Region
Black Sea Turkey
Go for the coast road and mountain plateaus, not beaches: 3–5 nights based in Trabzon or Amasya, with a car or long bus hops.
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Key facts · Türkiye (Turkey)
- Best months
- May–Jun, Sep
- Currency
- Turkish lira (TRY, ₺)
- Language
- Turkish (Latin script)
- Plugs
- C · F · 230 V
- Time zone
- UTC+3 all year
Rules in force · 5
- Türkiye (Turkey) ↗Check whether your passport is visa-exempt; if it is not, apply only at evisa.gov.tr — lookalike sites charge extra and some sell nothing.
- Türkiye (Turkey) ↗At mosques cover shoulders and knees, take shoes off at the door, and women carry a headscarf; stay out during prayer times.
- Türkiye (Turkey) ↗Taxis must run the taximeter; refuse flat quotes, or book through BiTaksi or Uber so the ride is logged.
- Türkiye (Turkey) ↗Carry lira in small notes for tea, markets, tips and toilets; prices move with inflation, so treat every printed price as dated.
- Türkiye (Turkey) ↗Do not take stones, coins or tiles from ancient sites, and export no antiques without a museum certificate; travellers have been detained at airport customs.
Black Sea Turkey is a green belt along Turkey's north coast: tea terraces, forested mountains, alpine meadows above the treeline, and rain in most months. It is not a beach-and-resort region — the sea is cool and rain falls on 10–20 days a month. Come for the coast road, the monasteries and the high plateaus, and accept that getting between towns takes longer than the map suggests.
Where to sleep
Sleep base
- AmasyaCity guide
Inland, river gorge with rock tombs; Ottoman houses.
Best Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
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Plan the nights
How to split the nights, day-trips and what to do with your bags
Open Plan the nightsClose Plan the nights3 partsNights · Day-trips · Bags
Night sequences
- 3 nights
- Trabzon 3: Sümela one day, Uzungöl or Ayder one day, city and coast the third
- 5 nights
- Trabzon 3 + Amasya 2 by bus or car, flying out of Samsun or Ankara
- 7 nights
- Drive Istanbul–Amasra–Kastamonu–Sinop–Samsun–Trabzon, one night per stop
- The 350 km (217 mi) coast road from Amasra to Sinop is slow on public transport — plan two days with a night in a small town such as İnebolu.The 217 mi (350 km) coast road from Amasra to Sinop is slow on public transport — plan two days with a night in a small town such as İnebolu.
- West-facing towns (Zonguldak, Rize) catch more storms than east-facing ones (Samsun, Sinop).
- Mountain roads above the coast can be difficult or closed in winter.
Day-trips door to door
| To | From | Door-to-door p50 | Last return | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sümela Monastery | Trabzon | min | check | Minibus or tour from Trabzon; the last climb is on foot. Check current opening status and transport before you go. |
| Uzungöl | Trabzon | min | check | Lake village in a valley; check bus times, services thin out in the evening. |
| Ayder | Trabzon | min | check | Long day; better as an overnight in the plateau. Check transport times. |
| Amasra | Kastamonu | min | check | Small Black Sea harbour with a Genoese castle; pairs with Safranbolu. Check bus times. |
Bags between cities
Luggage forwarding between Black Sea towns is not standard; buses carry bags in the hold, so keep a day bag with you and expect to move your own case at every change.
When to go
Months and weather
Open When to goClose When to go2 partsSeasons · Climate
Seasons at a glance
Pick a month to see where to go.
Show all 12 months, country by countryHide the 12-month table
Computed from each country’s own data; hover a country name for the source. Advisory countries are left out.
Climate strip
| Zone | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Sea coastZonguldak to Rize | cool | cool | ok | ok | best | best | best | best | best | ok | ok | cool |
| Mountain plateausKaçkar and inland highlands | cold | cold | cold | cool | ok | best | best | best | ok | cool | cold | cold |
| Inland lowlandsAmasya, Çorum, Tokat | cold | cold | cool | ok | best | best | hot | hot | best | ok | cool | cold |
- Black Sea coast
- Oceanic: warm showery summers around 25–27 °C (77–81 °F) with 10–15 rain days a month; cool wet winters around 6–10 °C (43–50 °F) with 15–20 rain days. Snow is occasional and melts fast.Oceanic: warm showery summers around 77–81 °F (25–27 °C) with 10–15 rain days a month; cool wet winters around 43–50 °F (6–10 °C) with 15–20 rain days. Snow is occasional and melts fast.
- Mountain plateaus
- Colder and much snowier than the coast; alpine meadows and glacier lakes are usually reachable only in the warm months — check access dates.
- Inland lowlands
- Continental: very warm, fairly dry summers and cold snowy winters — different from the coast an hour away.
June to September is the reliable window for the coast and usually the only window for the high plateaus — check access dates. Spring and autumn are mild but wetter; winter is for city trips, not mountain roads.
Getting in and passes
Arrival times and regional passes
Open Getting in and passesClose Getting in and passes1 partGet in
Get in
| From | To | How | p50 | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istanbul (IST or SAW) | Trabzon (TZX) | Domestic flight | check | Daily flights from Istanbul; less often from Ankara or İzmir. Check which Istanbul airport and the duration when booking. |
| Istanbul (IST or SAW) | Samsun (SZF) | Domestic flight | check | Samsun/Çarşamba is the main coastal hub; buses also run several times a day from Istanbul. Check flight times. |
| Ankara (ESB) | Amasya / Çorum | Fly to Ankara, then drive or bus | check | For inland Black Sea cities this is often quicker than a coastal airport. |
| Istanbul | Samsun, Trabzon and coastal towns | Long-distance bus | check | Several buses a day; one a day continues to Batumi in Georgia, where you change for Tbilisi. |
| Georgia (Batumi) | Trabzon | Bus across the border | check | The eastern end of the region connects overland to Georgia. |
Eat and move on
Regional food and where to go next
Open Eat and move onClose Eat and move on2 partsFood · Go next
Regional food
| Dish | Where | Timing / trap |
|---|---|---|
| Hamsi (Black Sea anchovy) | Trabzon, Samsun, Sinop | In season roughly late autumn to winter; grilled, fried or in rice. |
| Kuymak (cornmeal and cheese) | Trabzon and the eastern plateaus | Breakfast dish, served bubbling in a pan. |
| Turkish tea | Rize and the tea terraces | The region grows most of Turkey's tea; glasses are refilled constantly. |
| Pide and pide-style flatbreads | Coastal towns | Cheap lunch staple; pork is rare in Turkey, so ask what the filling is if you avoid beef. |
Go next
Eastern Karadeniz
plannedEast of Trabzon toward Rize and Artvin
Tea hills, Ayder and the Kaçkar mountains.
Central Karadeniz
plannedSamsun and Amasya inland
River gorge, rock tombs and Ottoman houses.
Western Karadeniz
plannedAmasra, Kastamonu, Sinop
The slow, scenic stretch of the coast road.
Marmara
West along the coast toward Istanbul
Where the Black Sea coast hands over to the Marmara region.
Central Anatolia
South over the coastal mountains
Steppe cities such as Ankara and Konya.
Eastern Anatolia
South-east over the mountains
Erzurum, Kars and the far east.
Planning aids
Built from this guide's own data
Open Planning aidsClose Planning aids2 partsIn numbers · Going in…
Region in numbers
- Where to sleep
- 3 bases
- Nights suggested
- 3–7 nights
- Ways in
- 5 listed
- Best months
- Jun (all zones)
Going in…
Pick a month for the weather in each zone of the region, plus the country-wide rating and holidays.
Pick a month.
Deep dive
Photos, reading and every source
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