Acemoğlu Karting Park

In Kahramanmaraş, in south-eastern Anatolia, Acemoğlu Karting Park offers an open-air track for taking up karting or stringing laps together with friends. The outdoor layout, set beside the city's eastern ring road, is driven in the open air once the warm weather arrives, in a region whose climate suits outdoor activities for a good part of the year. It is a leisure venue, built for families and for groups after a bit of a thrill alike.

Karting remains one of the most direct ways to taste racing with no licence or prior experience: you settle in, take the briefing, and head off to find your best line lap after lap. To check opening times, current prices and the karts available by age, the safest bet is to call the track before setting out, as the activity is often shaped by the season and how busy it is. People come to unwind, challenge their friends and leave keen to better their lap time.

Kahramanmaraş is famous across Turkey for its traditional ice cream, the well-known dondurma maraş, stretched and cut with a knife, as well as for its pistachios and its hearty cooking. The old covered bazaar, where copper and leather are still worked, and the hilltop castle that overlooks the city are worth the detour. All around, the Taurus mountains bring cool air in summer, and nearby Mount Ahır hosts a ski resort once winter comes. The city is reached by motorway and by air from Istanbul or Ankara, which makes it an easy stop for discovering south-eastern Anatolia between races.