12 Days Istanbul, Bursa & Trabzon Tour Package

What This Package Covers

The 12 Days Istanbul, Bursa & Trabzon Tour Package combines three destinations that are rarely booked together: Istanbul's historic peninsula, the mountain city of Bursa, and Trabzon on the eastern Black Sea coast. Instead of arranging each leg separately, travellers follow one route with transfers, hotels and sightseeing already sequenced by Haqqi Tours. The order moves from Istanbul's mosques, palaces and bazaars to Bursa's quieter squares and thermal air, then east to Trabzon's monasteries and lakes. Everything included in the twelve days is confirmed before departure, so the group knows exactly what each stop involves and how the days connect from one city to the next.

Istanbul's Old City and Bosphorus

The twelve days open in Istanbul, where three of the package's headline stops, Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace, sit close enough together around Sultanahmet that the group covers them without a single transfer between sites. A separate day covers the Bosphorus by boat, tracing the strait that divides the European and Asian sides of the city, with stops that can include Dolmabahçe Palace and the covered lanes of the Grand Bazaar. These Istanbul days are paced so that a full history-focused day is followed by a lighter one on the water, which suits families travelling with children or older relatives who prefer not to walk continuously.

Bursa's Mountain and Markets

After Istanbul, the route moves inland to Bursa, the first Ottoman capital, where the pace slows noticeably. A cable car ride up Uludağ gives views over the city and its surrounding plain, while the Green Tomb and the Grand Mosque represent Bursa's early Ottoman architecture at closer range. Cumalıkızık, a preserved Ottoman village on the edge of town, and Bursa's covered silk market fill out the remaining time, giving the package a change of rhythm between Istanbul's crowds and Trabzon's landscapes. Bursa functions as the package's middle stretch, shorter than the stays either side of it.

Trabzon, Sumela and the Eastern Black Sea

Trabzon closes the package with a different landscape again: green hills, tea gardens and the Black Sea itself. The Trabzon leg of the twelve days climbs to Sumela Monastery, a structure carved into a cliff face over a forested valley that remains the region's single most photographed stop, before the same day continues on to Uzungöl and its pine-ringed lake. Back in Trabzon itself, the package's city tour takes in the former Hagia Sophia church, converted long ago into a museum, before climbing Boztepe hill for a wider look at the town spread along the Black Sea shore. These days are noticeably different in character from Istanbul and Bursa, which is part of why the three cities work well as one package rather than three separate trips.

Who This Twelve-Day Package Suits

This length of package suits families and small groups who have around two weeks available and want to see more than one region of Turkey without managing three separate bookings. It works for a Gulf family wanting a mix of history, city life and mountain or coastal scenery in one trip, or for a group that has already visited Istanbul and now wants Bursa and Trabzon added without starting the planning again from scratch. Because the route includes both busy city days and quieter stretches in Bursa and the Black Sea hills, it also suits travellers with children or older family members who need a change of pace built into the schedule.

How the Three Cities Connect

Nobody on this twelve-day route has to book their own leg between the three cities, since every inter-city move from Istanbul onward is already built into the package price and schedule. Bursa is reached from Istanbul by a short crossing and road transfer, while Trabzon, on the far side of the country, is connected by a longer transfer that Haqqi Tours books and confirms in advance. A guide and driver accompany the group at each stage, so the movement between cities is treated as part of the itinerary rather than a gap in it. Luggage, timing and hotel check-in at each stop are coordinated so the group does not have to plan the logistics themselves.

What to Bring and Expect

Because the twelve days cover a capital city, a mountain town and a Black Sea region, the climate and terrain change more than on a single-city trip. Comfortable walking shoes suit the cobbled streets of Sultanahmet and Cumalıkızık alike, and a light layer is useful for Uludağ and the hills around Trabzon, which are cooler than Istanbul. Across all three stops on this route, from the Blue Mosque to the Trabzon museum visit, covered shoulders and knees are the general expectation once the group steps inside any place of worship. Camera equipment is worth carrying on the Sumela and Uzungöl day, where the walk up to the monastery and the lakeside views are the main draw of the stop.

Booking the 12-Day Package

This twelve-day package is arranged through Haqqi Tours' operations desk, which is in contact with customers on WhatsApp in Arabic and English. Once the dates, hotel preferences and any adjustments to the day tours are agreed, the full schedule and what it includes are confirmed in writing before payment, so the group can see the complete plan for all twelve days in advance. As a new package, availability and any seasonal changes to the day trips are checked directly with the desk rather than assumed from a fixed calendar. Once everything is set, the group receives a single confirmed plan covering Istanbul, Bursa and Trabzon rather than separate confirmations for each stage.