Aksaray

A richly-decorated caravanserai of 1230/40. Access has been closed for years.

It is nowadays a cafe, souvenir shop and filling station. Alay Han another 10 km east is derelict.

An archaeological site with nothing for casual visitors to see. But look out for its artefacts in museums: the finest, the "Pratt Ivories", are now in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art but were probably looted.

It's the ruin of a 10th / 11th century Byzantine church, and the chief building of an ancient village cut into the mountainside. It looks like the village fell on hard times, as the houses were later subdivided, and abandoned in the 14th century. Approach by the road from Akhisar village, which crosses the hills into Ihlara Valley.

The twin-peaked dormant volcano looming southwest of town. The east summit is at 3,069 m and the west at 3,253 m—the prominence is only 1,000 m as it sits on the Anatolian plateau. It arose some 10 million years ago when the African tectonic plate collided with Eurasia: the last eruption was 3000 years ago but as the tectonic plates are still in motion, it's considered dormant not extinct. Access is from the north, along the unsealed road off D750 at Taşpınar through Gözlükuyu to Karkin. A track suitable for 4WD hairpins up from Karkin to the trailhead at Hotel Karbeyaz. The summit ascent is not technically difficult but be prepared for strong cold winds and snow underfoot.

A name applied to dozens of saline lakes in Turkey but in season this is the largest, some 40 km north-south by 20 km east-west. In summer it dries up completely, leaving salt pans and a completely white, flat landscape - effectively a salt desert. You can walk around or even harvest salt with your own hands. Known in ancient times as Tatta (Greek: ἡ Τάττα), it was a freshwater lake which at some point in prehistory had its outlets blocked and the climate became arid, so it evaporated and became hypersaline. In spring and autumn, migratory birds throng its lagoons and salt pans on their route between Europe and Africa. It's best to visit in early summer when there's ankle-deep water to paddle into and view the dreamlike mirror-reflection of the sky and far shore. Access is from various points along D750 towards Ankara.
One area to visit is the distinctly pink southeast pool, wherever you can find a track branching that side of the highway—though, never stop on busy D750. Maybe pass by the turnoff from the town of Şereflikoçhisar, as this track leads to commercial salt pans.
Altuğlar at the junction of D750 and D757 is a good access point for Tuz Gölü especially approaching from Ankara; a rash of souvenir kiosks tells you tourists are expected. Access is free, you can buy overpriced salt and soap but that's better bought in town and comes from the same place. Don't pay for cleaning your feet, just walk straight out to the bus park, where you will find plenty of water for cleaning the buses. Wear good shoes and sunglasses as the glare from the saltpan intensifies the sunlight.

The town is mildly famous for its walnuts regionally, but is otherwise undistinguished.

The wonderful Prince Mikasa Memorial Garden (free entry), a hillside Japanese garden combining all traditional design elements. The perimeter of the garden, which seamlessly morphes into the barren outcrops towering over, is marked by serene Scots pine stands, all in a great contrast with the open fields and the arid steppelands below. Its supposedly unlikely location is due to the excavations conducted by Japanese archaeologists at the Kalehöyük mound next door; the finds are exhibited in an adjacent.

A chain fairground.