Troy

Troy is not one city but at least nine, built on top of each other on the low mound of Hisarlik from the Early Bronze Age to Roman times, and the site is a lesson in reading layers rather than admiring buildings. A marked walkway runs past sloping stone ramparts, the paved ramp of an early settlement, the eastern gate and tower, a small Roman theatre, and the deep trench Heinrich Schliemann drove straight through the middle in the 1870s, destroying a good deal in his hurry to reach the bottom. Colour-coded signs tell you which Troy you are standing in. A modern wooden horse stands at the entrance, and the purpose-built museum along the road holds the finds. UNESCO listed the site in 1998.

What you actually see

• The sloping ramparts - the battered stone walls of the Bronze Age citadel.
• Schliemann's trench - the cut through the mound with layers exposed in section.
• The eastern gate - the paved entrance and tower of the later citadel.
• The Troy Museum - the finds and the excavation story, along the access road.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the mound is exposed and hot in high summer, and winter here is wet and windy off the strait. Mornings avoid the coach groups arriving from Canakkale and Istanbul. Allow two hours on the mound and a further hour or two in the museum.

Honest expectations

Many visitors leave flat. This is low walls, trenches and grass, not a city, and without a guide or the audio guide the layers are genuinely confusing. The wooden horse at the gate is a modern prop. There is no shade. The museum is arguably the better half of the visit, so do not skip it to save time.

Nearby

Canakkale town, the Assos ruins down the coast and the Kaz mountains inland.