Travel Guide — The Black Sea

Turkey’s mountainous Black Sea coast is eye-openingly different from the rest of the country. Mountainous and green, thanks to a very wet climate, tea plantations and hazelnut orchards cover the coastal range, while thick forests cloak the peaks above. Well-off the tourist map, the coast has some interesting historical sites and is home to two of Turkey’s most colourful ethnic groups, the Laz and the Hemsin.

At the western end of the coast, Amasra is a pictureque fishing town with some family- run hotels and excellent sea food restaurants. East towards Sinop the windy coast road passes a string of quiet fishing towns, some with simple accommodation, and many which are mentioned in the tale of Jason and the Argonauts, whose mythical voyage took them along the coast in search of the Golden Fleece.

The larger coastal town of Sinop was an important trading centre in Roman times and the impressive medieval city walls are still standing. Beside the large harbour are some excellent fish restaurants and there’s a long sandy beach on the edge of town. Samsun is an industrial city, but further east the resort of Unye is popular with Turkish holidaymakers for its sandy beach.

Trabzon - or Trebizond as it was then know- had an illustrious past as a trading centre at the end of the Silk Route and the capital of the Byzantine Comneni empire. Today it is still an important port and industrial city close to the border with Georgia. The old town is still encircled by the Byzantine walls and the church of Aya Sofya, on a bluff overlooking the sea, is decorated with beautiful frescoes restored in 1957 by a team of experts. The town’s Avrasya Pazari market used to have fascinating Soviet collectables from behind the Iron Curtain, although these days the market stalls are filled with junk. Perched on a dizzying cliff-face, raked by cloud, the monastery of Sumela is a popular day-trip from town.

East from Trabzon the coastal range becomes the lofty Kackar Mountains, which are one of the country’s best areas for trekking. There’s also rafting on the Coruh river from the town of Yusufeli, which also makes a good base for exploring the remote Georgian churches in the area. On the seaward side of the mountains, the slopes are covered with tea plantations and the town of Rize is famous for its tea research institute, where you can enjoy an excellent brew.