12 Places to Visit in Ankara on a Zero Budget.

You do not need a ticket for most of Ankara's most impressive places. This list arranges twelve free spots in roughly walkable order; for museums you need a museum pass, for parks only your time.

1. Anıtkabir. Mausoleum, plaza and museum are entirely free. Come at nine and watch the changing of the guard on the hour.

2. Ankara Citadel. The walls and inner citadel are open ground with no ticket office. The bastions on the Şark Tower side give the widest view.

3. Hacı Bayram Veli Mosque and the Temple of Augustus. An Ottoman tomb and a two-thousand-year-old Roman inscription in one courtyard. Headscarves are lent to women at the entrance.

4. Julian's Column. In the middle of Hükümet Square; a five-minute stop, usually with a stork nest on top.

5. Aslanhane Mosque. Wooden-columned, dated 1290 and on the UNESCO list. Enter quietly outside prayer times.

6. Suluhan. Tea in the courtyard of a five-hundred-year-old han counts as free; browse the shops as you like.

7. Hamamönü. Restored lanes, bay-windowed houses and the courtyard of the Taceddin lodge. You can wander for hours without sitting in a cafe.

8. Gençlik Park. Pool, fountains and paths are free; the funfair charges separately.

9. Ziraat Bank Museum. Turkey's first banking museum in Mongeri's stained-glass hall; no charge, they may ask for ID.

10. MTA Natural History Museum. Replica dinosaurs, minerals and the Maraş elephant in Çukurambar, with free parking too.

11. Kuğulu Park and Seğmenler Park. Çankaya's two green rooms; the first for swans, the second for the amphitheatre and shade.

12. Lake Eymir. Free on foot or by bike; an 8-km loop, a rowing club and birds in the reeds. EGO bus 190 runs from Kızılay.

Keep a reserve list too; Estergon Castle (Keçiören, free 10:00–22:00), Göksu Park (Eryaman, by metro), the Atatürk Forest Farm (picnics and the Atatürk House), the boardwalks of Mogan Park and pedestrian entry to Soğuksu National Park in Kızılcahamam.

A small note on museums. The Anatolian Civilizations, Ethnography, Roman Baths, War of Independence and Republic museums are free with the museum pass; the annual card for Turkish citizens covers all state museums in Ankara and is sold at the first museum's desk. For foreign visitors the Museum Pass Türkiye does the same job. Private or National Palaces museums such as Erimtan, Çengelhan and Ankara Palas charge separately but offer student and senior discounts.

A last tip from us. Ankara's free views are at their best in morning and evening light. Sunrise for the citadel, late afternoon for Anıtkabir, sunset for Kuğulu Park; you can fit all three into one day and come home with the city's best photographs without spending a lira.