After Dark

Fish, beer and students on Sakarya Caddesi

Kızılay's pedestrian strip — fried anchovies and a cold Efes on a plastic stool, kokoreç at midnight, and the loudest, youngest crowd in the capital.

₺an eveninga term-time Thursday or Friday from 7pm; summer evenings are quieter

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Why do it?

Kızılay is Ankara's crossroads — the metro lines meet under it, the civil servants pour out of it at five, and the students of Hacettepe, Ankara University and Gazi treat it as their living room. Sakarya Caddesi and the lanes around it (Selanik, Bayındır, Tuna) are the pedestrian core: a strip of fish restaurants and beer halls, midye and kokoreç stands, cheap grill houses and pubs stacked two floors deep, where the standard order is a plate of hamsi or a fried fish sandwich, a beer, and a table you'll end up sharing. It is the most democratic square kilometre in a city with a lot of hierarchy in it, and the noise is the point.

The Smileys Take

This is where we send anyone who says Ankara is boring. Go with two or three people, not ten; sit outside if the weather allows; order fish and beer and let the evening happen. The kokoreç at the top of the street is the correct 1am. Don't expect polish or quiet — this is student Ankara at full volume, with the Güvenpark buses grumbling past. Kızılay is safe and very well lit, but pickpockets like crowds anywhere, so keep the phone in the front pocket. Term time matters: in August half the tables are empty. Good news for newcomers under thirty-five, and honestly for everyone else too.

How to do it

Start on Sakarya itself for fish and beer, then drift into Selanik and Bayındır for pubs.
Midye dolma from a cart is the between-drinks snack; kokoreç is the end of the night.
Güvenpark and Kızılay square are your landmarks — every metro and Ankaray line meets here.
Weeknights are locals; weekends bring the suburbs in.