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Black Sea Coast of Turkey

Last Updated on March 14, 2023

Alpine forests? Tea plantations? Billions of hazelnuts? World's oldest cherry orchards?

Turkey's Black Sea coast (map) issurprising in many ways.

The sky is often grey but the land is greenfrom plentiful rain. Fat dairy cattle munch lush grass and produce the country's best milk and butter. Fresh sardines are a delicacy.

The Black Sea coast is never crowdedbecause cloud is more common than sun, the sea water is chilly, and most of the townsare sprawling masses of concrete with only scarce traces of ancient times.

But that's fine for the adventurous types who come here for a few days to get off the beaten track and to enjoy the lush greeneryof the mountain slopes.

Unless you have a special interest in some aspect of Black Sea coast history—or hazelnuts, or cherries—, I suggest that you fly to Trabzon, the coast's prime destination, and use that as your base for further explorations.

Black Sea Coast Tours

Efendi Travel, a TurkeyTravelPlanner.compartner, organizes special Black Sea Coast tours, including tours guided in Arabic. More...

Black Sea Coast Towns

Here's the run-down on Black Sea towns, from west to east:

Zonguldak

Founded in 1849 as the port for shipping coal from nearby mines, Zonguldak is still a gritty industrial town.

Amasra

Not to be confused with the similarly-named inland town of AmasyaAmasra is a historic small town on a dramatic promontory is well off the beaten track. Popular with Turkish vacationers, it makes sense to visit if you're also planning visit SafranboluMore...

Sinop

The most northerly town on Turkey's Black Sea coast has had strategic importance since ancient times. It has mighty stone walls and several old mosques to show for it, but may not hold your interest for too long. More...

Samsun

Samsun , the largest city on Turkey's Black Sea coast, is a big, bustling, modern, congested, concrete city extending along the Black Sea coast for kilometers. With lots of services—hotels, intercity buses, an airport—but little to see, Samsun can be an overnight stop if you're driving long distances (which I don't recommend). More...

Ünye

This smallish coastal town concentrates on growing, processing and selling hazelnuts(filberts, fındık).

Ordu

Another hazelnut-growing town, Ordu is a port, has some pleasant seaside parks and a few historic buildings such as the Taşbaşıchurch...but not much else to hold you long.

Giresun

Its history is illustrious: this is where the Romans discovered cherries and spread them to the world, but Giresun harbors little of Roman Cerasus. If you want to look, there are hotels and other services. More...

Trabzon

Famous in ancient times as Trebizond, modern Trabzon has also buried much of its past beneath modern concrete, but enough interesting places remain to reward a visit. Trabzon makes the best base for explorations of the eastern Black Sea shores and mountains. More...

Rize

Center of Turkey's tea-growing region, you can easily visit Rize (REE-zeh) from Trabzon to see the tea plantations climbing the steep hillsides of the Pontic mountains.

Hopa

This transport town near the eastern end of Turkey's Black Sea coast has grown exponentially since the opening of the Turkish-Georgian border-crossing point at Sarp. Hopa is where you turn right and climb the mountains to reach ArtvinKars, the Kaçkar Mountains and Erzurum, but has little else to hold you.

About Those Hazelnuts...

It's likely that the hazelnuts/filberts in your Nutella, chocolate bar, or hazelnut-flavored coffee come from Turkey's Black Sea coast. In 2014, Turkey exported more than 252,500 tons of hazelnuts to over 110 countries, meeting 70% of world demand and earning US$2.3 billion.

—by Tom Brosnahan


Black Sea Coast Tours

Black Sea Hotels

Amasra

Sinop

Samsun

Giresun

Trabzon

Ayder

Central Anatolia

Eastern Turkey

Where to Go in Turkey

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