Things to do in Trabzon
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Trabzon
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Greenest valleys, full waterfalls, yayla roads opening and fewer crowds than high summer.
Warmest and relatively driest, best for high yaylas, but peak Gulf season crowds and prices.
Warm sea, plateaus still reachable, crowds gone and prices falling, with rain climbing late in the month.
Shoulder months. April is cool and uneven, October is among the wettest and best for city and food.
Very wet and grey on the coast and snow on the yaylas. Best only for anchovy season and the cheapest city rates.
What's on
- Dormition Liturgy at Sumela Monastery 15 August
Annual Orthodox service at Sumela in years when official permission is granted. Check arrangements for your year.
- Trabzon Half Marathon late February
Established coastal road race with shorter distances alongside the half marathon.
- Hidirnebi Yayla Festival July, dates set locally
Highland festival above Akcaabat with horon dancing, kemenche music and yayla food.
- Kadirga Festival third Friday of July
Major Black Sea yayla gathering on Kadirga Plateau on the Trabzon and Gumushane border.
Best things to do in Trabzon
Trabzon Hagia Sophia Mosque
The citys finest building, a 13th century Byzantine church and working mosque in gardens above the sea.
Ataturk Kosku
White 1890 villa in pine gardens where Ataturk stayed, kept as a period house museum above the coast.
Trabzon Castle
Walls and old town streets on a ridge between two ravines, the best free history walk in the city.
Boztepe Observation Deck
Terrace and tea gardens above the centre with the definitive panorama over Meydan, port and coast.
Trabzon Meydan
The living central square, ringed by cafes and shopping streets, and the citys evening base camp.
Trabzon Museum
Regional museum in the ornate Kostaki Mansion, where the banker house itself is half the exhibit.
Trabzon Bedesten
Ottoman covered market and bazaar streets for silver, copper, Surmene knives, tea and hazelnuts.
Papara Park
Trabzonspor home stadium holding about 41,000, where a match day is the most Trabzon experience on sale.
Where to stay in Trabzon
Meydan and Ortahisar centre
first trip, walking, restaurants and atmosphere
Walk to the bazaar, museum and Meydan cafes, but the centre is dense, noisy and cut off from the shore.
Yomra and Kasustu
seafront chain hotels, the mall and the airport side
Resort style properties and the Forum mall east of the centre, traded against a taxi ride to the old town.
Akcaabat
local seafront town feel and kofte
A slower separate town west of the city with its own promenade and fish and kofte restaurants.
Uzungol
one night at the lake only
Buys the lake at dawn before the day buses, but sits 95 km from Trabzon and peaks in price in summer.
Think twice about
- Coastal highway and airport strip
Sea view rooms across six lanes of D010 truck traffic with no usable shore from the door. Noise all night and a taxi needed for everything.
- Uzungol lakeside strip in late July and August as a multi night base
The most expensive and congested bed in the province in Gulf season, and far from Sumela and the city. Stay one night at most.
Best restaurants in Trabzon
Bordo Mavi Balik Ersan Yilmaz
The citys best known fish house, named for Trabzonspor colours, superb in anchovy season.
Nihat Usta
The Akcaabat kofte pilgrimage address, serving the towns namesake meatballs in serious volume.
Tarihi Kalkanoglu Pilavi
Historic pilav house with a tiny menu of rice, white beans and meat, done the same way for generations.
Can Pide
Small family stone oven pide shop where the owner cooks in front of you and teaches the method.
Trabzon 100. Yil Balik Kofte Restaurant
Harbour fish and kofte house in the Faroz fishermen shelter, plain, fresh and priced for locals.
Outdoor things to do in Trabzon
Sumela Monastery
Cliff monastery in the Altindere Valley, frescoed and partly under restoration, so expect partial access.
Uzungol
Famous landslide lake and mosque shore, beautiful early and in shoulder season, overbuilt in August.
Hamsikoy
Yayla village on the Zigana road famous for baked rice pudding, the natural lunch stop after Sumela.
Hidirnebi Plateau
Closest true yayla to the city, a misty grass plateau above Akcaabat loved by Trabzon families.
Cal Cave
Long river show cave with walkways, a lake and a waterfall inside the mountain, good in any weather.
Sera Lake
Small green gorge lake minutes from the city, with boats, tea gardens and fish restaurants.
Altindere Valley National Park
Forested river valley below Sumela, worth an hour of walking instead of a bus window view.
Uzungol Paragliding
Tandem paraglide flight over Uzungol lake and valley with a licensed pilot, weather permitting.
Best hotels in Trabzon
Radisson Blu Hotel Trabzon
Hilltop five star flagship with sea view rooms, indoor pool and spa above the centre.
Zorlu Grand Hotel Trabzon
Grand central five star by Meydan with spa, pool and Turkish bath, walking distance to everything.
Panagia Premier Trabzon
Newer, smaller upscale hotel with restaurant and garden, a calmer alternative to the tower hotels.
Novotel Trabzon
Reliable Accor seafront hotel in Yomra by the Forum mall, with pool, spa and easy parking.
DoubleTree by Hilton Trabzon
Seaside Hilton with sea view rooms and a pool, usually priced below the two big five stars.
Aksular Hotel
Well regarded local four star in the centre within walking range of Meydan and the bazaar.
Funda Hotel
Simple, clean, family run budget hotel minutes from Meydan, the smart cheap bed in the centre.
Is Trabzon expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | TRY 2,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | TRY 5,500 a person |
| Splurge | TRY 11,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Papara Park: weeks ahead
- Sumela Monastery: a few days ahead
- Uzungol Paragliding: a few days ahead
- Radisson Blu Hotel Trabzon: a few days ahead
- Zorlu Grand Hotel Trabzon: a few days ahead
- Panagia Premier Trabzon: a few days ahead
- Bordo Mavi Balik Ersan Yilmaz: a few days ahead
- Book hotels as soon as dates are fixed for July, August and holidays, when Gulf season demand peaks.
- Book Sumela for the first clear morning of the stay and check official museum channels the day before for closures.
- Book Trabzonspor tickets early and sort the Passolig card requirement before you travel.
Is Trabzon safe?
- Do not travel within 10 km of the Syria border, and treat Sirnak and Hakkari as essential-travel-only. Trabzon is outside those zones.
- Swim only at guarded flagged beaches because of Black Sea rip currents, and never in mountain rivers unguided.
- Emergency number is 112. Carry rain gear in every month and turn back in cloud above the yaylas.
Trabzon travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Uzungol at midday in August means crowds, traffic and peak prices. Go early or in shoulder season.
- Any seller promising Sumela is fully open is out of date. Parts remain under restoration.
- Buy Surmene knives and silver in the Bedesten bazaar streets, not at marked up tour shopping stops.
Getting around Trabzon: public transport and more
- Fly to Trabzon Airport, about 6 km east of the centre, with Havas buses, municipal buses and dolmus to Meydan in 15 to 30 minutes.
- Walk the centre, use dolmus along the coast and taxis for Hagia Sophia, Ataturk Kosku and Boztepe.
- Use group tours, a private driver or a rental car for Sumela, Uzungol and the yaylas, and drive mountain roads in daylight.
Who Trabzon suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Trabzon your trip
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