Bursa became a very enjoyable but late addition to our long weekend in Istanbul, fortunately for us it had already been well covered by other reviewers, so we knew what to focus on in the city centre, especially thanks to Solivagant’s explanation of “Kullieye”, so I won’t expand much on their thorough rundowns.

We enjoyed walking around the central market area, and the central mosque was very welcoming and the trickling of the fountain under the glass dome inside gave a very tranquil feeling. Opposite it the Silk Khan showed some of the commercial heritage of the city.

The real highlight was the Yesil (Green) complex, the interior of the Green Mosque was very impressive. The deep blue tiles and muqarnas (honeycomb vaulting) gave the impression of a Persian interior, rather different to the Byzantine inspired mosques we had visited in Istanbul. Walking the short distance from the centre out to the Yesil complex we passed over a stream flowing down from the surrounding lush mountains and I understood why Bursa has such a strong pleasant reputation, even the air felt soft and comforting.

Now I have to admit there was another reason why I came to Bursa, not only was it to explore the ottoman heritage, and get another tick off the list, it was also a pilgrimage to the birthplace of one of my favourite meals, the İskender kebap. It has long been a favourite dish thanks to my residency in the heart of Turkish London, so I jumped at the chance to try it from the original restaurant, a short stroll from the Town Hall. A long winding queue on a Sunday lunchtime suggested we found the right place, and it was rather fun joining the swift moving line, looking a little confused when the locals asked u some questions and then being presented with the shortest menu I have ever seen [-]Half portion, Full portion, Double portion[-].

If like us you are travelling form Istanbul it is possible to do it as a day trip: The ferries run regularly and take about 1hr 35mins – 2hrs. From the ferry port you can get a bus or dolmus to the final metro stop at Emek, and then ride the metro all the way to Şehreküstü which is just a short signposted walk from the central mosque. The trip in from the ferry port is actually rather lengthy so the whole trip from Istanbul to the city centre will probably be about 3 hours. There are two ferry companies that run on the route, we had no problem turning up and buying tickets for the next sailing with IDO, however there were none available when we tried the same with BUDO, so it may be worth buying your ferry tickets in advance. And a note of caution they go from different ports at the Bursa end which are about a 15 minute taxi ride away from each other so make sure you go to the correct one.

All in all it was a nice trip to Bursa and we felt like we had a better appreciation of Turkey’s diverse charms even if it was only as a day trip from Istanbul. The two things not to miss are the Green Mosque and the Iskender kebaps!

Site 6: Experience 7