ANKARA - The Turkish State Railways, or TCDD, has announced a program offering three new cards for unlimited travel on certain types of trains during specified time periods.

The "Express Train Tour Card," which costs 150 Turkish Liras, is valid for one month on super-express trains such as Baþkent, Cumhuriyet and Fatih, as well as the blue train, express, regional express, rail bus and normal urban trains.For 500 liras, the "Compartment Train Tour Card" is valid for all trains on the Express Train Tour Card and also allows free rides for three days on train compartments with beds, with everything included.

The "High Speed Train Travel Card," which costs 200 liras for students and 300 liras for all other passengers, is valid for one month on all trains in Turkey, with the exception of sleeper compartments.

A ride from Kapýkule to Kars

There are 42 provinces in Turkey where one can travel by train. The Eskiþehir Express, leaving from Haydarpaþa Station in Istanbul at 7:10 a.m., offers the chance to discover Eskiþehir’s museums of aviation and archeology as well as the Odunpazarý, Kurþunlu and Alaaddin mosques. From Eskiþehir, train routes continue on to Ýzmir, Afyon, Konya, Adana, Ankara, Kayseri, Sivas, Erzurum, Kars, Diyarbakýr, Tatvan and Kurtalan.

Travelers who stop off in Ankara can visit Atatürk’s mausoleum, the Anatolian Civilizations Museum, the Ethnography Museum, Beypazarý and Kýzýlcahamam. From the capital, one can continue on to Zonguldak and Karabük, Adana, Malatya or Kars on the rails. The "Güney," or Van Gölü Express, leaves early in the morning and reaches Kayseri after midday. It is possible to leave for Sivas late in the evening without spending the night in Kayseri. The central city’s sights include the Ulu Mosque, Kale Mosque, Meydan Mosque, the Madrassa with Twin Minarets, Gök Madrassa, the Congress Museum, bridges, Turkish baths and inns. The Erzurum Express leaving from Sivas leads to Erzincan, home to plenty of historical monuments, including artifacts dating back to the Neolithic Age.

The Eastern Express or Erzurum Express may be used to travel to Kars to visit the Ani excavation site 42 kilometers away. Both of the express trains to Kars go back to Sivas, from where Samsun may be reached via the regional express. After visiting the city of Samsun, which was founded in the 7th century B.C., Amasya makes a nice stop on the way back to Sivas.

The provinces that can be visited with the new train cards include Istanbul, Edirne, Eskiþehir, Ankara, Zonguldak, Kayseri, Ýzmir, Manisa, Adana, Mersin, Hatay, Gaziantep, Konya, Diyarbakýr and Mardin

worth a look!