Nature Escapes Around Bursa: Saitabat Waterfall, İnkaya Plane Tree and Suuçtu

Bursa's nickname Yeşil Bursa ("Green Bursa") comes not only from the turquoise tiles of the Green Tomb, but also from its monumental Ottoman plane trees (çınarlar), planted at the birth of the empire as symbols of longevity and shelter, and the waterfalls fed by Mount Uludağ's snowmelt.

1. The 615-Year-Old İnkaya Monumental Plane Tree (İnkaya Tarihi Çınarı)

Located in the old village of İnkaya just 10 minutes uphill from Çekirge along the main road climbing toward Mount Uludağ (reached easily on Bus F1 or Bus 95 from Çekirge/Acemler), the İnkaya Plane Tree was planted around the year 1400 AD at the dawn of the Ottoman state. Standing 37 metres tall with a trunk circumference of nearly 10 metres (requiring six adults holding hands to encircle its base), the tree divides into eighteen massive main branches, each as thick as an ordinary mature tree and supported by iron props, casting a cool green canopy over an entire 920-square-metre village square of tiered wooden tea terraces and souvenir stalls.

2. Saitabat Waterfall (Saitabat Şelalesi, 10 minutes east of Cumalıkızık)

Just four kilometres uphill from Cumalıkızık Village in the Kestel district (a 10-minute taxi hop after your morning walk in Cumalıkızık, or reached on Bus D12 from Kestel Metro station), the Saitabat Waterfall (Güvercinlik) plunges down a mossy limestone canyon shaded by plane and beech trees. Alongside the rushing water, the local Saitabat Rural Women's Solidarity Association (Saitabat Köyü Kadınları Derneği) runs a famous community restaurant serving homemade village breakfasts, hand-rolled mantı dumplings and wood-fired pastries.

3. Suuçtu Waterfall and Oylat Cave (Half-Day Forest Drives)

• Suuçtu Waterfall (In Mustafakemalpaşa, 85 km west of Bursa): a 38-metre fault-line waterfall cascading into an emerald pool surrounded by a magnificent forest of tall beech trees that turns fiery orange and red every October and November.
• Botanical Park & Soğanlı Zoo (Inside Central Bursa): if you want a flat, traffic-free green walk right inside the city without driving into the mountains, Bursa's 400,000-square-metre Soğanlı Botanical Park (15 minutes north of Osmangazi) features Japanese, French and English rose gardens, bicycle tracks and a reconstructed historic village square housing a branch of original Kebapçı İskender.