7-Day Black Sea Culinary & Highland Tour: Trabzon, Rize & Ayder
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Duration
7 days
Max Group Size
40
Departure Type
Scheduled
Guiding Method
Fully guided
Physical level
moderate
Operated In
Age Requirement
11 - 99 Ages
About this tour
Discover a different side of Turkey on a seven-day culinary journey through the eastern Black Sea region. From Trabzon’s bakeries to Rize’s tea gardens and the mountain villages around Çamlıhemşin, this tour follows the ingredients and traditions that shape local life. Taste bubbling kuymak, freshly baked regional pide and meals built around cornmeal, beans, leafy greens and dairy products. Explore tea-growing landscapes and meet a local host for an introduction to tea production, followed by a tasting. Continue into the Fırtına Valley, where forested slopes, stone bridges and village kitchens set the scene for a slower pace. Enjoy a hands-on cooking experience, visit Ayder and spend time learning about seasonal highland life. With guided excursions, regional meals and opportunities to meet local people, this Black Sea food tour brings together the pleasures of the table and the landscapes behind them.
Route
- 1TrabzonEuropeTurkeyStart
- 2RizeEuropeTurkey
- 3ÇamlıhemşinEuropeTurkeyRize
- 4AyderEuropeTurkeyRize
- 5TrabzonEuropeTurkeyEnd
What makes this tour special
Itinerary
Arrive at Trabzon Airport and meet your transfer representative for the journey to your hotel.
After check-in, take some time to relax. Depending on your arrival time, enjoy a short introductory walk through the city centre or along the waterfront.
In the evening, meet your guide over a welcome dinner. Enjoy a selection of regional dishes and learn how the Black Sea’s climate, farming traditions and coastal setting influence its cooking.
The menu may include soup, vegetable dishes and a seasonal meat or fish main course.
Meals: Dinner
Overnight: Trabzon
After breakfast, explore Trabzon’s central market streets with your guide. Visit food shops and stalls selling regional cheeses, butter, cornmeal and other ingredients used in local kitchens.
Pause for a shared kuymak tasting. Served hot, its melted cheese and cornmeal mixture is traditionally enjoyed with bread.
Continue to a bakery or restaurant for a regional pide lunch. Discover the dough, fillings and baking techniques behind this Black Sea favourite. Depending on the venue, watch part of the preparation before enjoying freshly baked pide.
In the afternoon, visit Atatürk Mansion and spend time appreciating the city’s cultural setting. Finish with tea and a short waterfront walk before returning to your hotel.
The evening is free for independent dining.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and kuymak tasting
Overnight: Trabzon
After breakfast, travel east to Rize.
Visit a tea garden with a local host to learn about cultivation, harvesting and the role of tea in everyday life. Walk through an accessible section of the garden and enjoy views of the surrounding landscape.
Continue with a hosted introduction to tea production at a selected producer or workshop. Learn about the stages that turn fresh leaves into finished tea, followed by a guided tasting.
Fresh-leaf processing and harvesting activities depend on the season and the host’s operating schedule. Outside the production period, the experience uses demonstrations and prepared materials.
Enjoy a regional lunch before checking into your hotel. Later, take a relaxed walk in Rize or enjoy free time.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and tea tasting
Overnight: Rize
After breakfast, depart for Çamlıhemşin and the Fırtına Valley.
Follow the river through forested scenery, stopping at a historic stone bridge and a suitable village viewpoint. Your guide will introduce the area’s architecture, farming traditions and seasonal movement between villages and highland pastures.
Later, join a local host or chef for a hands-on cooking experience. Depending on the season, prepare dishes such as black cabbage soup, corn bread, beans or a regional pastry.
Share the lunch you have helped prepare, with time to discuss recipes and everyday food traditions.
Check into your accommodation in the Çamlıhemşin–Ayder area. Enjoy some time to rest before a regional dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, cooking-session lunch and dinner
Overnight: Çamlıhemşin–Ayder area
After breakfast, explore Ayder and the surrounding mountain scenery.
Enjoy gentle walks on suitable paths and stop at viewpoints to appreciate the forested slopes. Your guide will explain how highland settlements change through the seasons and how local families traditionally use the mountain pastures.
Visit a local food venue for a lunch featuring regional dishes, which may include soup, corn bread, beans, dairy products and a seasonal main course.
Where available, meet a local producer or browse shops selling regional honey and other food products. The afternoon allows time to enjoy the setting before returning to your accommodation.
Dinner is at your own expense.
Meals: Breakfast and lunch
Overnight: Çamlıhemşin–Ayder area
After breakfast, set out for a suitable highland settlement selected according to weather, road conditions and local access.
Enjoy the changing scenery as you travel from the valley towards higher ground. Take a gentle guided walk and learn about seasonal grazing, village food storage and mountain hospitality.
Have lunch at a prearranged village or highland venue, with dishes based on available regional ingredients.
Return to your accommodation in the afternoon. In the evening, enjoy a farewell dinner celebrating the flavours discovered throughout the journey.
If higher roads are unsuitable, the day will follow a lower-altitude route through accessible villages and valley landscapes, with a regional lunch.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Overnight: Çamlıhemşin–Ayder area
After breakfast, check out and travel towards Trabzon.
Continue to Hamsiköy for a tasting of its well-known sütlaç, a creamy rice pudding. Enjoy the village setting before transferring to Trabzon Airport.
An evening departure flight is required for the full program. For an earlier flight, the Hamsiköy visit will need to be omitted or moved to another day where practical.
Meals: Breakfast and rice-pudding tasting
Trip includes
Included
6 nights’ accommodation in selected hotels or mountain properties:
2 nights in Trabzon - 4 Star Hotels
1 night in Rize - 4 Star Hotels
3 nights in the Çamlıhemşin–Ayder area - 4 Star Hotels
English-speaking professional guide during scheduled excursions and culinary experiences
Guiding Method
Fully guided
6 breakfasts.
5 lunches, including the cooking-session lunch.
3 dinners: welcome dinner, Day 4 regional dinner and farewell dinner.
Scheduled kuymak tasting.
Regional pide lunch.
Arrival and departure transfers at Trabzon Airport.
Air-conditioned transport for scheduled sightseeing and intercity travel.
Hosted tea-garden visit.
Tea-production introduction and tea tasting.
Hands-on regional cooking experience.
Hamsiköy rice-pudding tasting, subject to the agreed departure schedule.
Suitable local transport for the scheduled highland excursion, where required.
Entrance fee to Atatürk Mansion.
Host and participation fees for the included culinary activities.
Start and finish: The tour starts and ends at Trabzon Airport. Coordinate your flights with the operator before purchasing tickets.
Departure timing: Day 7 includes the return journey from the Çamlıhemşin–Ayder area and a detour to Hamsiköy. An evening flight is needed to complete both comfortably.
Accommodation: Final properties will be confirmed in the quotation. Mountain hotels vary in room size, heating, lift access and facilities. The three mountain nights may be based in Çamlıhemşin or Ayder according to availability.
Tea-production season: Fresh harvesting and active processing are seasonal. Hands-on participation depends on the producer’s arrangements; a live factory production line is not guaranteed.
Highland access: Higher settlements may be inaccessible because of snow, fog, rain or road conditions. A suitable lower-altitude alternative will be provided when necessary.
Seasonal village life: Highland communities are more active during the warmer months. Visits outside that period focus on accessible villages, regional cooking and valley landscapes.
Walking: Activities include uneven paths, steps and some slopes. The program uses gentle walks rather than extended mountain trekking.
Weather: Conditions can change quickly. Bring comfortable shoes, a waterproof jacket and an extra warm layer.
Regional menus: Fish, including anchovies, depends on seasonal availability. Meals may feature vegetables, beans, meat or other regional alternatives.
Dietary requirements: Tell us about allergies and dietary needs before booking. Cheese, butter, wheat, cornmeal and other ingredients feature throughout the tour, and kitchens may use shared preparation areas.
Cooking experience: Menus and the level of practical participation depend on the host, available ingredients and group size.
Group arrangements: Larger groups may use several local vehicles for highland visits and smaller rotations for cooking and tea experiences.
Itinerary flexibility: The order of activities may change around weather, access and host availability. Final hotels, venues and arrangements will be confirmed before travel.
Excluded
International and domestic flights.
Travel insurance and visa fees, where applicable.
Meals, drinks and extra tastings not listed as included.
Alcoholic beverages.
Optional rafting, ziplining and other adventure activities.
Thermal-bath or spa admission.
Additional excursions and museum visits outside the program.
Tips for guides, drivers and hosts.
Personal shopping, minibar and laundry.
Early check-in, late check-out and additional hotel nights.
Transfers outside the agreed schedule.
Availability
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Make this journey exclusively yours
By design, this is a group tour. You can however request a private, customized version of this tour for yourself or your private group of people. Private departures are usually more expensive, but come with these benefits:
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Itinerary can be tweaked and customized.
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