Gallipoli

By car

The national park which is home to battlefields lies close to main Istanbul-Çanakkale road numbered D-550/E87/E90.

Driving from Istanbul involves passing Eastern Thrace European Turkey from its eastern extremity to its southwestern one, mostly closely following Marmara Sea coastline. Here’s a quick description of the route: First you should take D-100 or O-3/E80 motorway/toll-road to west, generally signed as the direction to ‘Edirne’ in or near Istanbul. Quit the motorway if you are already on that in Kınalı exit follow ‘Tekirdağ’ signs to D-100, and in the major intersection you’ll soon arrive, take straight road D-110/E84, again follow ‘Tekirdağ’ signs. Within one and a half to two hours after you left Istanbul, you’ll reach Tekirdağ, the first major city on your route. Note that the blue signs to right ‘Malkara’/’Keşan’ immediately after you enter Tekirdağ will direct you to the ring road, which draws an arch around the city. If you plan to have a meal in this lovely coastal city, you should follow the white ‘Şehir Merkezi’ sign in order to drive through the city. You can find some decent restaurants near the harbour there are traffic lights nearby. However, with the recent constructions, the ring road has been completely upgraded to motorway standards, so if you are short on time, follow those 'Malkara'/'Keşan' signs. After you left Tekirdağ behind, you’ll pass by Malkara and soon Keşan, in about one hour. In the major crossroad in Keşan, turn left D-550/E87/E90, follow ‘Gelibolu’/’Çanakkale’ signs. You’ll drive through a mountain pass surrounded by some nice pine woods slow down around here, as some of the curves are unexpectedly and unforeseenly stiff, and in about 45 minutes after you left Keşan, you’ll pass by Gelibolu town: Although a nice town in itself, this is not where you are heading off to, but rather the town which gave its name to the whole peninsula. In about half an hour after Gelibolu town, you’ll see road signs for the national park Milli Park towards right, before reaching Eceabat, which is a few kilometres away. Soon, you’ll arrive to the battlefields. Total dinstance is about 340 km. Expect to drive for at least 4 hours, breaks discluded.

From Çanakkale, you should take the ferry to Kilitbahir or Eceabat, and from there on turn left or right according to which exact battlefield you want to visit, although both directions can take you to any field within the park. The road towards left lying along the Strait is more scenic but windy and less well-kept, so it usually takes longer than the right one lying a little more inland. Note that turning right from the ferry jetty will not directly take you to the park, because that road actually the main road to Istanbul. After leaving Eceabat a few kilometres behind, you should quit that road by turning left towards the park.