We will see every shade of green with a pleasant Black Sea tour from beginning to end.

Black Sea Tablelands and Batumi Tour with Airplane

Day 1 Istanbul – Trabzon – Sürmene – Memiş Ağa Mansion – Manahos Tableland – Borçka – Bartnala, Maisur Falls – Karagöl – Hopa Following breakfast at your hotel, transfer to Istanbul Airport with Move representative and your private vehicle. We will fly to Trabzon in the morning with our Anadolu Jet flight from Istanbul at 07:10. After our airport transactions, we will take our vehicle to Sürmene Memiş Ağa mansion and breakfast there. After breakfast we will learn about Memiş Ağa, one of the last seigneurs of Ottoman Empire and visit his mansion. We will then cross Cankuntaran (Lifeguard) Tunnel, one of the most important tunnels of the era and reach Borçka. Here we get on the vans and set off to virginal Karagöl Lake at 1550mt altitude, formed when the Klaskur River mouth was closed in 17th century. We travel through the calm tunnel of green trees and visit Bartnala – Maisur Falls along the way. This landslide lake tucked between the mountains will mesmerize you. After a lovely stroll by the lake, we will return to Borçka and take our bus to Hopa and set off to our hotel. Dinner and overnight stay are at our hotel.

Day 2 Sarp Border Gate – Batum – Gonıo (Apsaros) Castle – Çoruh River – Gonıo Bridge – Orta Mosque – Turkish Street- Piazza Square – Medea Statue – Poseidon Statue- Theatre Opera Building – Storm Valley After open buffet breakfast at our hotel, we set off to Sarp Border Gate and cross to Georgia/Acara region upon completing our entry procedure. We will get a panoramic view of Gonio-Apsaros Castle left from Roman times, used by the Ottomans and burial site of St. Mathew, one of Jesus’ disciples. We continue on to the city center and see Çoruh River and its sharp lines along from Bayburt to Batumi border as well as the old and new Gonio Bridge on Çoruh. We will walk the streets of Batumi and stop by Orta Mosque. Afterwards we will see Turkish Street, Piazza Square, Piazza Clock Tower, European Square, Medea Statue, Poseidon Theatre Building, and Batumi port. After a stroll through Batum Boulevard, we will have a short shopping break. We will then take Arhavi-Fındıklı-Ardeşen to go to Firtina (Storm) Valley, among the 50 ecosystems in UNESCO’s world heritage list. Along the valley we will see tea and kiwi orchards and observe settlements on high ground. We will have trout for lunch along the river. Optional tour: Guests may opt for river rafting on Fırtına River for about 1.5 hours in the light route. After lunch we will take our vehicle to Çamlıhemşin, where the International Film Festival Golden Bear award winning movie “BAL” was shot . Here we take a short break and assess alternative tour routes. Optional tour: Çat Valley, Çinçiva (Şenyuva) Bridge and Village, Zilkale Tour We take our vans to these sites in Çamlıhemşin were settings to numerous TV shows and movies. We enter Çat Valley, one of the most significant ones in Fırtına Valley and pass through Ortan Village to reach Çinçiva (known today as Şenyuva) village where “Sevdaluk” series were shot. At the village, we take a photo break on Taş Bridge, the oldest bridge in the region with the widest arc span. The tour will continue to take us to the oldest mansions of our country and end in Zil Kale, built on a location overlooking the valley to protect the historic trade route. We will have a photo break in the secret garden of Kaçkar Mountains and return to Çamlıhemşin. This tour will take approximately 2 hours (extra). After our alternative tour, we leave Çamlıhemşin and arrive at famous Ayder Tableland with its pine forests at 1350 mt altitude. We will visit Gelin Tülü and Küçük Falls. After seeing Kalegon, Aşağı Ambarlı and Yukarı Ambarlı regions, we settle at hour hotel. Guests may use Ayder Hot Springs. Dinner and overnight stay are at hour hotel.

Day 3 Çayeli – Of – Çaykara – Uzungöl – Sürmene – Tea Factory – Manahoz Valley – Trabzon – Hagia Sophia – Kazaziye – Trabzon Filigree – Akçaabat Following breakfast at the hotel, we set off to famous Çayeli, the town talked about in folk songs. We will have a short shopping break in one of the fabric weaving shops and reach Of. Afterwards, we will follow Solaklı Valley through Dernekpazarı, Çaykara, Taşkıran and reach Uzungöl, one of the most important touristic centers of Black Sea Region. As we pass through the green trees and hanging bridges of Solaklı Valley, we catch glimpses of homes built on the skirts of the mountain, some of which don’t even have proper access roads. We have a free photo break in Uzungöl. In order to see the journey of Turkish tea from the plant to our table, we visit the tea factory in Manahoz Valley and take our tea. Afterwards we visit Trabzon Hagia Sophia, built during Komnenos Kingdom between 1238-1265, famous for its Christian frescoes on the west side. We then observe Trabzon’s local craft filigree works and Kazaziye works done by only 5 families in Trabzon. We return to our hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 4 Gülbahar Hatun Mosque and Mausoleum – Zağanos Valley – Atatürk Pavilion – Zigana Mountain Pass – Hamsiköy – Maçka – Altındere National Park – Sümela Monastery – Görele Kemancha Museum – Giresun – Istanbul Following breakfast at the hotel, we will set on a journey through oriental spruce trees and cherry laurel trees to visit Atatürk Pavilion in Soğuksu Site, gifted to Atatürk by the people of Trabzon. The pavilion was built on French Art Nouveau style and is home to many personal belongings of Atatürk, as well as being the site where he wrote his will. We will then take Maçka exit to Değirmendere Valley to visit Altındere National Park and reach Maçka. In Maçka, the road diverges and we can observe Altındere River along Altındere Valley. Afterwards we get of our bus to see Sümela Monastery on the skirts of Karadağ mountain from the valley floor. You may use your free time here to enjoy the nature and take photos. (R.T Ministry of Culture and Tourism has started restoration and fortification works on Sumela Monastery in 2015 and no visitation is allowed inside the monastery. If the weather conditions permit and there is no fog, you may be able to photograph the monastery from outside) After these enjoyable times we get on our bus back to Maçka and set off to Zigana, which means “Passage” in the local Greek language, a passage way on trade routes since ancient times. We get a panoramic view of Hamsiköy, named after Hamse (the number five in Arabic) and taste their famous rice pudding and stop over at a facility where you can purchase local products. Afterwards, we set off to Görele Kemancha Museum to learn more about the fun local string instrument. Before we arrive in Giresun, famous for the best quality hazelnuts in the world, we purchase hazelnuts and hazelnut products and catch a panoramic view of Giresun Island and Giresun Castle, built in Pontus Ruler Farnakes’ time and visit the burial ground of Topal Osman, a leader in Ataturk’s army. We then arrive at Ordu Giresun Airport to take Anadolu Jet flight at 20:50 to Istanbul. End of Move services. Guests may extend their stay in Istanbul.