Things to do in Gümüşhane
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Gümüşhane
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months, cave open, yaylas green, high trails accessible and July crowds absent.
Peak domestic season and festival season, warmest and busiest, book bungalows ahead.
Ski season at Zigana, cold and quiet in the city, Karaca Cave may be closed.
Shoulder month to skip, rain in valleys and first snow up high.
What's on
- Kuşburnu Pestil Culture and Tourism Festival July
The city signature festival for rosehip and pestil, with tastings and folk performance.
- Santa Festivities July
Horon and kemence festivities at the Santa settlement itself, per the official festival list.
- Taşköprü Culture and Plateau Festival July
A plateau festival of horon dancing, market days and village reunions.
- Kazıkbeli Yayla Şenliği July
Plateau festival above Kurtun with kemence and horon, dates announced locally each year.
Best things to do in Gümüşhane
Karaca Mağarası
A compact dripstone cave near Torul with an exceptional density of pristine formations in about 105 metres.
Santa Harabeleri
A Pontic Greek mining ghost town of seven neighbourhoods, empty since 1923, dissolving into a green valley.
Süleymaniye Mahallesi
The original silver city quarter of stone konaks, mosques and churches above the modern centre.
İkizevler Kent Müzesi
A small ethnography museum in twin historic houses that makes the old quarter read as a lived city.
İmera Manastırı
A largely intact 19th century Greek monastery church with a Gothic inflected facade in a farming village.
Krom Vadisi
A high mining valley of ruined churches, stone villages and bridges on the old Greek mining routes.
Torul Kalesi Cam Seyir Terası
A glass floored terrace on Torul Castle rock with the Harsit valley far below, pairing well with Karaca Cave.
Çakırkaya Manastırı
A monastery built against a steep rock face near Siran, visited for atmosphere, stone and the climb.
Where to stay in Gümüşhane
City centre, Karaer and Atatürk Caddesi
first visit, all round base
Walk to lokantas, pestil shops and the bus station, with Karaca and Suleymaniye minutes away.
Harşit valley edge
drivers, families, winter
Space, parking and pools at the Ramada, a short taxi ride from the centre.
Zigana and Limni Lake
ski season and summer mountains
Cool high air, the lake and the piste at the door, about 45 minutes from the city.
Torul
Karaca Cave stopover
Handy for the cave and glass terrace and for breaking the Trabzon drive.
Think twice about
- Unheated yayla and village houses in winter
Pass roads are snow covered for months and can close. Base in the city or at Zigana in winter.
- Highway outskirts apart listings without a car
Nothing is walkable between districts. You will be stranded without wheels.
Best restaurants in Gümüşhane
Ataç Konağı
The city best table, famous for Ardasa siron kebabi in a restored konak dining room.
Divan Sofrası 29
A highly rated local dining room for grills, pide and home style dishes, reliable for groups.
Ramada by Wyndham Gümüşhane
The broadest menu in town with a bar, in the city chain hotel, an easy winter dinner default.
Sevenin Yeri
A half century family restaurant for pide, lahmacun and grills, where the city itself eats most.
Lale Lokantası
A tradesmen lokanta open from dawn for stews, soups, doner and home cooking at working prices.
YaBa Mantı
A small family specialist in manti dumplings with yoghurt and butter, plus sarma and gozleme.
Beylerbeyi Çorba
The centre soup house for lentil, tripe and trotter soups, the cheapest hot meal in the city.
Gümüş Pestil Köme Merkez Showroom
A flagship shop for pestil fruit leather and walnut kome, the signature tastes of Gumushane.
Best coffee in Gümüşhane
Bayramefendi Osmanlı Kahvecisi Gümüşhane
An Ottoman style coffeehouse for Turkish, dibek and menengic coffee on the main street.
Outdoor things to do in Gümüşhane
Zigana Kayak Merkezi
A small friendly ski centre at the historic Zigana Pass, with a December to April season for beginners and families.
Limni Gölü Tabiat Parkı
A pine fringed mountain lake with picnic areas, a cafe and bungalows, calmest on weekday mornings.
Artabel Gölleri Tabiat Parkı
A high nature park of glacial lakes and alpine peaks, the serious trekking excursion of the province.
Tomara Şelalesi Tabiat Parkı
A wide waterfall fed by dozens of springs at the foot of a mountain, best in late spring and early summer.
Örümcek Ormanları
A protected old growth forest holding giant firs and spruces, walked among streams and dense canopy.
Çağlayandibi Şelalesi Tabiat Parkı
A forest waterfall nature park that rounds out the Kurtun day after the Spider Forest giants.
Kazıkbeli Yaylası
A historic summer plateau settlement famous for its July festival of kemence music and horon dancing.
Best hotels in Gümüşhane
Ramada by Wyndham Gümüşhane
The best hotel in the city, a modern chain property with pools, hammam, restaurant and bar.
Ataç Konağı
A restored konak boutique hotel above the centre, with the city best known restaurant downstairs.
Çimenler Otel
A solid long running local hotel with a restaurant and parking, used by drivers and business travellers.
Zigana Gümüşkayak Yaylakent Hotel
The ski centre hotel at the top of Zigana, with rooms and bungalows by the piste and summer pastures.
Atalay Otel
A plain central budget hotel on Ataturk Caddesi, a bed in the right place at a thrifty price.
Grand Yeniçeri Otel
A modern local hotel praised for comfortable rooms and friendly staff, a step up from the cheapest beds.
Limni Gölü Bungalow
Simple wooden bungalows in the pines by Limni Lake, with the lake to yourself after day visitors leave.
Is Gümüşhane expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TRY 1,800 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TRY 4,500 a person |
| Splurge | TRY 12,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Zigana Kayak Merkezi: a few days ahead
- Artabel Gölleri Tabiat Parkı: a few days ahead
- Ramada by Wyndham Gümüşhane: a few days ahead
- Ataç Konağı: a few days ahead
- Zigana Gümüşkayak Yaylakent Hotel: a few days ahead
- Limni Gölü Bungalow: weeks ahead
- Ataç Konağı: a few days ahead
- Book Limni bungalows and the Zigana ski hotel ahead for July, August and ski weekends.
- Check Karaca Cave is open before a winter trip, as its season can open late in spring.
- Arrange a Santa or Artabel driver a day or two ahead through your hotel.
Is Gümüşhane safe?
- Mountain risks are the real risks here, including winter roads and avalanche terrain off piste at Zigana.
- Avoid political gatherings and commentary, as criticism of the government can lead to arrest anywhere in Turkey.
- Emergency number 112.
Gümüşhane travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Taste pestil and kome in two or three shops and compare walnut ratio and freshness before buying.
- Karaca Cave is 105 rich metres, not a vast system, despite world richest marketing lines.
- Visit Limni Lake on a weekday, as July Sundays are crowded with upselling.
Getting around Gümüşhane: public transport and more
- Fly to Trabzon and take the highway bus through the Zigana tunnels, about 1.5 to 2 hours.
- Rent a car in Trabzon for Santa, Krom, Orumcek and Artabel, or hire a taxi by the day in the city.
- Download offline maps, as signal drops in the mountain valleys.
Who Gümüşhane suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Gümüşhane your trip
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