Turkey · Black Sea · Travel guide
What a night in an Ottoman konak costs, when the old town is empty and why Safranbolu deserves more than a day trip from Ankara.
Photo: Akif Karadoruk / Pexels
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Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Flights and hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in Turkish lira (TRY). The exchange rate moves a lot, which is why all prices here are given in francs and euros. Cards are accepted almost everywhere; you need cash for the dolmuş, markets and tips. Flight time: 3 to 4 hours.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
Family guesthouse in a three-storey Ottoman konak in the heart of the old town, 150 metres from the Cinci hamam. Rooms in traditional Safranbolu style with wood, built-in benches and private bathroom, including double, triple and family rooms. Breakfast with eggs, cheese, olives and honey in the garden. Simple, honest and very cheap for the location.
The backpacker address in Safranbolu, in an old house below the main mosque, with five simple rooms without air conditioning. Shared kitchen, a roof terrace with a view over the rooftops, helpful owners with bus and tour tips. Unbeatably central for the price, but the stairs are steep and the walls thin.
Small konak in a quiet lane a few minutes from the Cinci Han, with six rooms, wooden ceilings and a garden for breakfast. Simple, clean and personally run; the hosts speak some English and organise taxis for your excursions. A good middle choice between guesthouse and hotel.
Mid-range
Carefully restored konak with original built-in cupboards, carved ceilings and a shady courtyard with the fountain that gives the house its name. Rooms vary, with the upper ones looking out over the old town. Good breakfast, friendly service, one of the most popular places in town, so book early.
Konak of the family that makes the best-known lokum in town, with generous rooms, an in-house hamam and a breakfast that naturally ends with lokum. Central location on the edge of the bazaar. There is no private parking; if you come by car, you park in the public car parks on the edge of the old town.
Historic house of a coffee-trading family, converted into a boutique hotel with just a few rooms, a wooden balcony over the lane and a quiet garden. Well-kept rooms, modern bathrooms, breakfast with homemade jams. Personal service that takes care of excursions and hamam reservations. Only a few rooms, so book early.
Luxury
Three listed konaks, restored with great care by an architect couple and furnished with antiques, kilims and art. Winner of several international awards, every room different, garden with a view of the old town. For Safranbolu, the house where history and comfort come together best.
Historic konak in the Mescit lane, a few steps from the bazaar, with a garden, restaurant and rooms, some of which look out over the rooftops of the old town. Private bathrooms, careful furnishings, a breakfast that guests single out for praise, and one of the highest ratings in town. The upper floors are reached by stairs only, paid parking nearby.
Konak around 170 years old with eight rooms, carefully restored with wood carvings, built-in cupboards and a garden with a terrace above the town. Not every room has a private bathroom, but the hostess Sevgi Hanım is the heart of the house. Breakfast with regional produce. One of the best-rated places in the old town, much in demand with Turkish guests.
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The UNESCO old town with konaks, bazaar, mosques and Hıdırlık Hill as the viewpoint. Three hours on foot; with a guide you learn how people lived in the houses. Most beautiful early in the morning or in the evening.
Caravanserai of 1645 in the heart of the old town, today a hotel; the courtyard is freely accessible and the roof for a small fee. Best view over the tiled roofs, especially in the late afternoon, café in the courtyard.
Ottoman bath from the 17th century, still in operation with separate sections. Scrub and foam massage for CHF 15 to 25 (about EUR 16 to 27), one of the most authentic hamam experiences in Turkey. Ideal for first-timers, towel provided.
A fully furnished konak as a museum: living quarters, wall cupboards with built-in bath, kitchen and guest wing show how an Ottoman family lived in the 18th century. Low entry fee, one hour, combined with the old town walk.
Unrestored konak village eleven kilometres to the east, with houses you can walk through and a historic wash house. Even quieter than Safranbolu itself. By taxi or as part of a tour of the surroundings, allow two hours, tea house in the village.
Stone aqueduct from the 18th century over the Tokatlı gorge with a glass platform above the drop. Hiking trail back through the gorge to town, two to three hours. Combines well with the Yörük village for a tour of the surroundings.
Visit a lokum maker and a certified saffron shop. Samples everywhere; the saffron from Davutobası is genuine and expensive, better to leave everything else alone. The saffron festival takes place in October.
Harbour town on the Black Sea, 90 minutes to the north, with a Genoese castle, two bays and fish restaurants on the water. In summer with a swimming stop, otherwise for fish and coastal views. As a tour or by bus, 90 minutes each way.
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Safranbolu cooks Ottoman and western Black Sea: dumplings with walnut, filled layered pastry, lamb from the pit oven, and over everything the saffron from the surrounding villages, which ends up in lokum, tea, rice and dessert. You eat in the konaks and the places around the Cinci Han; quality is high, prices are fair.
Lokum with real saffron, walnuts or hazelnuts, soft and not too sweet, made in the workshops of the old town. A 500-gram box CHF 6 to 10 (about EUR 6.50 to 11), samples are offered everywhere.
Tip:Taste, then buy; the boxes are airtight and keep for several weeks as a gift.
Thin, multiply folded pastry filled with spinach, cheese or potato and fried in butter in the pan. The breakfast pastry of Safranbolu, CHF 2 to 4 (about EUR 2 to 4.30) each.
Tip:Before nine in the morning, when bükme comes warm from the pan; with ayran or tea a complete breakfast.
Handmade dumplings filled with curd cheese or walnut, topped with butter and walnuts, related to mantı but larger and softer. CHF 5 to 8 (about EUR 5 to 8.50) per portion.
Tip:Book in the evening, at weekends the old town restaurants are full; order peruhi and kuyu kebabı together and share.
Lamb slow-cooked for hours in a pit oven until it falls off the bone, served with rice and onions. The feast dish of the region, CHF 10 to 15 (about EUR 11 to 16) per portion.
Tip:Not in every place every day; drop by in the morning and ask whether kuyu kebabı is being made today.
Breakfast in the courtyard of an Ottoman house: bükme, village cheese, walnuts, honey with kaymak, eggs, homemade jams and saffron tea. CHF 8 to 12 (about EUR 8.50 to 13) per person, usually included at konak hotels.
Tip:Possible without staying overnight, book at weekends; afterwards climb the steps to the Hıdırlık hill.
Golden-yellow tea from a few saffron threads, mild and floral, served in a glass in the old town cafés. CHF 1 to 2 (about EUR 1.10 to 2.10) a glass, a tin of saffron threads to take home CHF 8 to 12 per gram.
Tip:Drink it in the afternoon in one of the courtyards, and when buying saffron take only certified goods; Davutobası is the growing village.
Sweet rice pudding with saffron, rose water and pine nuts, golden and light, the traditional wedding dessert of Anatolia. CHF 2 to 4 (about EUR 2 to 4.30) per bowl.
Tip:To finish after the kuyu kebabı, served cold, with Turkish coffee.
Dry, long-keeping baklava with walnuts from the region, less soaked in syrup than the Gaziantep kind, but keeps for weeks. CHF 10 to 15 (about EUR 11 to 16) per kilo.
Tip:Buy it as a gift, the boxes survive the flight without trouble; fresh it tastes best with tea.
Safranbolu owes its name and its wealth to saffron, which was grown in the fields around the town and in the Middle Ages was worth more than gold. The town lay on the caravan route between Istanbul and the Black Sea, and from the 17th century it became a trading post where merchants, tanners, blacksmiths and saddlers grew prosperous. The money flowed into the houses: three-storey konaks of wood and mud brick with courtyards, carved ceilings, built-in cupboard bathrooms and separate wings for family and guests. Because the town stood still economically in the 20th century while the steel town of Karabük next door grew, the konaks were never demolished. Around 2,000 historic buildings survive, over 800 of them protected. In 1994 UNESCO added Safranbolu to the World Heritage list as one of the best-preserved Ottoman townscapes. The Çarşı old town with the Cinci Han, a caravanserai of 1645, the Cinci Hamam and the workshops in the bazaar has been restored since then. Most of the residents have stayed, the craftsmen still work, and saffron has been grown again for some years now, in small quantities but with great pride.
Safranbolu lies three hours from Ankara and five from Istanbul, close enough for weekend trips. On Saturday and Sunday tour groups push through the lanes, the restaurants on the market square are full, the konaks are booked out and more expensive. From Monday to Thursday, by contrast, the old town is almost empty, and in the evening all you hear are footsteps on the cobblestones and the muezzin. Plan two nights midweek. Konak prices are then CHF 50 to 90 (about EUR 54 to 96) instead of CHF 80 to 140. Day trippers only see the town between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., when it is at its least beautiful. The early morning with mist over the rooftops and the evening with lit-up lanes are the real Safranbolu. Hıdırlık Hill above the old town is the viewpoint for both, five minutes on foot from the caravanserai.
Almost every hotel in the old town is a restored konak, but the quality of restoration varies enormously. The good houses have kept the original wooden ceilings, wall cupboards and the built-in bathrooms, the gusülhane, and have modernised the rooms only cautiously. The bad ones have laminate, plastic windows and rooms that have nothing left to do with the house. Look closely at the photos of the rooms, not just the facade. Ottoman konaks have low doors and steep stairs; with lots of luggage or mobility problems that is tiresome, so ask for a ground-floor room. Rooms facing the lane are noisier in the morning when the delivery vans arrive. In winter the wooden houses are cold, and a konak with central heating instead of an electric heater is then worth its weight in gold. Breakfast in Safranbolu is excellent almost everywhere and included.
The Cinci Han is the caravanserai of 1645 in the middle of the old town, today a hotel, but the courtyard is freely accessible and the roof for a small fee, and from there you have the best view over the tiled roofs. Opposite lies the Cinci Hamam from the same period, still in operation with separate sections; a bath with scrub and massage costs CHF 15 to 25 (about EUR 16 to 27) and is one of the most authentic hamam experiences in Turkey. In the bazaar around the han, shoemakers, coppersmiths, saddlers and woodcarvers still work, and unlike in Istanbul you buy here directly from the craftsman. The Yemeniciler Arastası, the shoemakers' lane, is roofed with vines and the loveliest place for a tea. The Köprülü Mehmed Pasha Mosque and the İzzet Pasha Mosque are the two main mosques, both Ottoman and freely accessible.
Safranbolu sells saffron on every corner, but not all of it is genuine and not all of it is local. Real Safranbolu saffron is grown in the village of Davutobası and is expensive: a gram costs CHF 8 to 12 (about EUR 9 to 13). What is offered for CHF 2 in plastic bags is safflower or imported. Buy in a shop with a certificate or directly from the farmers, not at a stall. The second product is lokum, which in Safranbolu is made with saffron, walnuts or hazelnuts; the shops hand out samples, and a 500-gram box costs CHF 6 to 10. Add saffron tea, saffron soap and kuru baklava, a dry, long-lasting baklava variety that makes a good gift. In the old town restaurants order peruhi, homemade dumplings with walnut, and bükme, a filled flaky pastry. A dinner costs CHF 10 to 15.
Around Safranbolu there are three excursions that fill half a day. The Yörük village, Yörük Köyü, eleven kilometres to the east, is an unrestored konak village where time has stood still even more clearly than in the town, with a laundry house and konaks that can be visited for a small fee. The 18th-century İncekaya aqueduct spans the Tokatlı gorge, next to it a glass terrace hanging over the drop, entry around CHF 2 (about EUR 2), and a hiking trail back through the gorge towards town. The Bulak Mencilis cave with its stalactites is interesting for cave enthusiasts and skippable for everyone else. You reach all three by taxi; a round trip of three to four hours costs CHF 30 to 40, or you book a small tour at your hotel. With a hire car everything is within an hour's drive.
Safranbolu has no airport. From Ankara, buses of the Metro and Safran Turizm companies run several times a day and take three hours to Safranbolu; the trip costs CHF 10 to 15 (about EUR 11 to 16). Ankara-Esenboğa airport is reachable from Zurich with Turkish Airlines and Pegasus via Istanbul or at times directly. From Istanbul, buses take five to six hours, which is only worthwhile if you are visiting Istanbul anyway. The buses stop in the new town district of Kıranköy, from where a taxi for CHF 3 or a city bus takes you to the Çarşı old town. If you are travelling by hire car, combine Safranbolu with Amasra on the coast, 90 kilometres away, or with Amasya, 300 kilometres. The old town itself is car-free, so park on the edge. A hire car in Safranbolu is unnecessary; the town and the excursions are cheaper by taxi.
Two nights midweek. One day for the old town with Cinci Han, hamam, bazaar and Hıdırlık Hill, half a day for the Yörük village and the İncekaya aqueduct. Doable as a day trip from Ankara, but you miss the evenings that make the place.
April to June and September to October, with mild temperatures and little rain. In October the saffron blooms and there is a saffron festival. Summer is hot but dry, winter cold with snow on the tiled roofs, which looks very pretty but means cold konaks.
Fly to Ankara (ESB) with Turkish Airlines or Pegasus, often via Istanbul, for CHF 250 to 400 (about EUR 270 to 430) return. From Ankara it is three hours by bus for CHF 10 to 15. Alternatively from Istanbul in five to six hours by bus or as part of a hire-car road trip along the Black Sea coast.
Yes, it is one of the most pleasant hamams for first-timers: historic, not overpriced for tourists and with separate sections for men and women. A bath with scrub and foam massage costs CHF 15 to 25 (about EUR 16 to 27). Towel and slippers are provided; you can bring swimming trunks or a bikini.
Real saffron consists of deep red, thread-like stigmas, costs CHF 8 to 12 (about EUR 9 to 13) per gram and is sold in small tins or jars, often labelled with the origin Davutobası. Anything offered in plastic bags for a few francs is safflower or a blend. When in doubt, stick to Safranbolu lokum.
Yes, especially in summer. Amasra is a small harbour town with a Genoese castle, two beaches and good fish restaurants, 90 kilometres to the north. Reachable in 90 minutes by bus or hire car, as a day trip or with an overnight stay. The combination of Ottoman town and Black Sea coast makes a good three-day route.
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