Mersin Province · Turkey
Where to stay in Mersin
Mersin is a city in Mersin Province, Turkey, home to about 1,041,000 people.
- Best months
- March to May and October
- Nearest airport
- COV42 km · Çukurova International Airport
- Currency
- TRYTurkish lira
- Time zone
- Europe/Istanbul
- Language
- Turkish
About
About Mersin
Mersin is a large city and port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel).
Mersin stands on the flat, fertile Çukurova plain, and was a major port for the Romans, yet thereafter it was a backwater until modern times. Its big break came with the American Civil War of 1861-65, when cotton from the Confederate States was embargoed and Europe suffered a shortage. The plains were quickly turned over to cotton production, harbour facilities were developed, and the railway arrived. Mersin also exported livestock and imported coal. There's not much of a beach and no western tourist scene.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Mersin
See
- Grand Mosque
- St Anthony Catholic Church
- Atatürk House Museum
- Muğdat Mosque
- Museum of Archaeology
- Naval Museum
- Yümüktepe
- Soli
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Mersin
6 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| Aktas Hotel | 0.7 km | |
| Atlıhan Hotel | 0.7 km | |
| Gülnar Oteli | 1.2 km | |
| Noax Hotel | 1.0 km | |
| Nobel Hotel | 0.9 km | |
| The Menord Hotel | 0.7 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Mersin
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Mersin are March to May and October. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 33 °C; December is the wettest, with about 144 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Mersin: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Çukurova International Airport (COV), about 42 km from the city centre in a straight line.
Getting in
Çukurova Airport (COV) 50 km east is the nearest airport, with frequent flights from Istanbul (both IST and SAW), Ankara and Izmir. It opened in 2024 and replaced Adana, which was hemmed in by that city. Mersin railway station is the terminus of a railway from Adana and normally has frequent trains, but the line is suspended until 2026 during construction of a tunnel in Tarsus. Mersin Otogar is the bus station, opened in 2015. Three buses a day are direct from Istanbul, taking 14 hours via Gebze, Izmit, Adapazarı, Niğde and Tarsus.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
COV · Çukurova International Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Mersin
Eat
Tantuni is finely minced fried meat and onion wrap. Haslets are offal such as intestines, lung, liver, kidneys, stomach, brain. They may be chopped into meals or made into soup. Cezerye is a mix of carrots, fig and spices, and sometimes nuts. Kerebic is a dough filled with pistachios and topped with vegetarian cream. Künefe is an Arab-style dessert: oven-baked shredded pastry with salt-free cheese filling in thick syrup. Eating places are scattered downtown, no stand-out.
Drink
Şalgam is a savoury ferment of carrots, bulgur wheat, salt and yeast. Boyan is a licorice drink, becoming uncommon nowadays. Kaynar is hot tea with cinnamon and walnut.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Mersin: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Mersin?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Mersin are March to May and October. August is the warmest month, with average highs of 33 °C; December is the wettest, with about 144 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Mersin?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Çukurova International Airport (COV), about 42 km from the city centre in a straight line.
What currency is used in Mersin?
Turkish lira (TRY).
Nearby
Destinations near Mersin
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.