Trabzon 2026 Guide: Sumela, Boztepe & Highlands

Trabzon is the Black Sea's largest city and nothing like the Aegean or the Mediterranean. The hills behind it are green to the point of unreasonable, it rains in every month of the year, the kitchen is built on anchovies, cornbread and butter rather than olive oil, and the mountain roads climb from sea level to alpine plateau in ninety minutes. For travellers from the Gulf it has become the most-visited region in Türkiye after Istanbul; for Western visitors it is still largely undiscovered. Quick answer: how many days do you need? Three nights in Trabzon covers the city, Sumela Monastery and one highland day. Four to five nights lets you add Uzungöl and the Ayder–Kaçkar plateaus without rushing the mountain roads, which are slower than the map suggests. Trabzon has direct flights from Istanbul in ninety minutes, so it works as a self-contained trip rather than an add-on. Sumela Monastery — the reason most people come Sumela is a fourth-century Greek Orthodox monastery built into a cliff face 1,200 m above the Altındere valley, 50 km south of the city. It closed in 2015 for rockfall stabilisation and reopened in stages; the main rock church, frescoes and monk cells are accessible again, with a shuttle from the valley car park to the upper gate and a final stepped climb. Go early. The valley fills with cloud from late morning on many days — atmospheric in photographs, useless for seeing the frescoes. Allow three hours from the city including travel, and wear grip shoes: the stone steps stay wet for most of the year. Site Distance from Trabzon Time needed Notes Sumela Monastery 50 km / 1 hr Half day Shuttle plus steep steps; go before 10:00 Hagia Sophia of Trabzon 4 km / 15 min 1 hr 13th-century Comnenian frescoes, seafront setting Boztepe hill 3 km / 10 min 1 hr Best city panorama, tea gardens, sunset spot Uzungöl 100 km / 2 hrs Full day Lake and mosque; very busy in summer Ayder and the Kaçkar plateaus 190 km / 3 hrs Overnight better Thermal springs, alpine pastures,