Travel agencies to package Türkiye's new Erzurum-to-Trabzon four-day route

Türkiye's Culture and Tourism Ministry has created a four-day route linking eastern Anatolia with the Black Sea coast, bringing together castles, monasteries and natural landmarks across four provinces in a single itinerary. The ministry said the aim is to expand domestic tourism.

The Anabasis Northern Route connects the eastern province of Erzurum with the Black Sea provinces of Bayburt, Gümüşhane and Trabzon. It is run by the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) and is the third route in this year's Ancient Cities Path project. Travel agencies are preparing to offer it as a package tour.

Key facts

• Route name: Anabasis Northern Route
• Length: a four-day itinerary
• Provinces covered: Erzurum, Bayburt, Gümüşhane and Trabzon
• Operator: Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA)
• Project: third route in this year's Ancient Cities Path, after Batman-Şırnak and the 'Unknown Cappadocia' circuit through Aksaray, Niğde and Kayseri
• Availability: travel agencies are preparing to offer it as a package tour; no prices or booking dates are stated

Why is it called Anabasis?

The route takes its name from Anabasis, the account by Greek writer Xenophon — a student of Socrates — of the retreat of mercenaries hired by Cyrus the Younger in 401 B.C. After Cyrus died fighting for the Persian throne, the soldiers headed north through hostile territory, winter weather and mountains. Their cry of 'thalassa, thalassa' ("the sea, the sea") on reaching the Black Sea gives the tour its coastal finale.

What does the itinerary cover?

Day one begins at Erzurum's Narman Fairy Chimneys, known as the 'Land of Red Fairies' and designated a natural monument in 2018. Wind and rain shaped the formations, which get their red colour from oxidized iron. Stops include the Rainbow Hills, Engüzek Castle and Pirinkayalar Viewing Terrace before the 10th-century Öşvank Monastery in Uzundere's Çamlıyamaç village, built under Georgia's Bagratid dynasty and still showing coloured stone carvings, reliefs and frescoes. Visitors stay in Erzurum.

Day two covers Bayburt Castle above the Çoruh River — known as Çinimaçin for its Seljuk-era tiles — the Seljuk-era Ulu Mosque with its cut-stone walls and brick minaret, Aydıntepe Underground City and Aydıntepe Plateau. In Gümüşhane, Satala in Kelkit's Sadak village preserves walls, baths and aqueducts from a Roman legionary base. The day ends in Süleymaniye, a former mining settlement shared by Turks, Armenians and Anatolian Greeks, with an overnight stay in Gümüşhane.

Day three takes in Santa in Dumanlı village, a protected archaeological and natural site that grew through mining in the 16th–18th centuries. Its seven neighbourhoods hold more than 300 stone houses alongside churches, and its Greek Orthodox residents left after the 1923 population exchange. Harmantepe Martyrs' Cemetery, Mount Madur and Forapark's mountain coaster come before a night in Trabzon.

Day four includes the Atatürk Pavilion — where modern Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk decided in 1937 to donate his property to the nation — Çal Cave, with its stalactites, stalagmites, underground stream and waterfalls, Tonya's forested Canikdere Waterfall and Beşikdüzü Cable Car. Furtuna Mansion in Araklı and the Girls' Monastery, with its rock church on Boztepe's slopes, complete the itinerary.

What this means for travellers

The route is designed as a four-day, three-province overnight itinerary, with stays in Erzurum, Gümüşhane and Trabzon. The source notes that travel agencies are preparing to sell it as a package tour, but does not give prices, opening dates for bookings or a set departure schedule, so travellers interested in the route would need to check those details with operators.

No start date for package sales has been announced. The route joins two earlier Ancient Cities Path circuits launched this year: Batman-Şırnak and the 'Unknown Cappadocia' route through Aksaray, Niğde and Kayseri.