Western Karadeniz

Extending for about 500 km along the Turkish Black Sea coast, Western Karadeniz (Turkish: Batı Karadeniz) is a region of remote and rugged shores backed by lush and hazy mountains, with a strip of century-old industrial and mining heritage in between. The main drawcards are the old towns all over the region up the mountain down the shore, ranging from run-down and modest to the perfectly renovated and up and ready for tourism, and the pristine, scenic mountain lakes.

Cities

• 1 Bolu is a busy city on the Istanbul-Ankara highway, but is set among mountains and national parks.
• 2 Akçakoca is a coastal town with a Genoese citadel.
• 3 Zonguldak is a dreary post-industrial city in a former coal-mining area.
• 4 Amasra is an attractive resort with a good beach.
• 5 Safranbolu is the highlight, with Ottoman houses and streets.
• Karabük is a large industrial city 10 km west of Safranbolu, with no reason to linger.
• 6 Kastamonu has a pleasant historic core.
• 7 Boyabat inland town had a hilltop fortress.
• 8 Sinop, birthplace of Diogenes, is an ancient port on the north tip of Anatolia.

Other destinations

• 1 Abant is a mountain lake with accommodation, hiking and horse-riding.
• 2 Burj Al Babas is a notorious development where over 700 houses were built as near-identical pseudo-Disney castles. It flopped and the site is a ghost town.
• 3 Yedigöller means "seven lakes" - they're in a forested national park, especially scenic in autumn.
• 4 Ilgaz National Park is a winter sports resort in lush spruce forests.

Understand

Paphlagonia was the ancient kingdom in these parts, with Bithynia west and Pontus east; all were absorbed into the Roman Empire around 100 BC. It's a coastal region with small several ports: mountains rear up behind, so inland access was difficult and no great cities or epic battles were set here. Probably its most famous resident, and surely its smelliest, was Diogenes of Sinop in the 4th century BC. Some parts of the region industrialised in the 19th century AD, especially the coalfields around Zonguldak.

Modern roads put Western Karadeniz within a few hours drive of Istanbul and Ankara so a string of Black Sea resorts developed, but western tourists seldom visit. Whether you seek beaches, antiquities or museums and monuments, frankly there's better elsewhere; the one standout is the Ottoman old town of Safranbolu. But if time allows, it's worth leaving the beaten track for a day or two to explore an authentic slice of Turkey that few foreigners discover.

Get in

Ottoman houses in Safranbolu

By plane: the airports at Kastamonu (KFS  ^IATA), Sinop (NOP  ^IATA) and Zonguldak (ONQ  ^IATA) have daily flights from Istanbul (IST ^IATA) but little else.

If you fly into Istanbul and hire a car from there, IST has more flights but SAW is Asia-side and a quicker drive.

Ankara airport (ESB ^IATA) is closer: you'll probably need to change in Istanbul but connecting flights are hourly, taking an hour.

By road: Highway E80 runs from Istanbul past Bolu and way, way out east to the Iranian border; E89 branches south to Ankara. Leave E80 at Düzce for D655 to Akçakoca, whence the coastal highway D010 heads to Zonguldak. Stay on E80 to Bayındır for D755 to Karabük, Safranbolu and Bartin also on D010, for Amasra.

Buses run to the main towns every couple of hours from Istanbul, and two to four times a day from Ankara, mostly heading further east along the coast to Samsun and beyond. The main bus lines are Metro Turizm and Kamil Koc, which is now part of Flixbus. As elsewhere in Turkey, bus stations are often several km out from town centres, adding up to an hour to travel times.

By train: sorry, no. The branch line from Ankara to Zonguldak closed years ago while the main line around Ankara was upgraded for YHT high-speed trains. That work was completed in 2021 and trains resumed on the northern half of the branch line, between Karabük and Zonguldak. There's still no word on resuming on the southern half, so this region remains disconnected from the national rail network.

Get around

You can get around by bus or dolmuş between towns on a radial route from the big cities. You need your own wheels for anything else; best hire at your arrival airport.

See

A mountain road near Bolu

• Mosques have been repaired after earthquakes while secular buildings were left to ruin, so they're often the oldest structures in otherwise modern towns. The very oldest started as Byzantine / Roman churches, such as 9th century Fatih Mosque in Amasra. However if they look sparkling new, they probably are, as religious conservatives demand retro-Ottoman architecture on new mosques. Akçakoca has an unusual example of a modern design.
• Old towns: Safranbolu is the best preserved.
• Castles and forts were variously built by the Romans, Byzantines, Genoese, Seljuks and Ottomans. Sinop fortress became a high security prison until 1997, so it features in the works of a dozen Turkish writers whose seditious publications got them slammed in there.
• Museums in most towns display local archaeology and history. As a change from the usual bones and pottery, Zonguldak has museums of its mining history.
• Caves: Fakıllı on the road between Akçakoca and Düzce, Bulak Mencilisis near Safranbolu, and Gökgöl near Zonguldak are karstic show caves.

Do

Many writers were jailed in Sinop fortress

• Beaches on the Black Sea are the reason most visitors prefer the Med: those here are narrow (since the sea is not tidal), mostly shingle, and trash-strewn wherever there's easy public access. Amasra and Sinop are sandy.
• Hamams - traditional Turkish baths - are found in most towns.
• Winter sports have a short season here. Ören Kayak Yeri and Doruk Kaya are small resorts above Bolu.

Eat

Trad Turkish and bland Mediterranean are the standard offerings, the region lacks other cultures' cuisines.

Drink

• Tap water is safe to drink but "hard", with high mineral content, so you may prefer bottled.
• Amasra has free-standing pubs, elsewhere look for cafes and restaurants serving alcohol.
• Wine is grown in this region, chiefly red, but most vineyards are further south.

Stay safe

Beware traffic and safeguard valuables, same as anywhere else.

Go next

• Istanbul and Ankara are within 200 km and both are unmissable.
• Samsun is the largest resort east along the coast in Central Karadeniz.