+30 2108217717
odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/eh151.jsp?obj_id=3249
Iona is special. An ancient island of Celtic Christendom, it houses an ancient and still very active abbey, chock full of Celtic and Viking remains. In the graveyard outside Scotland's ancient kings, including Macbeth, rub their bones. The late Labour leader John Smith is also buried there in a simple grave. After you've done the history, check out the beaches, which have pure white sand as fine as icing sugar. Better than the Caribbean.
Take the regular Calmac ferry across from Fionnphort on the west coast of Mull. Website: www.isle-of-iona.com
We sailed along the Lycian coast out of Gocek. It was a truly magical trip - beautiful sea for sailing and swimming, marvellous food, and amazing ancient cities to explore. What could be finer?
We thought Peter Sommer Travels were just super - www.petersommer.com
The archaelogical ruins at Ephesus are simply amazing. Frequently on visiting ancient ruins, all you can see is a small bit of rubble.
However, Ephesus has many buildings including Celsus Library, Roman latrines and an ampitheatre among many other ruins.
There is a very special atmosphere there and on one section of the road, you can see the ancient worn-in tracks of Roman chariot wheels. A carved effigy of Nike the ancient goddess can also be viewed there. The city is inland and it gets incredibly hot there, so bring plenty of sun lotion and water and remember to wear your hat.
Any resorts like Gumbet, Bodrum etc run trips there.
Small fishing town that has one or two hotels, great bakers, butchers and several brilliant tavernas either on the beach or overlooking it.
Bit busy in the centre (though not in a Costa del Sol-type way), quiet places to stay on the edges of the village or inland towards Armeni. Really friendly people that make you more than welcome. Enough to do nearby without having to explore - though amazing archaelogical sites nearby.
www.meltemi-travel.co.uk
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalives
nearest airport is Chania.
nearest port is Souda.
The Roman city of Italica is one of the most important and largest Roman ruins in the whole of Spain. It is a great example of Roman architecture, with intact mosaic work, broad paved streets, and one of the largest ampitheatres (20,000 seater) in the Roman Empire. You can still walk around where the gladiators once walked. Hadrian (he of wall fame) was born here. The site is so large that it may never be completely excavated. It's 9kms north-west of Seville, in the village of Santiponce and is easily reached by local bus. Entrance is free if you take your EU passport, otherwise it's 1.50 euros. Closed on Mondays.
It's easy to miss the Hippodrome, in a sense, because it's the space between buildings. It's well worth paying attention to, though.
The space still retains the long shape of the chariot racing track which was famous in antiquity and was the site of a famous riot. The fans of the racing teams were as obsessed as modern day football fans.
In the centre, the late Roman and Byzantine emperors displayed numerous antiquities hauled to Constantinople from all over the empire, including Egyptian obelisks and the serpent column from the sanctuary of Delphi in Greece, which was set up to commemorate victory over the Persians by the Greeks in 480 BC. Only the column is there now, but it used to support a giant tripod (bowl on three legs) - a fitting symbol to put in the Hippodrome since tripods were, like modern 'cups', the usual prize in athletic games.
The Egyptian obelisk is from Karnak, brought to Constantinople by Theodosius I, and placed on a relief-decorated base. The base shows the imperial court and Hippodrome scenes, and around it is the original ground level of the Hippodrome.
The Hippodrome is between the Blue Mosque and the Museum of Islamic Art. A row of tea shops next to the Blue Mosque looks onto it
About 1 hour outside Dublin and older than the pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, and the lost cities of South America, Newgrange is stunning. Artistic, awe inspiring, and a mathamatical/astronomical marvel - do not leave Ireland without visiting this ancient structure. The construction itself is magnificant and a wonder even in these modern days. Entering into the passageways which were also used as tombs the atmosphere is perfectly dry. There are other passage tombs nearby called Knowth and Dowth.
Probably the best museum in the world for marble sculpture
Patission avenue, Athens
It might just look like a site full of muddy puddles, but it's worth checking out the archaeological dig down by the river. They've explored further down than the impressive remains of a big Roman amphitheatre (a semi circle is still visible) to find signs of much earlier habitation - there are guided tours, best to check when with Tourist information.
Elefsina is ancient Eleusis, home of the so-called the Eleusinian mysteries in honour of Demeter. It is about 25 km (15 miles) into the sprawling suburbs of the city. But you are getting away from the tourists and, if you have some imagination, it makes a memorable change to the crowd-packed Acropolis.
As I said it's about 25 km heading west(ish). It's easy to get there in your own car but there is also plenty of public transport
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