Bursa Green Mosque and Uludag Full-Day Tour from Istanbul with Lunch

Bursa, the first Ottoman capital

Bursa lies about 150 kilometres south of Istanbul across the Sea of Marmara, on the slopes of Uludağ, and became the first capital of the Ottoman state when it was taken in 1326. The early sultans built mosques, bathhouses, inns and tombs here before the capital moved on, and the historic centre, together with the nearby village of Cumalıkızık, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city is also known as Green Bursa for its parks and plane trees, and for silk, towels, Turkish delight, candied chestnuts and İskender kebab.

A Bursa day trip from Istanbul takes about three hours each way by air-conditioned vehicle, sometimes with a ferry crossing of the Sea of Marmara depending on traffic and schedules; ferry tickets are included when the route is used. Pickup is between 07:45 and 09:00 and the return to Istanbul is in the late evening, so bring a passport or ID card, which is required for the passenger insurance.

Tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi

In the Tophane district, on the ridge of the old citadel above the city centre, stand the tombs of Osman Gazi, founder of the Ottoman dynasty, and his son Orhan Gazi, who captured Bursa and made it the capital. The present domed buildings date from 1863, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1855 destroyed the earlier chapel-turned-tomb, and are furnished in the ornate style of that period. The guided visit takes about 20 minutes, and the terrace beside the tombs has a clock tower and a sweeping view over the roofs and minarets of Bursa.

This is the historic heart of the Bursa tour, and your guide uses it to explain how a small frontier principality grew into an empire that lasted six centuries. Before and after the tombs the group stops at a Turkish delight shop, about 30 minutes, and at a jam shop selling regional products, about 15 minutes, with free time to taste and buy.

Uludağ Mountain

Uludağ, the Great Mountain, rises to 2,543 metres behind Bursa and is a national park and Turkey's best-known ski resort, with hotels and lifts at around 1,900 metres among pine and fir forest. The tour gives you about 1.5 hours of free time in the resort area: in winter the slopes are snow-covered and the chairlift and snow activities can be paid for on the spot, while from late spring to autumn the mountain offers cool air, forest walks and views over the plain.

Dress for the altitude whatever the season: warm clothing, gloves and warm shoes in winter, and a jacket even in summer, as the temperature can be 10 to 15 degrees lower than in Istanbul. On the way up the group stops for about an hour at a quad-bike area at the foot of the mountain, where a safari is optional and paid locally. Lunch, a halal set menu of Turkish meatballs, grilled chicken, rice, salad and a soft drink, is served during the day.

The Uludağ cable car

The highlight of the default option is the descent by the Uludağ cable car, one of the longest in the world at almost nine kilometres, which runs from the resort down through the forest to the Teferrüç station on the edge of the city. The gondolas carry the group over the treetops and rocky slopes with Bursa spreading across the plain below, and on clear days the view reaches the Sea of Marmara. The ride takes about 20 to 25 minutes and the cabins are enclosed, so it runs in most weather.

If the cable car cannot operate because of wind or technical reasons, the group comes down by the tour vehicle and the chairlift is included instead. Guests who choose the option without the cable car travel down by the vehicle; the cable car ticket can also be bought on the day if you change your mind, subject to availability. The order of the stops may change with traffic, weather and ferry times.

Green Mosque, Green Tomb and an Ottoman house

The last stop is the Yeşil district on the eastern side of the city, where the Green Mosque and the Green Tomb face each other across a small square. The mosque, finished in the early fifteenth century, is the masterpiece of early Ottoman architecture: a marble portal carved like lace, a prayer hall on the T-plan with a central fountain, and walls covered in green and turquoise tiles up to the mihrab, which is a single wall of glazed ceramic. The sultan's loge above the entrance is tiled like a jewel box.

Opposite, the Green Tomb is an octagonal mausoleum clad in turquoise tiles outside and in, with the tiled sarcophagus of the sultan who built it at its centre. The guided visit of the Green Mosque in Bursa, the tomb and a traditional Ottoman house nearby, with its wooden galleries and carved ceilings, closes the day before the three-hour return to Istanbul with drop-off in Sultanahmet, Fatih and Taksim.