We have 10 days in Turkey in the middle of August. Previously we've visited the sites along the Aegean & Medit. coast. Now we'd like to see the area around Trabzon.
Is this a good idea? Do we need a guided tour or can we do it on our own? Best transport to Trabzon? Transport around Trabzon? ETC. Thanks in advance
Posted by
Ottawa
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Part 1 of 2 Hi Linda
Last Sept we spent 6 days in Northern and Eastern Turkey. We wanted to go where there were not a lot of tourists and we got our wish. We flew Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Trabzon and picked up a rental car at the airport. We went to Trabzon mainly to see the Sumela Monastary. One, two days max is enough for Trabzon. From Trabzon we headed East to Artvin, our destination was Kars, but Artvin broke up the trip. One night Artvin. Not much to see beautiful scenary high up in the mountains. Unfortunately the scenary was marred by excavation for a huge Hydro project. Kars was next, a beautiful drive through the mountain passes and valleys. Visiting Kars was mainly to see Ani the ancient capital of Armenia. Spectacular, desolate right on the border with Georgia. Kars also has an OK castle. One night is sufficient.
Posted by
Ottawa
237 posts
2 of 2 After Kars we headed SE along the Armenian and Iranian borders to Dogubayezit, the closest town to Mt Ararat. There we also visited Ishak Pasha Saray Palace high in the hills overlooking Dogubayezit. You can if you are up to it you can hire a guide to climb Mt Ararat (about 4 days). From Dogubayezit we continued South to Van. The drive took us through idyllic Kurdish territory, lovely valleys, sod houses etc. Lots of army presence.
Lake Van and Van city are very nice. We spent 2 days but 3 would have been better to explore more of the lake area. One must see is the church on Akdamar Is. in Lake Van. We ped the car at the Van airport and back to Istanbul. Had we had more time we would have visited Erzurum and Diyarbakir. Overall we loved it. Very few other tourists, little English and much curiousity from the locals. There was a lot of road construction with some long stretches from Kars to Dogubayezit on rough gravel. The area is very male dominated not many women out on the streets at night. My wife felt uncomfortable at times with the male stares and she was dressed very conservatively. Overall it was an adventure.