As a bridge between Europe and Asia, the land that is now Turkey—the Anatolian Peninsula—has been influenced by and host to many cultures over the millennia: Greeks and Romans, before them Persians and Assyrians Long before them, many different peoples flourished. We visited ruins from two Bronze Age civilizations that attract many visitors.
Lycians
The Lycian civilization reached its height in the 14th and 15th centuries BC, and thrived all along the Mediterranean coast. It extended to the ridge of the Taurus Mountains. It is also believed that the Lycian government was a democratic federation.
Today, the Lycians are primarily remembered for their tombs. The Lycian society put a great store in death and the afterlife. Carved into the rugged cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the ancient Lycian tombs of the dead overlook villages, towns, canyons and coastlines. Some can even be seen in parks as part of the urban terrain. Within some tombs are surviving sarcophagi.
A number of these sites are paid by ticket but many more modest areas are free and can be found in small towns and out in the rural countryside. The best places to see these tombs are in Patara, Xanthos, Pinara, Olympos, Myra, Tlos, and Phaselis. We stayed in Fethiye which also has their own group of artifacts. We spent a day in Dalyan on a half day boat cruise to see some of the most spectacular tombs. It was well worth the 40-mile drive from Fethiye (See a room with a view for a great place to stay in Fethiye).
Hittites
More is known about the Hittite culture, which flourished between around 1650 and 1200 BC. Due to the Hittites’ dominance in Anatolia, and their interaction with other cultures, cuneiform tablets across the region survive and describe their business and political transactions. One of the tablets is a correspondence between Hittite Queen Puduhepa, and Queen Nefertari of Egypt.
The Hittites were a dominate civilization of their time, well-known to the Egyptians and Israelis. They are mentioned more than a dozen times in the Old Testament. Much of the Hittite empire would be absorbed by the Assyrians.
Ruins of Hattusa, the Hittite capital, are located about 90 miles east of present-day Ankara. Ruins of city walls, gates, temples and palaces date from the 13th Century BC. Admission fees are charged. Artifacts found at Hattusa and other sites may be viewed at Ankara’s Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. If you are visiting the Hittite sites you may want to stay in the capital city Ankara. We stayed in a beautiful historic 16th century inn called the 
Divan Cukurhan. It is right across the street from the castle and the Old Town. The rooms and the food in this inn are sumptuous!