Trabzon Travel Guide: Sümela Monastery, Uzungöl and the Black Sea Yaylas
Airport transfers, where to stay, Hagia Sophia of Trebizond, Boztepe, Sümela Monastery, Uzungöl and the high pastures, anchovies and muhlama, and when to visit.
Trabzon is the gateway to Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast — a green, rainy, mountainous region that looks nothing like the Mediterranean image of the country. In the city itself: a 13th-century Hagia Sophia from the Empire of Trebizond, the hill of Boztepe above the port, and the crowded shopping street of Uzun Sokak. Within an hour or two: the Sümela Monastery built into a cliff face, the alpine pastures (yayla) and the lake at Uzungöl.
Getting to Trabzon
Trabzon Airport (TZX) is on the shore, only about 7 km from the centre; the flight from Istanbul takes roughly an hour and a half, and there are direct services from several countries in the region.
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From the airport, Havaş shuttles, city buses, minibuses and taxis all run into town — the minibus takes 15–20 minutes. For Sümela and Uzungöl you will need a tour, a scheduled bus or a rental car.
Where to stay
For a short visit, the city centre around Meydan Park and Uzun Sokak is the easiest: restaurants, the bazaar and transport are all on foot. If the mountains are why you came, spend a night or two at Uzungöl or in a yayla guesthouse rather than doing it as a long day trip.
What to see
Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)
Built as a church in the 13th century under the Empire of Trebizond, it combines Byzantine, Georgian and Seljuk influences. The wall paintings and the garden above the sea make it the city's most important historic building; it functions as a mosque today.
Atatürk Mansion
A white villa in the wooded Soğuksu district where Atatürk stayed on his visits to Trabzon, now a museum with period furnishings and a garden worth the walk.
Boztepe
The hill above the city, and the place to see Trabzon and its port from above. Tea gardens on the slope fill at sunset — an evening here is the local habit rather than a tourist stop.
Uzun Sokak and Trabzon Museum
The long street running from Meydan is where the city actually shops and eats. The museum, in a historic mansion on the same street, holds the region's archaeological and ethnographic collection.
Sümela Monastery
In the Altındere valley near Maçka, about 45 km and an hour from the city, a Greek Orthodox monastery cut into a sheer cliff some 300 metres above the forest floor. Founded in the late 4th century and rebuilt many times, it reopened after a long restoration — check current opening hours before you go, as sections still close from time to time.
Uzungöl
About 100 km from the centre (an hour and a half to two hours by road) in Çaykara, a lake ringed by wooden houses with mountains behind and roads climbing to the pastures above. It is busy in summer; go early in the day or stay overnight to see it quiet.
The yaylas
The high pastures — Pokut, Sal, Ayder in neighbouring Rize — are what the region is really about: wooden houses on ridges, cloud below you, and walking routes between them. July and August are the months when the yaylas are fully open.
What to eat
Black Sea cooking is built on anchovies, cornmeal, butter and greens. Look for hamsi (anchovy) in season — fried, baked with rice, even in cornbread; muhlama (also called kuymak), melted cheese stirred into cornmeal and butter; karalahana soup made with collard greens; and Trabzon's famous vakfıkebir bread. Hazelnuts and highland honey travel well.
When to go
This is the wettest part of Turkey — expect rain in any month. June to September is the season: the yaylas are accessible, the greens are at their brightest and Uzungöl is at its best. Anchovy season is late autumn and winter, which is also when the coast is at its most atmospheric but the mountain roads can close with snow. Spring is green and quiet but wet.
Three days around Trabzon
Day 1: Hagia Sophia, Atatürk Mansion, Uzun Sokak, sunset tea at Boztepe.
Day 2: Sümela Monastery and the Altındere valley.
Day 3: Uzungöl and, if you have a car, one of the yayla roads above it.