Black Sea Highlands: Trabzon to the Kaçkar
Tea gardens, mist and cliffside monasteries above a sea that behaves nothing like the Mediterranean.
Highlights
Signature moments
Sumela before the coaches
The monastery at opening hour, hanging off the cliff face.
Ayder and the Kaçkar foothills
Highland villages, cold rivers and wooden houses.
Hamsiköy, cheese and tea
A village lunch that explains why Turks holiday here.
Itinerary
Day by day
- 01
Trabzon & Hagia Sophia
A Byzantine church on the cliff, then the harbour and the fish market.
Meals: Breakfast Boutique hotel in Trabzon - 02
Sumela Monastery & Altındere
Cliff monastery in the morning, valley walk in the afternoon.
Meals: Breakfast Boutique hotel in Trabzon - 03
Uzungöl lake
Forest roads, a mountain lake and trout for lunch.
Meals: Breakfast Lakeside guesthouse - 04
Ayder plateau
Up into the Kaçkar foothills, where the air changes.
Meals: Breakfast Highland hotel in Ayder - 05
Pokut & Gito
The two highland villages everyone photographs and nobody forgets.
Meals: Breakfast Highland hotel in Ayder - 06
Hamsiköy & the tea terraces
Village lunch, tea gardens and a slow return to the coast.
Meals: Breakfast Boutique hotel in Trabzon - 07
Departure
Transfer to Trabzon airport.
Meals: Breakfast
What's included
Private guiding and transfers Accommodation as listed Breakfast daily Entrance fees to sites named in the itinerary
Optional upgrades
Domestic flights Additional nights Private cooking classes Upgraded room categories
Staying
Boutique hotels, riads and family-run guesthouses
Made for
Couples, families and private groups who prefer their own pace
Trusted
What travellers and partners say
The most relaxed two weeks of my life. Someone had always thought of the small thing — the cold water, the right song on the drive, the table by the window.
They rebuilt half our honeymoon when a flight changed overnight — without a single grumpy message. Felt like travelling with friends who happen to be superhuman.
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