Samsun
Samsun rises from the Black Sea coast where Atatürk first stepped ashore in 1919, beginning the nation's independence movement. Today, the port city blends maritime life with tea gardens and a forward-looking energy.
Samsun occupies a long sweep of the Black Sea coastline, backed by the mountains that trap moisture off the sea and keep the region perpetually green. As one of Turkey's principal ports on this coast, the city has a working energy that distinguishes it from quieter resort towns further east—a place where fishing boats and cargo vessels share the harbour, and the smell of the sea reaches the streets that climb away from the waterfront.
The Landing That Changed a Nation
Samsun entered world history in May 1919, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk arrived here and set in motion the events that would become the Turkish War of Independence. The ship that carried him, the Bandırma, is commemorated in the city's collective memory. A museum near the waterfront displays objects and documents from that period, and a statue marks the spot where he first stepped onto Turkish soil. The city's identity remains tied to this moment—a place of arrival and beginning.
Black Sea Life Along the Waterfront
The city's seafront promenade runs for several kilometres, offering views of the Black Sea and the ships that pass along one of the world's busiest maritime corridors. On warm afternoons, families fill the parks that line the shore, and the smell of grilled fish drifts from simple restaurants near the harbour. Samsun's markets sell the products that define this coast: hazelnuts in their fuzzy green shells, freshly picked tea leaves from the terraced gardens that climb into the mountains behind the city, and smoked fish hung in windows like decorations. The cuisine here is unpretentious and rooted in the sea and the steep, wet hillsides that surround the city.
Into the Green Mountains
The terrain rises sharply from the coast. A short drive inland brings you to tea plantations that stretch across hillsides in neat rows, harvested by hand through much of the year. The road climbs through valleys where small streams tumble downhill and villages sit in clearings among dense vegetation. This is the Black Sea at its most characteristic—lush, damp, and perpetually green, a landscape that produces hazelnuts, tea, and tobacco in quantities that find their way across Turkey and beyond. Samsun itself sits at the junction of roads that run east and west along the coast, making it a natural base for exploring the region's markets, coastal towns, and the green interior that rises behind them.
Find it on the map
- Samsun City
Tours that visit Samsun
No tours visit this place just yet — tell us where you want to go and we'll build one. See all tours
Before you book you should know
-
Is this trip right for you?
Our groups are capped at eight travellers, which is about a third of what the industry calls a small group. Eight people share one vehicle, one table at dinner and one guide's attention, and the day can change on the road without anybody being left behind. If you are looking for a coach, a fixed script and a microphone, this is not that.
Most days involve real walking, often on ground that was laid two thousand years before walking shoes: marble worn smooth, cobbles, uneven steps and long site paths with little shade. Bring shoes you can spend a morning in.
Some days move between regions and are largely a drive, with stops along the way. Summers are hot — well over 35°C inland — and winters are colder than most people expect, so layers, a hat and sunscreen earn their place in the bag whatever the month.
How demanding a particular trip is, is written on the trip itself: the physical rating in the header, and the day-by-day itinerary above.
-
Rooms, and travelling on your own
Trip prices are per person, sharing a twin room. Each traveller picks their own room while booking, so a party can mix the three:
- Twin share — two single beds, shared with someone you are travelling with or with a traveller of the same gender.
- Travelling as a couple — one double room.
- Individual room — a room of your own, for a single supplement on top of the trip price. Availability is limited, and the supplement for a given date is shown next to the option when you book.
Solo travellers are welcome on every departure, and most of our groups have one or two aboard.
-
Accommodation
The hotels named in an itinerary are a guideline rather than a guarantee. Where one is full, or has dropped below the standard we booked it for, we substitute a property of a similar standard in the same area — we would rather change the hotel than the trip.
Check-in is usually mid-afternoon. If you arrive early we will ask for the room, but no hotel can promise one before its own check-in time; luggage can normally be left at reception in the meantime. If you want the room from the night before, ask us and we will add the extra night to your booking.
-
Passports, visas and insurance
Entry requirements depend on your nationality and change without much notice, so the only reliable source is the official one: the government of the country you are travelling to, and your own foreign ministry's travel advice. Check both before you book a flight.
Many countries ask for a passport valid for at least six months beyond your travel dates, and for blank pages. It is worth looking at yours now rather than at the airport.
We ask every traveller to carry travel insurance covering medical treatment and repatriation, and we would strongly encourage cover for cancellation and for your luggage as well.
-
Your departure is guaranteed — the day can change
Once a departure is on the calendar it runs. We do not cancel a trip for want of a minimum number of bookings, so a booked date is one you can plan flights and leave around.
What can move is the shape of a day. Museums and archaeological sites change their hours, roads close, weather turns, a local holiday lands in the middle of the week. Where that happens your guide reorders the day, or swaps a stop for one of the same weight, and tells you why. Changes to a booked itinerary are covered by our Booking Terms & Conditions.
