Things to do

What to Do in Gallipoli

An audio guide with commentary and walking directions for visiting 14 key sites where Australians fought and died at Gallipoli can be downloaded free at anzacportal.dva.gov.au.
Gallipoli Battlefields
The battlefields now serve as a national park with bronze and marble monuments that serve as a reminder of one of Turkey’s darkest ages.

ANZAC Commemorative Site
This beachside location is the place for the 25th April ANZAC Day dawn services. It is also the site of the ANZAC monument that is a highly photographed icon of the region.

ANZAC cove
Anzac Cove is renowned for being the landing point of the ANZAC’s (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) during World War l on the 25 April 1915. This cove became the main hub for the Australian and the New Zealand troops during the Battle at Gallipoli.

Lone Pine Australian Memorial
The Lone Pine Australian Memorial serves as a tribute to all identified and unidentified heroes of the Battle of Lone Pine, most of which came from the Australian battalion. One of the fiercest battles in the Gallipoli Campaign occurred at Lone Pine, where the memorial is now located. There are 1,167 services personal buried or commemorated in the cemetery, of which 504 are unidentified.

The Nek
The Nek was a ridgeline where Australian and New Zealand trenches faced Turkish trenches. A tragic battle occurred here in which Australian and New Zealand troops staged an attack on the Turkish trenches, however, the Turks were ready for the attack and many ANZAC’s were killed.

Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a stretch of flat area that served as a warzone during World War I.
A trip to the Brighton Beach will let you in on the sufferings that the Australian forces endured during the war. As with most war sites in Canakkale, Brighton Beach is a memorial to the bravery of the young Australian soldiers that went up against the Commonwealth and French forces.

Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial
The Chunuk Bair New Zealander Memorial stands on the summit of Chunuk Bair in honou of the 5-day Battle of Chunuk Bair during the World War I. It was during the fateful month of August in 1915 that Ottoman soldiers battled it out with New Zealander and British Forces on Gallipoli Peninsula.

Ari Burnu Cemetery
Located at the north end of ANZAC Cove, the cemetery was used during the campaign by the Allied troops to lay their fallen soldiers to rest. Mainly Australian troops, both those fighting and those in supporting roles, were laid here side by side as an indication that they gave their lives equally.
Until 2000, Ari Burnu was the location of the remembrance dawn service on 25 April. As it was the site of this ceremony there is a large stone monument with the words that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk spoke when the first Australian, New Zealand and British visited.

Brighton Beach
During the Battle of Gallipoli this beach was the prime location for the various troops of the Allies side, mostly the ANZAC troops, to use their little and precious free time to swim. Today this beach is one of the only official swimming locations on this Historic Peninsula.

Beach Cemetery
This was the place of rest first used on 25 April for the troops who died during the initial landing. Australian, British, New Zealand and those of other nations were buried here until the day they retreated and evacuated from the region on 20 December.

Johnston’s Jolly
Johnston’s jolly is an Allied Cemetery only a short distance from Lone Pine. Access is via a small road that also marks the area known as ‘no-mans land’ where Turkish and Allied Troops were at a deadlock in the fighting.

Chunuk Bair New Zealand Memorial
Chunnuk Bair commemorates the New Zealand soldiers who fought and fell during the Battle at Gallipoli. The New Zealand troops captured and held the site named Chunuk Bair which is one of the highest points overlooking ANZAC Cove.

The Sphinx
The Sphinx is one of the most prominent landmarks of the Gallipoli Campaign, located directly in front of North Beach in what was the ANZAC Sector. The landmark is named after its resemblance to the Great Sphinx of Giza which would have been seen first-hand by many of the soldiers when they had been stationed in Egypt.

The Turkish 57th Regiment
Constructed in 1992, the 57th Regiment Memorial stands on the lower slopes of Baby 700 hill where conflict took place. The site hosts a symbolic cemetery which commemorates the poignant moment in 20th-century history and the Turks involvement during the First World War. A series of plaques bare the names of soldiers who lost their lives in the battle.

Respect to Mehmetcik Monument
The site portrays a positive message to both sides during the Gallipoli Campaign. A Turkish soldier showed a white flag, and during the ceasefire he picked up and carried a wounded ANZAC member back to his lines before returning to his own. The fighting continued but this act of kindness saved the life of someone who was fighting moments before. The act was commemorated in 1997 with a statue in the form of a Turkish soldier called Mehmetcik carrying the ANZAC troop member.

Quinn’s Post
Quinn's Post, originally a New Zealand machine gun position, the post was taken over by Australian forces on the 26th of April and was repeatedly attacked by the 57th regiment of the Turkish army. Quinn's post became known as the single most dangerous place of the battlefields; it was the most advanced ANZAC post, key to both the Monash and Shrapnel Valley and potential access point to ANZAC's central position. Quinn's post was known among Turkish soldiers as Bomba Sirt (Bomb Ridge). Quinn's Post Quinn's post lies east of Anzac Village, on the eastern side of the peninsula, on the Aegean Sea. The cemetery overlooks the Australian Lone Pine Memorial.

Ancient City of Troy
Many people had the perception that the Ancient City of Troy was no more than a fictional place, the setting of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, until it was unearthed in the 19th century. Troy played a vital role in early Western civilization, having existed for more than 4,000 years, cradled between the continents of Europe and Asia, and now declared a World Heritage Site