Turkey's Black Sea: Trabzon, Uzungol and the Ayder highlands

Day 2 — Sumela: the monastery on the cliff

• 8:15 — Drive to Sumela Monastery (~45 km, 50 min into the Altındere valley).
• 9:00 — Park at the lower lot, shuttle up (small fee, cash), then the forest path to the entrance (€20; ~8:00–17:00, ticket office closes 16:30). Be early: the frescoed chapel and cliff-hung courtyards are a different place before the tour groups land at ~10:30. The setting — a white facade grown out of a sheer rock face over pine forest — is worth the whole flight. 2–3 hours.
• 12:30 — Lunch in the valley — riverside trout farms grill what they raise (~€6–9).
• 14:00 — Hamsiköy village (20 min) — famous across Turkey for one thing: sütlaç, caramelised rice pudding. Order it with hazelnuts, argue later about whether pudding justifies a village’s fame (it does).
• 15:30 — Optional: continue up to the Zigana pass viewpoint, or head back for the Atatürk Pavilion (small fee) — a white chalet in gardens above Trabzon.
• 19:30 — Dinner in the city; try Black Sea pide — the butter-and-cheese boat this coast does better than anywhere.

Day 3 — Up the valley to Uzungol

• 9:30 — Drive east along the coast, then up the Solaklı valley (~95 km, ~2 h) — the road narrows, tea terraces stack the slopes, minarets appear out of the mist.
• 11:30 — Uzungöl — the lake with the mosque on its shore and green walls of mountain on every side: the Black Sea’s postcard. Check in, then the flat lake loop walk (~40 min, free, stroller-friendly).
• 13:30 — Trout lunch at a lakeside farm restaurant.
• 15:00 — Drive or taxi to the upper viewpoints above the village for the full lake-and-mosque frame, or rent bikes; kids fish, adults drink tea.
• Evening — This is why you overnight instead of day-tripping: the coaches leave at five, the mist rolls down, the mosque lights come on and the lake goes mirror-still. Dinner slow, sleep early.

Where to stay in Uzungol (one night)

• Lakefront hotels vs hillside bungalows is the choice; the long-established lakeside houses (Inan Kardesler and its neighbours) and the newer bungalow terraces above the village both book out on summer weekends — reserve ahead and pick by current reviews. Expect €50–90 for a double with breakfast.

Day 4 — Mist photos, then over to Ayder

• 7:00 — The famous shot: morning mist lifting off the lake — photographers’ Uzungöl exists between 6:30 and 8:30. Then breakfast.
• 10:00 — Drive to Ayder plateau (~2 h): back down the valley, east along the coast into Rize province, then up the Fırtına valley — stop at the humpbacked Ottoman stone bridges over the rushing green river, and Çamlıhemşin’s riverside cafés.
• 13:00 — Lunch in Çamlıhemşin or on arrival in Ayder.
• 14:30 — Ayder (1,350 m): a plateau of wooden chalets and waterfalls under the Kaçkar peaks. Walk the meadows to the Gelintülü waterfall, ride the zipline if it’s running.
• 17:00 — The Ayder hot springs (kaplıca; modest fee, separate men’s/women’s sections) — thermal baths the region has used for centuries; the correct end to a driving day.
• 19:30 — Dinner at your lodge: muhlama — the Black Sea’s molten cheese-and-cornmeal fondue — with honey from the meadows you walked.

Where to stay in Ayder (two nights)

• Wooden bungalow lodges and small chalet hotels are the entire market (€60–100 doubles with breakfast in season). Book early for July–August — Gulf-holiday demand is real — and choose a balcony facing the falls; the view is the product.

Day 5 — Above the clouds: the high plateaus

The day this trip was built for. From Ayder, local jeeps and your own courage go higher.

• 8:30 — Jeep or guided 4x4 up to the Pokut and Sal plateaus (~€25–40/person with local drivers; rough track, ridiculous reward): hamlets of weathered wooden houses on a ridge above the cloud line — the sea of clouds below your feet on the right mornings is the single best photograph on Turkey’s Black Sea.
• 12:30 — Plateau lunch in a village house — eggs, honey, cheese, bread, all from within sight.
• 14:30 — Back down; afternoon at leisure — the Huser plateau viewpoint as an alternative or add-on, a Fırtına valley walk, or nothing at all in a hammock, which is also correct.
• 17:00 — Second visit to the hot springs (you will want it), or tea on the balcony as the evening mist performs.
• 19:30 — Last highland dinner. If the clouds never lifted today — that happens here — you got the mist version, which the locals will tell you is the true one.

Day 6 — Down through the tea country, back to Trabzon

• 9:30 — Descend to the coast and stop in Rize, Turkey’s tea capital: the Ziraat botanical tea garden above town (free; tea for pennies with the whole coast below), and a factory-shop stop to carry home the çay you’ve been drinking all week.
• 12:30 — Coast road west; lunch of hamsi (Black Sea anchovies, the regional obsession — best November–February, good always) or Akçaabat köfte round two.
• 15:00 — Back in Trabzon; the bazaar streets below Meydan for souvenirs — Trabzon’s braided hasır gold bracelets, tea, hazelnut everything.
• 19:00 — Farewell dinner; Boztepe again if the sunset invites.

Day 7 — Fly home

• Morning — Vakfıkebir bread and honey breakfast, drop the car, fly — Gulf travellers are home by evening on the direct; everyone else connects through Istanbul.