Which day is Bursa, and can the order change?

It sits on day four: the first two days settle you into the city and the historic peninsula, then the Bosphorus, then out of town. The order can change, but the ferry and the Uludağ road get busy at weekends; a weekday makes for an easier day.

When is there snow on Uludağ?

From December to the end of March, deepest in January and February. In summer the summit is green and cool, with no snow. If snow is the reason for your trip, the dates have to be chosen accordingly — going in summer and finding none is the most common disappointment.

Are six days enough for two cities?

Yes, because Bursa is a day trip — the accommodation does not change and you stay in the same hotel. With no packing and no hotel change, two cities move at the pace of one. Add a third city and the accommodation changes, taking the length to eight days.

6 daysIstanbul · Bursa

Istanbul and Bursa in 6 Days

Uludağ and Cumalıkızık are added to the city programme — the most requested route in the snow season.

Day by day

1Day
Arrival and welcome
Met at the airport and taken to your hotel. The programme begins the next morning.
2Day
The historic peninsula
Sultanahmet, Hagia Sophia, Topkapı and the bazaars. Three to four kilometres of walking across the day; with children the pace is set accordingly.
3Day
The Bosphorus and Beyoğlu
A Bosphorus cruise, then Galata and Beyoğlu. Free time in the evening along the Ortaköy or Bebek shore.
4Day
Bursa and Uludağ
Crossing the Marmara by ferry — the journey itself is a sight. Up Uludağ by cable car; there is snow at the summit from December to March. On the way back, the Grand Mosque and Koza Han.
5Day
Cumalıkızık and a free day
Breakfast and a walk in the Ottoman village of Cumalıkızık, then back to Istanbul. The rest of the time is free — in family and honeymoon programmes the half-days left empty are often the most remembered.
6Day
Shopping and departure
Shopping according to your flight time, then the transfer to the airport. Luggage travels in the car so you walk around empty-handed.

What the programme includes

Airport meet-and-greet and return transfer
Private air-conditioned vehicle and fuel
Arabic-speaking guide or driver
An itinerary built around prayer times
Intercity journeys with the same vehicle and driver

Common questions about this programme

The programme bends to you

These are a starting point. You can add a day, drop a stop or reorder the route — the tours are private, so you never have to fit a group's schedule.

How the price is set

Price on request

A package price depends on the number of travellers, the hotel class and the dates, so we do not publish a fixed figure. Send your dates and party size and we will put the total in writing the same day. Nothing starts until you approve it.

Ask about this package

Cities covered

Istanbul · Bursa

What sets the price

We do not print a fixed figure on the programme pages, and the reason is that the same programme does not cost two families the same. Four things set the price.

How many people
The cost of the vehicle and driver is per car, not per person; the vehicle side of a programme for two and one for six is almost the same. That is why the per-person figure drops noticeably for larger families.
The date
The summer months and the two Eid periods are the highest; November to March is the easiest. The gap is wider on the hotel side and narrower on the vehicle.
Hotel class and district
You choose the hotel part of the programme. The same programme can be built around three stars in Sultanahmet or five on the Bosphorus shore.
Whether flights are included
Domestic and international tickets are not part of the programme; if you want, we buy them in your name, and if not, you buy them yourself.

Once you send us those four, we reply the same day with the total and a day-by-day draft. The figure we give does not change afterwards.

Who this programme suits

Six days is enough to see Istanbul comfortably and add one more city. Four days in Istanbul, then a night in Bursa.

The reason for that shape: making Bursa a day trip gives two and a half hours of the day to the road and tightens the pace. Staying a night splits the day in two — you can stay longer at the cable car, go to the thermal baths, or have breakfast at Cumalıkızık without hurrying.

It suits: those seeing Istanbul for the first time who want to add something, anyone interested in Ottoman history, and those who want Uludağ in the snow season (December–March).

The difference is larger for families with small children: on a day trip the child tires on the road and the second half of the programme stops working. A night makes both days pass comfortably.

Accommodation in Bursa is noticeably kinder than in Istanbul, and its thermal hotels give better value at the same budget.