Akçaabat is a city in the Eastern Karadeniz region on Turkey's Black Sea coast. In 2022 the population was 129,000.
Understand
[edit]This port shares the history of Trabzon, in being settled by Hellenistic people (who called it Plátanos, Πλάτανος, for its plane trees) then forming part of the Pontic kingdom then Roman and Byzantine empires, falling to the Ottomans in 1461. It was always subsidiary to Trabzon because inland access here is blocked by the mountains, with the valley roads petering out into goat tracks. It nevertheless burgeoned in modern times as mountain-dwellers moved into town, and migrant workers in Germany returned home.
Perhaps the most entertaining character to come out of Akçaabat, if you didn't have to share a room with him, was the writer Kadir Mısıroğlu (1933 – 2019). He opposed Atatürk's secular reforms and yearned to restore a caliphate, which he reckoned would get US backing. He claimed that Stalin ordered the Red Army to read the Quran in order to repel the Nazis, that William Shakespeare was a secret Muslim, and that Karl Marx's Das Kapital was dictated by demons.
Get in
[edit]
Trabzon Airport (TZX IATA) is 10 km east of that city. It has hourly flights from Istanbul (IST and SAW) and at least daily from Ankara, Izmir, Adana and Ercan. Take the bus downtown for transport out to Akçaabat.
Highway D010 follows almost the length of the Black Sea coast, west through Giresun, Ordu and Samsun, and east to Trabzon (15 km), Rize and Hopa near the border with Georgia.
Roads inland all dead-end in the mountains. Go via Trabzon for E97 across to Gümüşhane and into Anatolia.
Buses from Samsun take 5 hours; they're hourly round the clock, heading for Trabzon. Some start from Istanbul, and continue to Batumi in Georgia.
Bus operators include Metro Turizm, Flixbus and Ulusoy.
1 Otogar the bus station is by the marina.
Get around
[edit]Dolmuşes and taxis play the main streets.
See
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- Belediye Camii or Town Mosque is across the main highway from the bus station.
- Yeni Cami or New Mosque is 200 m south on Hacı Musaoğlu Sk. It was built in 1912.
- 1 Ortamahalle Museum, Kırlangıç Sk 1, ☏ +90 462 444 9610. daily 10:00-18:00. Town museum in the former St Michael church.
- Galinos is the district around the museum, with many historical wooden mansions in the local Neoclassical Pontic style.
- 2 Akçakale Fortress. M-F 08:00-17:00. Built circa 1300 and abandoned in the 19th century, it's now a sorry stump only worth seeing if you happen to be passing.
- 3 Çal Caves, Çal, Düzköy (Road to Düzköy then lane via Çiğdemli), ☏ +90 462 280 1700. Daily 09:00-19:00. A large set of caves with waterfalls.
- 4 Sera Lake is a resort area in the hills to the southeast.
Do
[edit]- Beach: town beaches are grubby and trash-strewn. The other problem is that D010 was built on reclaimed land along the coast, so the sea comes right up to the highway. Akçakale has the nearest good beach, by the fortress.
- Sebat Hamam has traditional Turkish baths on İnönü Cd.
- Fitness: a dozen gyms, such as Atlantis at Akçaabat Cd 63.
- Football: Trabzonspor play soccer in Süper Lig, the top tier: their stadium is midway between Trabzon and Akçaabat so it's easily reached.
- Akçaabat Sebatspor play down in the amateur leagues, though they were in Süper Lig as recently as 2005. Their Fatih stadium (capacity 6200) also hosts athletics.
Buy
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Kültür Park is a shopping centre next to the bus station.
Lots of small stores, such as Asya Market by Town Mosque at İnönü Cd 175, open daily 07:30-22:30.
Eat
[edit]- Saray is a restaurant within Kültür Park next to the bus station, open daily 08:00-00:00.
- Others nearby are Körfez Köfte, Zeki Usta Balik, Köfteci İsmail Usta, Komaroğlu Köfte Salonu, Horon, Cemilusta and Nihat.
Drink
[edit]A few cafes serve beer.
Sleep
[edit]- 1 New Akçaabat Hotel, Adnan Menderes Cd 115, ☏ +90 462 227 1150. Clean friendly place. B&B double 2000 TL.
- 2 Hanzade Park Hotel, Yeni Sk 1, ☏ +90 462 666 3777. Functional value-for-money hotel. B&B double 3500 TL.
- 3 Konak Park Hotel, Adnan Kahveci Blv 90, ☏ +90 462 248 1540. Mostly good reviews for this central place. B&B double 2500 TL.
- 4 DoubleTree by Hilton, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa Cd 43, ☏ +90 462 455 0000. Decent mid-range chain hotel. B&B double 3000 TL.
Connect
[edit]Akçaabat and the coast highway have 4G from all Turkish carriers. As of Sep 2025, 5G has not rolled out in Turkey.
Go next
[edit]- Trabzon is a bustling historic city with lots to see and do.
- You travel via Trabzon for the highway inland across the mountains or east into Georgia.
- Giresun west has many historic sites.