Best Things to Do in Bursa

Bursa rewards travellers who pair its extraordinary 14th- and 15th-century UNESCO monuments and silk markets with a morning in the alpine forests of Uludağ and long, unhurried lunches. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit.

1. Step inside the 20-domed Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami). Built in 1399 by Sultan Bayezid I, its forest of twelve massive stone piers holds 192 monumental Islamic calligraphy panels and a serene indoor 16-sided marble ablution fountain beneath an open skylight dome.
2. Drink tea and shop for silk in the courtyard of Koza Han (1491). Sit under ancient plane trees where Silk Road merchants once weighed silkworm cocoons, then browse forty upper-gallery boutiques selling pure Bursa silk scarves.
3. Admire the turquoise tiles of the Green Mosque and Green Tomb (Yeşil Külliye). Completed in 1421, Sultan Mehmed I's mosque and octagonal mausoleum showcase the finest early-Ottoman glazed tilework in existence.
4. Ride the 9-kilometre Bursa Teleferik Cable Car up Mount Uludağ. Glide for 25 minutes over chestnut and pine forests from Teferrüç up to the alpine meadows and ski slopes at 1,810 metres.
5. Wander the 700-year-old cobbled lanes of UNESCO-listed Cumalıkızık. Explore 270 preserved timber-and-rubble-stone Ottoman village houses painted in indigo, ochre andraspberry, and sit down for a 20-dish village breakfast.
6. Cross the 1442 Irgandı Artisan Bridge and visit Tophane. Walk across one of the world's only four historic shop-lined bridges, then watch the sunset over Bursa from the terrace beside Osman Gazi's tomb.
7. Stroll the magnolia gardens of the Muradiye Complex. Visit twelve tranquil 15th- and 16th-century imperial tombs decorated with rare blue-and-red hand-painted frescoes and underglaze tiles.
8. Taste authentic 1867 İskender Kebab and Kayhan Bazaar's Pideli Köfte. Watch sizzling foaming sheep's butter poured over vertical-roast lamb at the historic shops where the dish was born.
9. Soak in a 14th-century Thermal Hammam in Çekirge. Experience natural mineral-rich hot springs inside domes built under Sultan Murad I and Suleiman the Magnificent.
10. Take a day trip to the lake island of Gölyazı or walled Iznik (Nicaea). Walk across the bridge onto an ancient Greek fishing island on Lake Uluabat or explore the city of the Nicene Creed.