Bursa: What to Know Before You Go

Short answer: treat historic Bursa as an east-to-west linear terrace along the lower slopes of Mount Uludağ connected by the BursaRay metro and Nostalgic Tram T3, arrive in the afternoon at traditional İskender and pideli köfte shops before the daily meat supply sells out, and carry a warm fleece even in July when taking the cable car up to 1,800 metres on Uludağ.

How Bursa is Laid Out Along the Mountain Slope

Central Bursa stretches horizontally from west to east along a green shelf 150 to 250 metres above the fertile plain, with 2,543-metre Mount Uludağ rising immediately to the south. Following the main spine from west to east takes you chronologically through the early Ottoman Empire:

• West (Çekirge & Muradiye): the natural 45°C thermal hot-spring district of Çekirge (Sultan Murad I's 1365 Hüdavendigar Complex and the Old Kaplıca baths) and the tranquil 15th-century royal garden tombs of Muradiye.
• Centre (Tophane, Heykel & Hanlar Bölgesi): the hilltop citadel of Tophane (tombs of founders Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi) dropping straight down into the vaulted silk caravanserais of Ulu Cami, Koza Han and the Covered Bazaar.
• East (Yeşil, Emirsultan, Teleferik & Cumalıkızık): across the Gökdere stream via the 1442 Irgandı Bridge to the turquoise-tiled Green Mosque and Tomb (Yeşil Külliye), the lower station of the Uludağ Teleferik cable car, and the 700-year-old village of Cumalıkızık ten kilometres further east.

Cards, Cash and Mosque Etiquette

Contactless bank cards work at almost all restaurants, silk shops, the Teleferik and on BursaRay metro turnstiles, though carrying 300 to 500 lira in cash notes is helpful for village breakfast stalls in Cumalıkızık and Gölyazı. Because Bursa's flagship monuments (Ulu Cami, the Green Mosque and Tomb, and Muradiye) are revered working religious and royal burial sites, dress modestly covering shoulders and knees, remove shoes at the carpeted threshold, and women should carry a headscarf.