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Sümela Monastery clinging to the cliff above the forested Altındere valley
Photo: Rotadefterim / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, resized

Region · 6 destinations · 42 places

Black Sea Türkiye

Green mountains straight out of the sea: tea terraces, wooden villages, high summer pastures and a string of old harbour towns.

The Black Sea coast is Türkiye's rainiest and greenest corner. In the east, the Pontic range rises steeply behind Trabzon and Rize, with the cliff monastery of Sümela, the lake village of Uzungöl, and the yayla pastures of Ayder and the Kaçkar mountains, where families still move their animals up for the summer. Further east, Artvin's forests run up to the Georgian border.

The western half is gentler: the Ottoman timber town of Safranbolu, the little harbour of Amasra and the canyons of the Küre mountains. In between, Samsun, Sinop and Ordu are working coastal cities with a few strong sights. Distances are long and the coast road is fast, but the valleys that make the region special are reached on slow, winding roads.

Trabzon Rize Artvin Safranbolu Samsun & Sinop Kerpe & Akçakoca

Destinations

Is the Black Sea coast of Turkey worth visiting?

Yes, if you want mountains, forests and village life rather than a beach holiday. Sümela, Uzungöl and the Ayder–Fırtına valley area are the highlights in the east; Safranbolu is one of the best-preserved Ottoman towns anywhere.

It suits walkers, nature lovers and road-trippers. Expect rain and cloud at any time of year, simple food built around anchovies, corn bread and dairy, and busy domestic tourism in July and August.

Best for
Hikers, nature and village-life lovers, road-trippers, travellers who have already seen the south coast.
How long
Four to six days for Trabzon, Uzungöl, Rize and Ayder; add two days for Artvin, and two more for Safranbolu and Amasra in the west.
Getting there
Fly to Trabzon, Rize–Artvin or Samsun from Istanbul or Ankara; long-distance buses follow the coast road. A hire car makes the valleys and yaylas much easier. General directions, not checked against timetables.

Best time to go Jun–Sep (mountains) · May–Oct (coast)

The high pastures and Kaçkar trails open from about June to September; late spring and early autumn are greener and quieter than the peak domestic season. Autumn colours in the forests peak around October. Winters are wet on the coast and snowy in the mountains.

Also worth a look

  • Pokut and Sal plateaus Rize — High summer pastures above Çamlıhemşin, reached by track or on foot from Ayder's side.
  • Palovit Waterfall Rize — A waterfall in a side valley of the upper Fırtına river.
  • Anzer plateau Rize — A flower-covered highland near İkizdere, known for its honey.
  • Borçka Karagöl Artvin — A forest lake nature park near Borçka, separate from Karagöl-Sahara.
  • Çal Cave Trabzon — A long cave with an underground stream in Düzköy, south-west of Trabzon.
  • Giresun Island Giresun — The only sizeable island on Türkiye's Black Sea coast, off the town of Giresun.
  • Cape Jason Ordu — A headland with a small chapel west of Ordu, linked to the Argonaut legend.
  • Hamsilos Bay Sinop — A narrow, fjord-like bay north-west of Sinop.

Not checked in detail yet: no ticket, hours or opening information for these places on turkeyroutes.

All places in Black Sea

Trabzon

Rize & Ayder

Artvin

Safranbolu & Amasra

Samsun, Sinop & Ordu

Kerpe, Kefken & Akçakoca

Ticket = foreign-visitor price from the operator's own page; “Not verified” means we could not confirm it there.

Also in this area

Caves & waterfalls

Hidden gems

Viewpoints

Adventure

Operator, status and season for each cave and waterfall are on its page — only where a public page states them. Adventure pages give only what the authorities' own texts say.

Camping & bungalows in this region

168 private places on our camping map — 140 bungalows, 24 campsites, 1 tree house, 3 caravan parks. 21 nature or national parks with a camp area and 5 Ministry-licensed campsites.

Camping in Black Sea →Wild-camping rules

Practical

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Independent guide, not affiliated with any government body. Region texts are our own; ticket prices, hours and closing days on the place pages come only from the operators' pages.