Istanbul and Trabzon Trip: Combine the City with Sumela and Uzungöl

Yes, Istanbul and Trabzon combine easily in one trip. A direct flight takes under two hours, and four to seven days are enough to see the city and the eastern Black Sea. Our 4-day Istanbul and Trabzon tour with Sumela Monastery and flights starts from $1,455 per person. You can also build the trip yourself from an Istanbul package and separate day tours from Trabzon: Sumela from $120, Uzungöl from $80, Ayder from $85 and Trabzon city from $75 per person. This page compares both approaches, explains each Black Sea day, and gives a sample week.

Two ways to build an Istanbul and Trabzon trip

The choice comes down to how much you want arranged in one booking and how many days you have.

Option 1: one combined tour. A package that already includes Istanbul, the domestic flights and Trabzon. It suits travellers who want one price and one contact for the whole trip.

Option 2: an Istanbul package plus Trabzon day tours. You book your Istanbul days, a flight, and then pick only the Black Sea days you want. It suits travellers who already know they want, say, Sumela and Uzungöl but not Ayder, or who want more time in one place.

Read each tour page for what is included. The packages differ in hotels, flights and guiding.

Flying between Istanbul and Trabzon

Trabzon Airport is close to the city, about 8 km from the centre by road, so you lose little time on arrival. Direct flights connect both Istanbul airports with Trabzon:

• Turkish Airlines flies from Istanbul Airport (IST).
• Pegasus and AJet fly from Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the Asian side.

Flight time is about 1 hour 45 minutes eastbound and close to 2 hours on the way back, according to airline schedules listed by booking sites. There are several departures a day. Book early for summer and the main holiday periods, when Trabzon is popular with domestic and Gulf visitors.

If your Istanbul hotel is in Sultanahmet or Taksim, both airports work. Choose the one with the better flight time and plan your transfer. Our Istanbul airport private transfer guide compares the two.

Sumela Monastery

Sumela is the reason many people fly to Trabzon. The monastery is built into a cliff at about 1,200 m on the side of the Altındere valley in Maçka district, roughly 45 km south of Trabzon by road. Tradition places its foundation in the 4th century, while most of what you see today dates from later rebuilding, and the frescoes were renewed in the 18th century.

Practical points:

• Opening hours. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism lists Sumela as open every day from 08:00 to 17:00, with the ticket office closing at 16:30. Tickets are sold on site and through the ministry's e-ticket system on muze.gov.tr.
• The walk. Expect a steep climb on foot from where vehicles stop. Wear good shoes and take water.
• Restoration. The monastery closed in 2015 for restoration and rockfall protection, and reopened to visitors in 2019.
• 15 August. The Ecumenical Patriarchate has held a Divine Liturgy here on 15 August, the feast of the Dormition, in a number of years since 2010. Entry that day needs a special pass, so avoid the date unless you are attending.

Our Sumela Monastery tour from Trabzon (from $120 per person) adds Karaca Cave on the same day. The Sumela Monastery attraction guide has more on its history and the frescoes.

Uzungöl

Uzungöl is a mountain lake in Çaykara district, about 95 km southeast of Trabzon, roughly an hour and a half by road. It formed when a landslide blocked the Haldizen stream and dammed the valley. Today a mosque, wooden hotels and restaurants line the shore, and forested slopes rise steeply on both sides.

Go early in the day if you can. Uzungöl is the most visited stop on the Trabzon coast, and the lakeside path fills up by midday in summer. Above the lake, the highlands are quieter and cooler, with wide views on a clear day.

Our Uzungöl private day trip from Trabzon (from $80 per person) includes the lake and the Karester and Lustra highlands. See our Uzungöl Lake guide for walks around the shore.

Ayder, the Fırtına valley and Zilkale

Further east, in Rize province, the scenery gets wilder. Ayder is a highland village at an average altitude of about 1,350 m in Çamlıhemşin district, 88 km from Rize. It is known for its hot spring and its wooden chalets in the foothills of the Kaçkar Mountains.

The road up follows the Fırtına valley, the "storm valley", past stone bridges and tea gardens. On the way you pass Zilkale, a medieval stone castle on a rocky spur high above the river.

Our Ayder Plateau and Storm Valley day tour with Zilkale starts from Rize and costs from $85 per person. Rize is about 80 km east of Trabzon, so check the pickup point on the tour page if you are staying in Trabzon. Ayder is the longest of the Black Sea days, at about 160 km from Trabzon each way.

Trabzon city day

Trabzon itself deserves a day, ideally your arrival or departure day.

• Hagia Sophia of Trabzon. A 13th-century Byzantine church built under Emperor Manuel I of the Empire of Trebizond. It was a museum from 1964 and has been a mosque again since 2013, so dress for a mosque visit and avoid prayer times.
• Kızlar Monastery and Boztepe. A ruined monastery on the hillside, and the Boztepe viewpoint above the city, where tea gardens look out over the harbour and the sea.
• The old centre. Markets and streets around the main square for hazelnuts, tea and Black Sea food.

Our Trabzon day tour with Hagia Sophia, Kızlar Monastery and Boztepe starts from $75 per person.

A sample 7-day Istanbul and Trabzon plan

This plan uses an Istanbul package plus Trabzon day tours. Shorten it by dropping the city day in Trabzon or the Ayder day.

For the Istanbul days, our 3-day Istanbul itinerary and 4-day Istanbul itinerary give hour-by-hour plans.

When to go and what weather to expect

The eastern Black Sea is green because it is wet. Rain is possible in any month, and low cloud can hide the highlands even in summer. Pack a waterproof layer whatever the season.

• Late spring and summer are the main season. The highland roads are open, Uzungöl and Ayder are at their busiest, and days are long.
• Autumn brings fewer visitors and good colour in the forests. Weather can turn quickly in the mountains.
• Winter suits a city-and-Sumela trip more than the highlands. Mountain roads to the plateaus can be affected by snow.

Istanbul has its own rhythm. For the city half of the trip, see our best time to visit Istanbul guide.

Tours that cover this

• Istanbul and Trabzon Tour: 4 Days with Sumela Monastery and Flights: from $1,455 per person.
• Trabzon Tour from Istanbul: 2 Days with Flights, Sumela and Uzungöl: from $640 per person.
• Private Sumela Monastery Tour from Trabzon with Karaca Cave: from $120 per person.
• Uzungöl Private Day Trip from Trabzon: from $80 per person.

For a longer trip into the east, our 7-day Black Sea and Eastern Turkey private tour starts from $2,440 per person. The Black Sea Turkey destination guide, the Black Sea Turkey tour guide and our tailor-made Turkey tour page help with other combinations.

Frequently Asked Questions