Turkey · Black Sea · Travel guide
What a week in the quietest harbour town on the Black Sea costs, why the prison is the main reason to visit and where you can really swim.
Photo: Yunus Tuğ / 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
Simple hotel right on the harbour, fish restaurants on the doorstep, the fortress wall around the corner. Rooms small but clean, some with sea view, breakfast with a view of the boats. No extras, but in the thick of it and at a price that is hard to beat in Sinop.
Small city hotel a few minutes from the harbour and the mantı lane, with functional rooms, air conditioning and Turkish breakfast. Nothing memorable, but reliable, central and cheap. A good choice for the first night after your flight or for short stays.
Freshly renovated apartments with a small kitchen and garden by the Karakum town beach, two kilometres from the old town. No hotel service, but plenty of space, very good reviews and fair prices by Sinop standards. Practical for beach days and self-caterers; to the old town by dolmuş or on foot along the water.
Mid-range
Named after the province's number plate code, a three-star city hotel with lift, room service and restaurant, 200 metres from the fortress. Central in the old town, everything within walking distance, paid parking nearby. Rooms on the small side but well kept, helpful service. A solid choice for families with a car and for short stays.
Modern hotel with bright rooms, good beds and a breakfast room with sea view, a few minutes from the harbour. Clean, quiet and with personal service that helps with excursions and taxis. By Sinop standards one of the more comfortable mid-range hotels, with parking and a lift.
Small hotel 300 metres from the Karakum town beach, with a terrace and sea view, bright rooms with parquet floors, air conditioning and in some cases a balcony and kitchenette. Solid furnishings, family-style service, pets allowed. The most practical location for a beach holiday; the old town is ten minutes away by dolmuş.
Luxury
Four-star hotel with 50 rooms on Karakum beach, with a seasonal outdoor pool, its own stretch of beach, a garden and free parking, just under four kilometres from the fortress. Not a design hotel, but spacious and with the most complete facilities in town. In Sinop this is the top category; in July and August book early and expect higher prices.
Three-star hotel right on the sea, around two kilometres from the centre, with generous rooms, sea views, an outdoor pool, its own beach and a restaurant known for fish. One of the best-rated places in town, with service that takes care of boat and taxi excursions. For Sinop the most rounded comfort package.
Hotel on the eastern tip of the peninsula, a four-minute walk from the beach, with a garden, seasonal pool, sun terrace and panoramic views over the Black Sea. 38 air-conditioned rooms, some with balcony, breakfast buffet, restaurant and bar, free parking. Sinop has no five-star hotel, and this quiet place with a view comes closest. Best reached by car or taxi.
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The prison in the fortress, in operation from 1887 to 1997, restored and open as a museum since 2023. Cell blocks, courtyard and the cell of Sabahattin Ali. Best with a guide, an hour and a half.
The walls have enclosed the old town since Pontic times, walkable in several places, with views of the harbour and peninsula. Head up onto the wall by the harbour for sunset, free access, some steps without railings.
By boat through the narrow bay of Hamsilos and on to the neighbouring bay of Akliman, forest down to the water, in summer with a swimming stop. Small boats from Hamsilos or tours from Sinop harbour, one to two hours.
The northernmost point of Turkey with lighthouse, cliffs and views of the open Black Sea. By taxi or hire car, combines well with Hamsilos. Impressive in wind, bring a jacket, café at the lighthouse.
Chain of 28 cascades in a forest valley, walkable in an hour and a half over boardwalks and steps. Most water in spring. Trout restaurants at the entrance, entry around CHF 2 (about EUR 2). An hour's drive from Sinop.
Finds from the Greek colony of Sinope, including amphorae, mosaics and grave stelae, with the remains of a temple of Serapis in the garden. One hour, low entry fee, good for a rainy day in the old town, close to the harbour.
Akliman with pine forest and shallow water for families, Sarıkum with dunes and an empty beach for those seeking peace. Both by taxi or hire car; Sarıkum lies next to a nature reserve with lakes and wild horses.
The hand-filled Sinop mantı with meat or walnut, in butter and yoghurt, in the eateries behind the harbour. Add nokul from the baker. A portion costs CHF 5 to 7 (about EUR 5 to 7.50), freshest at lunchtime, no reservation needed.
Fishing harbour 40 kilometres to the southeast with Ottoman wooden houses, fish restaurants and a small beach. By dolmuş or hire car, half a day. Much quieter than Sinop itself, even in August, fish plate around CHF 10 (about EUR 11).
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Sinop eats like a harbour town where the locals decide: hand-filled mantı, nokul from the bakeries, squid and fish along the harbour wall, and pide baked here with butter and egg. There are no tourist prices; the places live from Turkish guests and regulars.
Large hand-filled dumplings with minced meat or walnut, served in butter and yoghurt, in the sweet version with walnut and honey. A portion CHF 5 to 7 (about EUR 5 to 7.50).
Tip:Order at lunchtime, the popular places are often sold out by afternoon; take the walnut version with honey as dessert.
Rolled yeast dough with walnuts and raisins or with minced meat, sliced and baked in the oven. CHF 0.50 to 1 (about EUR 0.55 to 1.10) per piece, the street food of Sinop.
Tip:Buy it warm in the morning and pack a few pieces as provisions for Hamsilos or the castle walls.
Squid rings from the Black Sea, lightly battered and fried, with tarator sauce of walnuts and garlic. CHF 6 to 9 (about EUR 6.50 to 9.50) as a starter, with rakı and meze.
Tip:In the early evening with a view of the boats, as an opener before the fish; the tarator sauce is the sign of a good house.
Hamsi and turbot in winter, bluefish and bonito in autumn, sea bream in summer, grilled or fried with salad and bread. A fish plate CHF 10 to 15 (about EUR 11 to 16), with rakı and meze CHF 20 to 25.
Tip:Ask for the catch of the day instead of the menu; bonito in October and November is the best time.
Open pide from the wood oven with cheese, minced meat or pastırma, brushed with butter at the end and often with an egg in the middle. CHF 4 to 7 (about EUR 4.30 to 7.50) per pide.
Tip:At lunchtime when the oven is running; order "yumurtalı" and the egg goes on top.
Anchovies in cornmeal, fried in a circle in the pan, with onion rings and lemon, fresh from the harbour from November to March. A portion CHF 5 to 8 (about EUR 5 to 8.50).
Tip:Order only in season; in Sinop the owners will tell you honestly whether the hamsi are fresh or frozen.
Black tea in a tulip glass, CHF 0.30 to 0.60 (about EUR 0.30 to 0.65), in the tea gardens by the water or in the Tersane quarter, where pensioners play okey and fishermen mend their nets.
Tip:In the morning when the boats come back, or in the evening at sunset over the bay.
Sinop sits on a narrow spit of land that juts into the Black Sea like a hook, giving it the only natural harbour on Turkey's northern coast. Greeks from Miletus founded the colony of Sinope here in the 7th century BC, and it rose to become the most important trading post on the Black Sea, establishing colonies of its own as far as Trabzon. The philosopher Diogenes, who supposedly lived in a barrel and told Alexander the Great to get out of his sunlight, was born here. Under Mithridates VI, Sinope became the capital of the Pontic kingdom in the 2nd century BC, until Rome conquered the city. The mighty walls that still enclose the old town core today date from that era and were extended again and again by Byzantines, Seljuks and Ottomans. In 1853 the Russian fleet sank the Ottoman Black Sea fleet in the harbour of Sinop, the trigger for the Crimean War. The prison in the fortress, established in 1887, became the most notorious in Turkey, holding writers such as Sabahattin Ali until it closed in 1997. Today Sinop is a quiet provincial town of 60,000 inhabitants, with fishing, the northernmost point of Turkey at Cape İnceburun and a tourism that is almost exclusively Turkish.
The historic prison of Sinop lies within the fortress walls and was in operation from 1887 to 1997. It is considered the Alcatraz of Turkey because of its position surrounded by sea on three sides, and as the filming location of numerous Turkish films and series it has a firm place in popular culture. After a multi-year restoration it has been open again as a museum since 2023. On view are the cell blocks, the courtyard, the children's prison and the cell of the writer Sabahattin Ali, whose novel Madonna in a Fur Coat was partly written here. Entry is around CHF 5 (about EUR 5); allow an hour and a half. An audio guide or a guide is worth it, because the stories of the inmates are what bring the building to life. Right next door you can climb up onto the fortress walls and, on the town side, up to the Alaaddin tower.
Eleven kilometres north of the town lies Hamsilos, a narrow, deeply cut bay that is marketed in Turkey as its only fjord. Geologically that is generous; scenically it is a beautiful, quiet spot with forest right down to the water, a short shoreline path and small boats that take you around the bay and the neighbouring bay of Akliman for CHF 10 to 15 (about EUR 11 to 16) per person. From Akliman you continue to Cape İnceburun, the northernmost point of Turkey, with a lighthouse, a café and steep cliffs. The view of the open Black Sea is impressive, especially in wind. The whole thing is a half-day trip by taxi or hire car; dolmuş only run as far as Akliman. A taxi for the round trip costs around CHF 30 to 40. In summer people barbecue and swim at Hamsilos; in autumn you are often alone.
Unlike Trabzon, Sinop has real beaches. Karakum, two kilometres east of the old town, is the town beach with dark sand, sunloungers for a few francs and restaurants, full of families from Ankara in July and August. Akliman in the north has lighter sand, shallow water and pine forest, ideal for children. Sarıkum beach by the dunes of the same name, 20 kilometres to the west, is long, wild and almost empty. The Black Sea is 24 to 26 degrees in July and August but unpredictable: in a north wind, waves and currents build up, the red flag goes up and it is meant seriously. In June and September the water is still, or already, 20 to 22 degrees, the beaches are empty and the hotels half the price. Swimming in Sinop is a complement, not the main reason for the trip, but a very pleasant one.
The Erfelek waterfalls, 45 kilometres southwest of Sinop, are a chain of 28 cascades in a wooded valley, walkable in an hour and a half over boardwalks and steps. In spring and after rain they roar; in August some are almost dry. Entry is around CHF 2 (about EUR 2), and at the entrance there are trout restaurants where a plate with sides costs CHF 8. The excursion is an hour each way by hire car, around CHF 50 for the round trip by taxi, or by dolmuş to Erfelek and taxi from there. Further inland lies the district of Boyabat with a Seljuk castle and rice fields, 90 kilometres from Sinop. The hinterland is green, hilly and empty of tourists. If you have four or more days, hire a car for two days and drive the coast west to Gerze with its fishing harbour or to Ayancık.
Sinop mantı are the reason Turkish visitors look forward to their trip for weeks: hand-filled dumplings, larger than the ones from Kayseri, stuffed with meat or walnut, served in butter and yoghurt, in some places with honey as a dessert version. A portion costs CHF 5 to 7 (about EUR 5 to 7.50). The second speciality is nokul, a rolled yeast pastry with walnut and raisins or with minced meat, from the bakers in the old town for under a franc. Fish is found at the harbour along the wall, where restaurants line up one after another: hamsi and turbot in winter, more likely farmed sea bream in summer. A fish plate costs CHF 10 to 15, with rakı and meze CHF 20 to 25. Sinop has no tourist prices; the eateries live off locals and Turkish guests. Expect CHF 25 to 35 per day.
Sinop is slow. There are no nightclubs, no beach promenade with entertainment and no tour groups from abroad. The old town on the peninsula is walked through in an hour; the harbour, the walls, a few mosques, the prison and the Archaeological Museum with finds from Sinope are done in a day. Everything else is excursions and beach days. If that is what you are looking for, this is the right place; if you want entertainment, it is the wrong one. Sinop airport (NOP) has one or two flights a day from Istanbul, lies eight kilometres outside town, and a taxi costs CHF 8 (about EUR 9). Alternatively Samsun (SZF) with more flights and three hours by bus for CHF 10. In town you walk; for excursions you take a taxi or a hire car from CHF 30 per day. In July and August book early, as the few good hotels are full then.
Three to four days: one day for the old town, prison and museum, half a day for Hamsilos and Cape İnceburun, half a day for Erfelek, plus a beach day. If you want to slow right down, stay a week and hire a car for two days for the coast to the west.
June and September: the water is swimmable at 20 to 22 degrees, beaches are empty, and hotels are much cheaper than in July and August, when Turkish families fill the town. May and October are lovely for excursions and Erfelek but too cool for swimming. Winter is wet and windy, but it is hamsi season.
With a connection in Istanbul to Sinop (NOP), served daily by Turkish Airlines and Pegasus, or to Samsun (SZF) with more connections and three hours by bus. Expect CHF 320 to 450 (about EUR 340 to 480) for a return flight and at least seven hours of travel time. Sinop airport is eight kilometres from town.
Yes, after a multi-year restoration it has been accessible as a museum since 2023, daily except on certain public holidays. Entry around CHF 5 (about EUR 5), visit an hour and a half. A guide is worth it, because the stories of the inmates, among them writers and political prisoners, are what make the building understandable.
Yes, better than in Trabzon or Rize. Karakum is the town beach, Akliman in the north has shallow water and pine forest, Sarıkum in the west is long and empty. The Black Sea is 24 to 26 degrees in summer, but dangerous in a north wind, and the red flag is to be taken seriously.
Geologically not in the Scandinavian sense; it is a drowned river mouth. As an excursion it is still worth it: forest down to the water, still water, small boats, and further north Cape İnceburun with its lighthouse and views of the open sea. Half a day by taxi for CHF 30 to 40 (about EUR 32 to 43).
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