Black Sea Turkey

Black Sea Turkey (Turkish: Karadeniz Bölgesi) in northern Turkey, is a humid and verdant region renowned for its natural beauty thanks to the high precipitation levels distributed evenly throughout the year. The region is very mountainous and is heavily forested, while the highest parts of the mountains are covered with alpine meadows, glacier lakes, and glaciers.

The region covers much of the country's northern coast, but the western stretch of the Black Sea coast is a part of the Marmara Region.

• 41.4531.7833331 Zonguldak — a bleak industrial city with coal mining heritage
• 41.74638932.3863892 Amasra — a beautiful seaside resort town with a nice beach, pleasant vistas, and great fish restaurants
• 41.24938932.68323 Safranbolu — a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this is a very well preserved Ottoman old town with a traditional streetscape and whitewashed houses
• 42.02666735.1511114 Sinop — an ancient fortified port city jutting out on a peninsula that is Turkey's northernmost tip
• 41.28666736.335 Samsun — the largest city on the Turkish Black Sea coast with big city attractions: such as opera and museums. Also many sports, including wakeboarding in summer.
• 40.6535.8333336 Amasya — a historic city with riverside Ottoman mansions and ancient rock-cut tombs watching them from above
• 40.938.4166677 Giresun — a city standing out with its relatively lively nightlife; trips to a nearby island can be arranged from here
• 41.00539.72258 Trabzon — the main city of the northeast has a lot to offer a visitor, and is the place to stay when traveling to the stunning Sümela Monastery
• 41.02482540.5199149 Rize — the heart of Turkey's tea growing region; not a real tourist attraction, but a good base for exploring the northeast

• 40.6054531.280331 Abant — a resort around a mountain lake of the same name; fairly popular among the locals due to its easily accessible location near the Istanbul–Ankara motorway
• 41.07333333.8069442 Ilgaz National Park — a ski resort amidst beautiful fir forests
• 40.02111134.6097223 Hattusa — the ruins of the Hittite capital
• 40.6939.6583334 Sümela — a stunning monastery hanging on a cliff in the lush Altındere Valley
• 40.9525241.1020515 Ayder — a village up in the lush Kaçkar Mountains/Pontic Alps

The climate is oceanic on the coasts; warm, showery summers (averaging around 25-27°C during the day, 10-15 days of rain a month), mild transitional seasons, and cool, wet winters (averaging around 6-10°C during the day, 15-20 days of precipitation a month). Snow is occasional in winter, and melts quickly. One important rule of thumb is that east-facing cities, such as Samsun and Sinop, are often better protected from storms than their west-facing counterparts, such as Zonguldak or Rize.

Mountainous regions have a colder and much snowier variant of the coastal climate; while lowlands far from the coasts are continental, with very warm, somewhat dry summers, and cold, snowy winters.

The region's airports are at Zonguldak (ONQ  ^IATA), Kastamonu (KFS ^IATA), Sinop (NOP  ^IATA), Samsun / Çarşamba (SZF ^IATA), Trabzon (TZX ^IATA), Ordu / Giresun (OGU ^IATA) and Rize / Artvin (RZV  ^IATA). They all have daily flights from Istanbul (both IST and SAW), less often from Ankara or Izmir. They seldom have international flights, change in Istanbul. For central inland cities such as Çorum it might be quicker to fly into Ankara (ESB) and drive from there.

Buses from Istanbul run several times a day to Samsun, Trabzon and the other coastal towns. One per day continues to Batumi in Georgia, where you change for Tbilisi and Baku.

The coastal highway is divided and in good condition. Some of the mountain roads can be difficult in winter.

The 350 km road from Amasra to Sinop is beautiful and breathtaking as it winds its way along the rugged coast. If you are depending on public transport, however, it is likely to take two days. Expect to spend a night in one of the small towns along the coast, such as Inebolu, as bus service is town-to-town, and you are likely to arrive at some town after the last dolmus has left. While the towns along the way are unspoilt and unpretentious, they are a bit run down. If you have your own car or motorcycle, you can do the journey in one day (start early).

• Museums depict the millennia of cultures that have flourished then disappeared here, from prehistoric times to the Republic. Many cities have a mansion where Atatürk stayed awhile, and they're typically 19th century merchant residences made over into ethnography museums. Zonguldak has museums of its mining history.
• Old churches and monasteries were variously Greek Orthodox, Armenian or Georgian, but all of those communities were driven out or slain over a century ago. Some buildings have been converted into mosques, others are gaunt ruins. There are plenty in the cities, but the most striking are in remote spots in the mountains.
• Ottoman architecture, with half-timbered houses with protruding upper stories, is best preserved in Amasya and Safranbolu.
• Castles and forts were variously built by the Romans, Byzantines, Genoese, Seljuks and Ottomans.
• Caves: Western Karadeniz has karstic bedrock, with several show caves.

• Beaches on the Black Sea are surprisingly sparse and poor: the coastal highway was built on reclaimed land so the sea laps against the embankment. And they're mostly shingle, and trash-strewn wherever there's easy public access. Decent sandy beaches are found at Amasra, Sinop, Akçaabat and Giresun. This means insufficient custom to support water-sports businesses, so for these you need to be self-sufficient.
• Hiking and trekking trails thread through the mountains.
• Winter sports: the snow can be heavy but it doesn't last long. A couple of small resorts stand above Bolu, but those above Trabzon have folded.
• Hamams are traditional Turkish baths, found in most towns. They're heated by conventional means, this region has no geothermal springs.
• Football: Samsun, Trabzon and Rize have top-tier soccer teams.

Lots and lots of cafes but no stand-out restaurants. The hotels may offer the best dining.

And not much choice of cuisine either, as this region has never attracted international immigration or tourists. So it's a choice of trad Turkish (meat meat meat) and Mediterranean. Veggies may struggle.

Tap water is safe to drink - not true of most of Turkey, but here it's from mountain catchments free of pollution. However it's often "hard", with high mineral content, or highly chlorinated, so you may prefer bottled.

Tea is drunk in great volumes, and the slopes above Rize grow lots of it.

Very few free-standing pubs, but many cafes and restaurants serve alcohol.

Wine is grown in Western Karadeniz, chiefly red, but most vineyards are further south.

Beware traffic, safeguard valuables and steer clear of low-life, same as anywhere else.

The Black Sea is not tidal but in places has long-shore currents, seek local advice. The main beach hazards are trash such as broken glass, and idiots revving on jet skis.

The mountains deserve your respect. They rise to 4000 m, and even at low altitude can be hazardous with slippy rocks, strong winds, and fog-bound. And no mobile signal to call for help.

• Marmara Region lies west, with unmissable Istanbul, other historic cities such as Bursa, and the battle sites of Gallipoli.
• Central Anatolia south is a plateau with the capital Ankara, birthplace of the dervishes Konya, and the surreal landscape of Cappadocia.
• Eastern Anatolia southeast is mountainous, and Mount Nemrut is crowned by giant heads of deities.
• Georgia is also mountainous but lush, with its fascinating ramshackle capital at Tbilisi.