Bursa Day Trip from Istanbul: Explore Ottoman Empire's First Capital

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Discover the historic landmarks of Bursa, the Ottoman Empire’s first capital, on a small-group day trip from Istanbul. Visit the Green Mausoleum and Mosque, indulge in local cuisine, and immerse yourself in Turkey’s rich cultural heritage.

Duration: 12 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Istanbul - The Bursa Day Tour kicks off in the morning from Istanbul’s city center. A comfortable, air-conditioned bus will collect you from your hotel. A knowledgeable tour guide will be with you throughout the journey to offer insightful commentary and assistance.
Istanbul - To reach Bursa, the bus will head to a harbor for a delightful car…

Istanbul - The Bursa Day Tour kicks off in the morning from Istanbul’s city center. A comfortable, air-conditioned bus will collect you from your hotel. A knowledgeable tour guide will be with you throughout the journey to offer insightful commentary and assistance.
Istanbul - To reach Bursa, the bus will head to a harbor for a delightful car ferry ride across the Marmara Sea. During this ferry trip, you can admire the views of the Bosporus and the impressive bridges linking Asia and Europe. The total travel time between Istanbul and Bursa is approximately 2 hours.
Bursa - After your free time, the bus will proceed to the next stop on the tour. There will be a visit to a shop selling authentic Turkish delight. This globally renowned dessert is one of the sweetest memories you can take from Turkey, so be sure to purchase your favorites.
Uludag National Park - Once your free time concludes, you will board a cable car for an exhilarating ride to Bursa’s city center. What sets us apart from other companies offering Bursa tours is our inclusion of a genuine cable car trip lasting about 30 minutes, rather than a simple 7-minute chairlift ride. On our tour, you will be in a real cable car cabin.
Uludag National Park - Upon arrival in Bursa, you will visit a 600-year-old plane tree for some photo opportunities. Then, you will be driven to Uludag Mountain, where you can enjoy a delicious meal at a local restaurant in a serene environment. After lunch, you will have free time to explore and enjoy the mountain area.
Bursa - In the city center, a bus will be ready to take you to the Green Mosque, one of the city’s most significant monuments. It features several important rooms, including a library and tombs. The mosque’s interior is stunningly adorned with green tiles and is sure to impress.
Istanbul - The bus will then head back to Istanbul, retracing the same route. According to the schedule, you are expected to return to your hotel at night.
Istanbul - You will be dropped off at your hotels.

What's Included

Local guide
Ferry ride (depending on traffic)
Lunch
Cable car (optional)
Air-conditioned vehicle
Hotel pickup and drop-off

What's Not Included

Food and drink, unless specified
Gratuities

Additional Information

Relish an opportunity to learn about the Ottoman Empire’s first capital, Bursa, during a small-group Full day tour from Istanbul. Over centuries of rule, the Ottoman Empire influenced so much of Turkey’s culture and during this tour you will experience some of Bursa’s most historic landmarks. See the Green Mausoleum (Yesil Turbe) and the Green Mosque…

Location

Sultanahmet Old City Travel Agency

Peykhane Caddesi

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

3.8

(44 Ratings)

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910nayyari

Dec 29, 2024

Customer service experience evaluation - Excellent service, excellent communication and follow up with us. I especially liked their customer service and follow up to take care of our needs.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Ghem5

Dec 21, 2024

Bursa Trip with Family - Had a nice tour of Bursa. Enjoyed the Ottomn places , the silk shop and loved the cable car experience and snow in Uladag. Definitely recommend it to friends

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Arbarahman

Oct 8, 2024

Professional Tourist Guide and Fantastic Bus Driver - Omar our fantastic tour guide and the sriver Mustapha have done well managing our group and resolved our missing shopping goods. Long journey though and due to traffic jam. Overalls job well done

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Naomiigarcia97

Mar 26, 2024

Good deal - Good treatment and good price. We haven't done the excursion yet, but the fact that they pick us up at the hotel has won us over! Let's see what tomorrow has in store for us!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Chompie2

Dec 27, 2024

Tourist trip itinerary - If you only want to see and pay for this Bursa trip as advertised- see Bursa, do the cable car and enjoy snow on top of the mountain. This trip is not for you. That is what I thought I booked for. One can see this tour is all around the tour operator and not the tourist. Cut and paste piggy backing on the local operators - just charging more. Firstly, it a long day, 08h30 - 23h00, (which I get) as Bursa is far and traffic a nightmare in Istanbul. Firstly, the tour operator totally disorganised. Their pick up route wastes a lot of time zig zagging across Istanbul traffic before getting on with the trip. Then more stops and time wasted at tourist traps waiting so long for a coffee on the ferry you cannot enjoy the scenery; overpriced shops they stop at that no-one ever buys from - from a jam maker, silk bazaar, sweet shop - all goods you get cheaper in Istanbul. Still got to pay for toilet access and 200TL for a cold instant coffee makes this trip really a tourist trap tour. The famous multi coloured Bursa sign, 10 minute stop. Cable car 1st stop - 5 minutes. If you don't do quad biking, you look at the forest for an hour. In real terms, of the 15 hours trip, you get 3 hours of actual tour you paid for. And there are many tour operators doing the same route, so expect crowds. Queues. Frustration. Maybe look at alternative options. Don't know what (or if there are better) alternatives, but of the 15hours, 2 hours is your tour. 3 hours at tourist rip off shops. Rest is sitting in the bus.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jack

Sep 26, 2024

Don’t waste your time and money - The first stop on the tour was an unplanned ATV ride that was not advertised or mentioned on website. It cost the same amount as the entire tour and if you said no you just had to sit for an hour. Most of the rest of the tour was stopping at shops to buy random junk. I was most looking forward to seeing the green mosque, but when we finally got there it was prayer time. I waited and went into the mosque but then the tour guide demanded that I come back to the bus after 5 minutes. This tour sucked, the guide didn’t seem to know any actual history or at least he failed to tell us about it.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Lolita_v

Sep 13, 2024

The minibus chairs were... - The minibus chairs were so tight that my legs were cramped the whole time and had very bad aches, so triple ride for such a long trip. Water was leaking from the ceiling on us. Half of the tour was waste of time. The only good part was the cable cart ride. Also program was not clearly explained at the time of purchase, if we had known about the details of it, we would not have taken it.

Review provided by Viator

Jerriks

Dec 3, 2024

Complete Disaster and Deception – Avoid This Tour!!! - I had high expectations for this tour based on the description provided on TripAdvisor, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a huge disappointment. The itinerary was completely different from what was advertised. Instead of an engaging and informative experience, the entire day revolved around shopping, which was never mentioned in the description. This felt deceptive and completely unprofessional. The problems didn’t end there. The bus driver was incredibly rude, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere right from the start. To make matters worse, the tour guide was equally unprofessional, behaving disrespectfully and rudely towards guests. For instance, he argued with guests about playing music and even broadcasted his personal music at an excessively loud volume without seeking permission or considering the comfort of the group. This kind of behavior is absolutely unacceptable and far from what one would expect from a paid service. The experience felt like a complete waste of both time and money. I had been looking forward to an enjoyable day based on the advertised program, but what I received was far from it. It not only ruined my mood but left me feeling frustrated and cheated. I would strongly advise anyone considering this tour to think twice before booking. It is poorly organized, with unprofessional staff and a misleading itinerary. The service provided did not come close to meeting expectations, and I would not recommend this experience to anyone. Overall, I feel that this tour was not worth the cost, and the lack of professionalism, coupled with false advertising, made it one of the most disappointing travel experiences I’ve ever had.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Daniel_b

Nov 14, 2024

A Scam Tour - This tour is a scam. I booked a tour that was listed as 3 hours in Bursa to explore the old town as well as 2 hours to explore the old town of Cumalikizik. It also included lunch in Uludag National Park. What we received was a visit to an ATV Park, Turkish Delight Factory (Shop), Jam Factory, a 600 old tree?, a ski lift stop (optional - but you couldn't do anything else whilst you waited 40 minutes, a minimal lunch at 3.30pm and then a visit to the green Mosque after dark for 45mins only - The Tomb was closed. Home by 10.30pm. I will try and get my money back. What is very disappointing is that I choose this tour to visit the UNESCO sites in the area and sadly only visited 1 and it is unknown, if ever, I will be back this way to look again.

Review provided by Viator

Sylvia_g

May 6, 2024

Bad - I felt in trapped and exploited. Total focus was on taking us into numerous factories and commercial premises so they could get kickbacks. The cable car up the mountain was very nice but sight seeing didn’t commence until 3 pm. Didn’t get to eat till after 4 pm and didn’t return to hotel because of all the commercials stops until 11:45 pm despite there being young children on board and everybody being very very tired I was not dropped back to my hotel as per my written program and I felt very vulnerable alone on the city streets so late at night DO NOT TAKE THIS TOUR

Review provided by Viator

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