I'll be heading off for a week in July/August to the black sea area and wonder if anyone has any advice for me. We will be taking buses and stopping at a few places on the way to Giresun, where we will stay with my boyfriend's family for a few days, and then we will end up in Trabzon and fly back to Istanbul. The original plan was to head first to Safranbolu, spend a few hours there, and catch the minibus (I think) to Amasra, where we hoped to stay (seems to be a lot cheaper than Safranbolu). From there, my boyfriend wanted to go to Sinop, although I'm not sure why. If anyone can name a reason, please let me know. Anyway, it seems to be a bit tricky co-ordinating the buses around Amasra/Safranbolu, as we will always have to go to Bartin or Karabuk to change I think. I have only looked at Metro and Ulusoy so far, as I don't know any of the smaller companies, and don't know whether to trust them anyway. Can anyone recommend another company in that region, and a good solution to how we can plan the trip? I think we will be doing a day trip to Ordu (I don't know what's there either) from Girsun and definitely going to Sumela Monastery when we go to Trabzon, but are there any other places we should add in? I know it would be easier if we rented a car, but I am still paranoid about driving on the right side of the road, and my boyfriend hasn't had his licence very long and I am paranoid about him driving here too (particularly after letting him drive in Cyprus a few months back).

Hope someone knows something.

M

No idea regarding busses, but make sure to choose appropriate clothing (just A suggestion below), and if you intend to stay in hotels don't forget to bring your fake marriage certificate.



Otherwise a great area to see if you're into nature and/or anthropology.

With a schedule like that I'd imagine you'll spend most of the time in buses.

Rent a car, traffic's nowhere near as bad as Istanbul in other parts of Turkey. One of you will have to get used to it at some point anyway.

The road after Amasra to Sinop is very long and very bendy. Not sure how long it will take but it will take ages. I would suggest you also add a trip to Ayder in the Kackar mountains. You can do it quite easy from Trabzon. Catch a dolmuş to Rize and then ask for another dolmuş to Ayder. Plenty of pensions up there.

Here's some practical advice from Orhan Veli as well:

On your way
To Samsun,
Seeing water,
Don't worry.

Monsta,

We did the tour last year: Safranbolu-Amasra-Inebolu-Sinop-Samsun-Ünye-Ordu-Amasya.

Done that by car driving from Istanbul, 2 week relaxed trip, relatively cheap. Trafic is no problem, especially the Safranbolu - Amasra - Inebolu stretch is almost lonely but wonderful, but it is a long and winding road. You have to stop on the way to go down to some of the little villages/hidden bays by the sea. Don't know how you do this with a bus.

Sinop is quite nice and then the Unye/Ordu coast is again. Don't waste any time in Samsun.

The black sea cost is a good place to practice your Turkish, as nobody speaks English (in summer a lot of german speakers though) No tourists!

Don't worry about wedding certificartes, headscarfs etc. Everything was cool!

Allthough people are not used to foreigners they are allways nice and very interested.

We are doing the bit around Trabzon/Rize in August.

Have a good time.

Thanks for the advice. We have decided to do things this way: bus from Istanbul to Amasra overnight. We will spend one night in a relatively cheap but decent-looking hotel there and then do the mini-bus (or bus/mini-bus or whatever it is) to Safranbolu the next morning. We'll hopefully be able to find somewhere to leave our bags while we explore there, and then we'll take the evening bus straight to Giresun. We will probably borrow the brother's car to go to the monastery and Trabzon and maybe just do a few small bus trips from Giresun. The rest of the stops seem too hard and tiring by bus and I think right now I just need a relaxing break rather than a major sigh-seeing trip. As for practicing my Turkish, I do that every day at work, and at home with my non-English-speaking Giresun-bred boyfriend. I'm sure I will still have trouble understanding a lot, but I will cope.