A woman enters the Blue Mosque in Istanbul

With one foot in Europe and the other in Asia, Turkey straddles the physical and cultural divide between East and West.

Turkey has major aspirations to join the European Union and its rapid advance towards Westernization is most evident in its fascinating capital Istanbul, where trendy bars and towering skyscrapers jostle for attention alongside traditional tea houses and the minarets of grand mosques.

The beach resorts along Turkey's Aegean coast may be popular year-round holiday destinations for sun-starved Europeans, but strike further east, towards the borders with Syria, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Georgia, and you'll encounter a Turkey barely touched by tourism - a land of snow-capped mountains, medieval ruins, Armenian churches, dramatic castles and Biblical landmarks.

While officially a secular nation, 98% of Turks are Muslim. The country too is home to significant Jewish and Christian landmarks. In Turkey's far east, the snow-capped twin peaks of Mount Ararat are the supposed landing place of Noah's Ark, while on the Aegean coast, the ancient city of Ephesus is believed to be where the Virgin Mary spent her final years. Meanwhile, amid the lunar landscape of the Cappadocia region, rock-hewn cave dwellings make up some of the world's earliest churches.

Survival guide

The best time to visit Turkey is between April and October, with the best overall weather in May and September. Turkey's coast experiences humid summers and mild winters, while inland has sweltering summers and frozen winters. Eastern Turkey is mostly snowed under between December and April.

In Istanbul, pushy street vendors and carpet touts abound, their opening pitch to tourists usually being "Hello can I ask you one question?" or "Where are you from?". If someone offers you free tea in their shop, you can be sure a sales pitch is about to follow.

A firm but friendly "no thanks" usually deters hustlers, although Western female visitors - especially those travelling alone - can have a much harder time shaking unwanted attention and are often propositioned and gawked at. Outside of tourist resorts, women who want to avoid unsolicited attention should dress modestly. A headscarf must be worn by females visiting mosques.

Tourist areas in Turkey have been the target of terrorist attacks in recent years, with Istanbul, the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts as well as the south-east region being hit.

Turkish cuisine is absolutely scrumptious. It's hard not to fall in love with pide (the Turkish version of a pizza), borek (flaky pasty with cheese and parsley), gozleme (pancakes filled with cheese, potato or spinach) meatballs, kebabs and Turkish delights. Unfortunately, many travellers to Turkey develop diarrhoea. Be sure to only eat fruit and vegetables that have been cooked or that you can peel; ie avoid anything that has been washed in tap water. Do not drink the tap water unless it has been chemically disinfected or boiled to billio.

The official language is Turkish and outside the big cities and tourist centres you'll have a hard time finding people who speak English.

The currency is the Turkey lira. The smallest banknote is one million lira, meaning everyone in Turkey is a millionaire!

Turkey has a world-class, ultra-modern bus system that criss-crosses the country and offers an array of on-board services including a steward who pours tea and a porter who handles bags. Transport within a city usually falls to dolmuses - minibuses that will drop you off where you want and are essentially a cross between a bus and a taxi.

Turkey's national airline is Turkish Airlines. Turkey's main international gateway is Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul.