The Middle East’s first high-speed rail, opened in 1975, is now as sleek and modern as anything in France or Germany.

Historic Ankara, with its youthful population, still isn’t much of a tourist town – and that’s not a bad thing.

beginning with a morning stroll through Ankara Castle and the old town. Fortifications began in the eighth century BC, eventually becoming the castle now perched above the smog and chaos of the city.