Car & Van Hire - Manisa

The oldest settlements in Manisa date back to the 14th century BC. With so many millennia behind it, it's no surprise that Manisa is famous for its historical buildings. During the Ottoman era, sultans used Manisa as a training ground, and examples of Ottoman architecture can be seen all over the city. These include the enormous 16th-century Sultan Mosque, built to honour the mother of Suleiman the Magnificent. The sandstone Muradiye Mosque is home to the Manisa Museum, the ideal place to learn more about this city's remarkable history.

Car rental in Manisa is the best way to explore the richness of the surrounding region. One of the best starting points is Spil Mountain National Park. 24 km from the city, it has a rich ecosystem. In spring, a carpet of tulips transforms the park with brilliant colours, but it is a great place to visit at any time of year. Its hiking trails and hot springs make it ideal for nature lovers. The animals that live here include roe deer, wild goats, bears, foxes and jackals, and you might also spot an eagle soaring overhead. Don't miss the Weeping Rock, a curious rock formation. Ancient legend says that this is all that remains of Niobe, the ancient Greek figure who saw her 14 children killed before she was turned to stone.

With your car or van rental in Manisa, you can explore the remains of several ancient cities. This part of Turkey lies on a tectonic fault line, so many cities have risen and fallen here over the centuries. Sardis, once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, has several old buildings still standing, including one of the largest synagogues in the classical world. Another ancient city, Thyatira, was the home of the legendary Biblical seductress, Jezebel. Philadelphia, a proud Greek settlement once known as "little Athens", still has some Byzantine architecture standing. All three are fascinating destinations for anyone interested in ancient history.

While in the area, be sure to visit Kula Geo-Park. This eerie, volcanic landscape is known as "Burnt Country" for the effects of ash and lava on the ground. Its fairy chimneys – remarkable formations of narrow rock that stretch high in the air – are an intriguing sight. The park also contains a network of caves and canyons for the intrepid explorer to discover.

Traffic generally flows smoothly through Manisa. Some people commute to the much larger nearby city of Izmir, so traffic tends to move in that direction in the morning, returning to Manisa in the evening. Rush hours peak at around 08:00 and 17:30, but jams and queues are not a serious problem here.

You'll find many options for parking around the city of Manisa. On-street parking is available in some areas, but it's usually easier to look for an "Oto Park", the Turkish term for a large, multi-story car park. If you find on-street parking, you will need to carry cash to pay. There are no parking meters. Instead, you must pay your fee to the nearest parking attendant. Usually, one will approach your car as you pull in.

At an Oto Park, cars are jammed very tightly together. This can be intimidating for visitors to Turkey. If you're not confident in your parking skills, don't worry – you can just give your keys to the attendant, and he will take care of it for you.

You will encounter tolls on the road between Manisa and Izmir. In fact, you can take several different routes, but it's hard to escape Turkey's ever-present toll booths! Before setting out, it's essential to ensure your car is fitted with an HGS device. There are a few different types of HGS, but the most common are windscreen stickers with embedded electronic chips. The HGS device is used to pay tolls. Turkey has modernised its highways, so there is no other way to pay. If your car passes a toll booth and does not have an HGS device, you will be charged a substantial fine.

Turkish highways are generally in good condition and do not present any serious complications unless you count the tolls! There is not much snow in this part of Turkey, although it may fall occasionally. You will find a major difference in road conditions if you go off the highways onto smaller country roads. These are not maintained to the same high standards, and you'll commonly find yourself sharing the road with tractors and other slow-moving agricultural vehicles.

When driving in Turkey, do not pull all the way up to the line at a traffic light. The lines are set forward of the lights themselves, so you will not be able to see the colours changing.