The Many Different Faces of Turkey

Turkey is one of our top destinations to visit in the next year for more reasons than we can list in one post.  From the food to the Grand Bazaar all the way to the beautiful beaches on the coasts, there is something that keeps tempting us to book a ticket to Turkey every time we learn more about this great country.
During our research on Turkey's best destinations, we were given this great infographic that highlights some very interesting facts about this country we've heard so much about. Some are mainstream and others completely unique and we couldn't help but want to share. We can assure you, some of these facts will surprise you.  (Photo "Side" by goxi777)

With this great infographic, we couldn't help but isolate a few of our favorite facts to elaborate more than the image lets on.
400,000 Visitors to the Grand Bazaar?!
The number of 400,000 daily visitors to the Grand Bazaar, our #1 future attraction in the whole country, is some what of a surprise to us.  That is like taking the population of our city (Pittsburgh) and putting them in an area the size of our downtown business district.  But then you learn more about the Grand Bazaar and start to understand.  Since the market is nearly 600 years old, it continues to grow.  The statistics are currently at a dizzying 3,000+ shops covering over 60 streets with the expansion showing no signs of stopping. 
With options like that, it would be quite hard to visit them all and even more difficult to pinpoint a particular stall that is worth visiting.  Instead, a better game plan for those wanting to visit the bazaar would be a check list of the types of stores worth seeing.  Our ideal list includes several Turkish mainstays including furniture and rug stalls, spice and tea sellers, and just about anything having to do with Turkish food.  Don't wander too far in this mighty bazaar, because once you come in you may never get out!  (Photo "Every Shop is Identical" by Josh Jones)
How to Pick from 352 Beaches?
Like picking stalls from the Grand Bazaar, picking the best beaches to visit in Turkey is almost impossible.  We've known about these hidden gems for many years, but I can only imagine that some readers may be shocked by this fact.  Turkey, a country famous for its food and inland scenery, is also home to some of the most beautiful beach towns you've likely never heard of before.   Take Alanya, a small beach town that not only has a beach side promenade but comes complete with castle and tower.   Or how about Fethiye, another smaller city that is as famous for its cliff side tomb carvings as it is for its gorgeous beaches and water sports.
In fact, picking out all of the best beaches from the 352 is rather difficult for one blog post, so we can only list the rest.  Those looking for more beautiful beach paradises in Turkey may want to explore Ovabuku, Cirali, and Kaputas just to name a few.  We'd list more, but we don't want to overwhelm the tourism board with a rapid influx of visitors after seeing all the pretty pictures!  (Photo "Boat" by groenmen)
Even More Facts!
The one great thing about infographics that we love is that all of the facts are completely unique compared to what our current knowledge base is about any given topic.  This one in particular about Turkey has had plenty of new facts that had us even amazed about a destination we thought we knew quite a bit about.  It just proves the point that no matter how much you know about a place, there is always something new to pick up at every possible chance.  This is truly the magic of travel.
But it is not post is not all about us and our dreams of visiting Turkey.  What about you?  What information from this infographic surprised you the most?  The size of the Grand Bazaar?  The length of the F1 track?  Comment below and let us know!