3 Days in Bursa: Grand Mosque, Silk Bazaar, Uludağ, Cumalıkızık and Gölyazı

This three-day itinerary follows Bursa's natural geography so you spend Day 1 walking downhill from west to east through the historic Ottoman core, Day 2 combining the 700-year-old village of Cumalıkızık with the cable car up Mount Uludağ, and Day 3 exploring either the lake island of Gölyazı and Mudanya or ancient Iznik. Read our BursaRay and tram guide before Day 1.

Day 1: Tophane, Ulu Cami, Koza Han Silk Bazaar, İskender Kebab & Green Complex

• Morning: start with a warm, oven-fresh tahinli pide and Bursa simidi at historic Abdal Fırını, then take the lift up to the citadel terrace of Tophane to see the 1905 Clock Tower and the changing of the guard at the Tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi.
• Morning: walk five minutes downhill into Ulu Cami (The Grand Mosque, 1399) to admire the indoor marble fountain and 192 monumental calligraphy panels, then step out the eastern door into the 1491 Koza Han silk caravanserai for Turkish coffee under the plane trees and silk shopping on the upper gallery.
• Midday: sit down for an authentic lunch of 1867 İskender Kebab with foaming sheep's butter at Kebapçı İskender's historic Blue Shop (or pideli köfte inside Kayhan Bazaar).
• Afternoon: walk or ride Nostalgic Tram T3 east to cross the 1442 Irgandı Artisan Bridge, visit the free Tofaş Museum of Anatolian Cars, and climb to the turquoise-tiled 1421 Green Mosque and Green Tomb (Yeşil Külliye) and hilltop Emirsultan.

Day 2: UNESCO Cumalıkızık Village Breakfast, Uludağ Cable Car & Thermal Bath

• Morning: ride BursaRay Metro Line 2 east to Cumalıkızık Village for a 20-dish traditional village breakfast inside a 300-year-old stone courtyard, then wander the water-channelled cobbled lanes and squeeze through 55cm-wide Cin Aralığı.
• Midday: head to Teferrüç station and board the 9-kilometre Bursa Teleferik Cable Car for the 25-minute glide up Mount Uludağ to the pine meadows of Sarıalan (1,635m) and the Hotel Zone (1,810m).
• Afternoon: descend to town, visit the twelve royal garden tombs of the Muradiye Complex, and spend the evening soaking in a 45°C natural mineral pool at a historic thermal hammam in Çekirge.

Day 3: Lake Uluabat (Gölyazı), Trilye & Mudanya (or Full-Day Trip to Iznik)

• Option A (Lake Island & Marmara Coast): spend the morning on the circular lake island of Gölyazı (750-year-old Weeping Plane Tree and a wooden rowboat ride among the lotus lilies on Lake Uluabat), then head to the Sea of Marmara coast for olive shopping in Trilye and a sunset fish dinner in Mudanya's Cretan Quarter.
• Option B (Classical & Ceramic History): take a 1-hour minibus north-east to lakeside Iznik (Ancient Nicaea) to walk the Roman city gates, Hagia Sophia and tile workshops.