Harran Ruins
Harran Ruins
4
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Plan your visit
The area
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
2 within 3 miles
Attractions
6 within 6 miles
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
142 reviews
Excellent
64
Very good
39
Average
21
Poor
8
Terrible
10
Sinéad Butler
32 contributions
Mar 2024 • Solo
This is not so much a review of Harran - which you can easily visit yourself, on foot, in an hour - as it is of the "guide" (who introduced himself as an archaeologist) who offered his services when I got off the public bus from Sanliurfa, for the outrageous price of $50 for one hour "and if you are happy you may give me a tip" (which was the red flag that really should have had me walking away). Because I had no idea of the layout or distances involved, and he had a car, I agreed. He drove a couple of hundred metres into the ruins of the old city and spent more time looking at his phone than he did explaining things to me in poor English. When we got to the conical dwellings, he said he'd show me around then give me a few minutes to explore and take photos. At this point his phone rang and instead of saying he'd ring the person back while I was exploring, got involved in a lengthy conversation which I eventually interrupted with "Do you expect me to pay you for time spent on the phone?" He said he'd give me extra time to make up for it but I was furious at his utterly unprofessional conduct coupled with overpricing. Bottom line: the ancient city and conical dwellings are very close to the bus stop. You do not need a guide, especially not this chancer.
Written 1 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
FiKidd
Haddington, UK68 contributions
May 2021 • Couples
Sadly we felt coerced from the minute we arrived in Harran. We have a large overlander that stands out, and it was our own fault for following the locals who harangued us into following them, but the price charged for the guided tour we hadn’t asked for or wanted was extortionate. We’ve had nothing but positive meetings in our 7 weeks in Turkey and it’s people and want to make sure no one else has this negative experience.
Written 2 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Torasan
39 contributions
Sept 2021
As soon as you arrive to Harran, usually a guy will approach you wanting to be your guide. Be careful, at end of tour, he will demand outrageous fee. He will even drive you to ATM if you say you don’t have any more money. Harran is predominately Arabic. I get the feeling of greedy money hungry culture here, different from Urfa, Mardin or Antep. Harran is very easy to tour yourself. Sights are castle, mosque ruin, beehive houses. For 1 hour of tour, guide will demand 400 to 500TB. So just stay away from them.
Written 19 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
島田裕夏
3 contributions
Apr 2021 • Family
People are very bad here.
I traveled all over Turkey.
But it was the worst places for me.
The guide charges a high amount of money. Children hear 1 tl 1 tl.
"I have no money. "
I said.
, "CORONA virus" They said.
The location is great, but unfortunate.
I think some one give educate them.
I traveled all over Turkey.
But it was the worst places for me.
The guide charges a high amount of money. Children hear 1 tl 1 tl.
"I have no money. "
I said.
, "CORONA virus" They said.
The location is great, but unfortunate.
I think some one give educate them.
Written 10 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nrdevelopment
Warsaw, Poland31 contributions
Apr 2012 • Couples
Arranged day tour of area east of Sanliurfa with brilliant guide, Mustafa of Ugur hotel and his new VW minibus. It took 10hours and we saw amazing sites- one of our best days in 2 months of travel in Turkey. The area is less developed and you will not find many of the sites on your own.
A photo shows the trail-the items to South East Urfa are seen and then around to Gobekle Tepe(super brilliant!). The visit included Harran, caves, prophets and moses stick, sun and moon ancient observatory, amazing Gobekle tepe the oldest human structure on the planet, and lots of rural scenes and lambs.
NOTE new Sanliurfa airport is 50kms (100TL by taxi) not 6kms for the old one- as in my slightly old guide book. Doh!
A photo shows the trail-the items to South East Urfa are seen and then around to Gobekle Tepe(super brilliant!). The visit included Harran, caves, prophets and moses stick, sun and moon ancient observatory, amazing Gobekle tepe the oldest human structure on the planet, and lots of rural scenes and lambs.
NOTE new Sanliurfa airport is 50kms (100TL by taxi) not 6kms for the old one- as in my slightly old guide book. Doh!
Written 5 May 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AndPancho
Brisbane, Australia1,445 contributions
Oct 2018 • Couples
Visited in October 2018.
The actual beehive houses that are accessible to tourists are little more than souvenier shops. Yes, they are old, but they are crammed full of merchandise for sale.
Beware of the 'tour guides' at the main intersection in town who will swarm your car wanting to sell their overpriced wares. We fell for the sales pitch but within 10 minutes when it became obvious that we wouldnt be swayed to pay extra for a full day (instead of one hour) tour, our guide disappeared but not before demanding a tip - we did not give him one. Walking around the beehive houses and virtually anywhere near the tourist sites in town you are swarmed with very persistent children demanding money. There were even women yelling from windows asking for money.
An overall very unpleasant experience.
The actual beehive houses that are accessible to tourists are little more than souvenier shops. Yes, they are old, but they are crammed full of merchandise for sale.
Beware of the 'tour guides' at the main intersection in town who will swarm your car wanting to sell their overpriced wares. We fell for the sales pitch but within 10 minutes when it became obvious that we wouldnt be swayed to pay extra for a full day (instead of one hour) tour, our guide disappeared but not before demanding a tip - we did not give him one. Walking around the beehive houses and virtually anywhere near the tourist sites in town you are swarmed with very persistent children demanding money. There were even women yelling from windows asking for money.
An overall very unpleasant experience.
Written 31 January 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Süha G
Istanbul, Türkiye77 contributions
May 2017
Harran Ruins are genuine culture items of world history no doubt.
However the area of university and even town itself is quite neglected. Only few of beehive houses are remaining and they are converted into "culture houses" which you may have to pay.
ATTENTION: Keep away from unofficial local guides!!! They approach you as soon as you enter the town and offer guidance immediately. Do not accept their offer! Later they take you to culture house and try to sell you thing and later charge you like a crazy for their service. Make your own tour!
Apart from that, the ambiance and lifestyle is amazing there. The shape of the houses, the world's first university remainings.. do not miss it! Harran is a place you should see before you die.
However the area of university and even town itself is quite neglected. Only few of beehive houses are remaining and they are converted into "culture houses" which you may have to pay.
ATTENTION: Keep away from unofficial local guides!!! They approach you as soon as you enter the town and offer guidance immediately. Do not accept their offer! Later they take you to culture house and try to sell you thing and later charge you like a crazy for their service. Make your own tour!
Apart from that, the ambiance and lifestyle is amazing there. The shape of the houses, the world's first university remainings.. do not miss it! Harran is a place you should see before you die.
Written 11 June 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Donna Y
Little Rock, AR25 contributions
Apr 2015 • Friends
We visited Globekli Tepe, Harran, and Sanliurfa Turkey in April 2015. Globekli Tepe had been a "must see" for me and it did not disappoint. I recommend that you consider a professional guide. Our guide, Onur Erturk, is an archaeologist and his knowledge added a great deal to our experience and understanding. He speaks excellent English. He blended in little extra things, like having the driver let us out at the Euphrates River, so we could cross the bridge and walk into Mesopotamia. Because of his knowledge of the area, we felt safe at all times. Globekli Tepe, Harran and Sanliurfa were once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We strongly recommend Onur Erturk. www.rehberonur.com He made a wonderful adventure even better.
Written 19 April 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AussieRans
Leura, Australia11 contributions
Jan 2015 • Solo
I caught a mini bus from the Urfa Otogar (6TL) to Harran (it took about an hour) and back and wandered around on my own. I got slightly harassed by teenage kids at the archaeological site, but such is life when you're a solo female traveller.
In the end one a guy gave me a free guided tour to practice his English and tourism skills. It was worthwhile to have a guide to make sense of it all. The Beehive houses were intriguing. The castle has layers of history (each level is from a different era). There is a really grounded energy in Harran which gives the place a nice vibe - as do the camels, goats, horses, chickens and turkeys wandering around. I definitely think it's worth a day trip.
In the end one a guy gave me a free guided tour to practice his English and tourism skills. It was worthwhile to have a guide to make sense of it all. The Beehive houses were intriguing. The castle has layers of history (each level is from a different era). There is a really grounded energy in Harran which gives the place a nice vibe - as do the camels, goats, horses, chickens and turkeys wandering around. I definitely think it's worth a day trip.
Written 30 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fethi F
Antalya, Türkiye64 contributions
Oct 2014 • Couples
You dont need a tourguide. Walk around and read aloud. very easy to find ruins and understand them. Guides tell you they ll protect you from kids asking money, dont worry kids wont hurt you.
There are coffee shops outside, dont drink there, a big time rip off.
There are coffee shops outside, dont drink there, a big time rip off.
Written 8 October 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Can you tell me if any of the sites of Harlan are closed on Mondays.
My time is very limited and it is the only day I can visit, otherwise I have managed to avoid all other “ closed Monday” sites in Turkey.
Thank you
Written 20 May 2019
Sites in the town of Harran such as the Castle (no entry possible - see from outside only), the city walls, the university ruins, are all open all the time. Not sure about the hours for 'beehive houses' which are open for tourists. There are beehive houses that you could see from the outside near the castle. Just be aware that the begging from the locals around here can be fairly aggressive.
Written 20 May 2019
Showing results 1-1 of 1
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing