Sumela Monastery, Zigana & Hamsiköy: Day Trip from Trabzon
Sumela’s cliffside silence, Zigana’s old Silk Road winds, Hamsiköy’s sweet pause
You’ll walk forest paths to reach Sumela Monastery in Altındere Valley, climb ancient stone steps with a local guide, cross windy Zigana Pass where Silk Road traders once traveled, and finish with homemade rice pudding in Hamsiköy village—all with hotel pickup and easy transport included.
What’s included
Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off in Trabzon by air-conditioned vehicle, all guided visits along the route including Sümela Monastery and Zigana Pass with shared minibus transfers inside Altındere Valley park, plus time for lunch in Hamsiköy before heading back in the afternoon.
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6h
Step-by-step itinerary
Day 1 — Visit Sumela Monastery and nearby sites
- Drive one hour to Altındere National Park
- Take shared minibus inside the park
- Walk 300 meters along forest path
- Visit St. Barbara Chapel viewpoint
- Explore Sumela Monastery complex
- Return along forest path to vehicle
- Drive to Zigana Pass and stop
- Continue to Hamsiköy village
- Have lunch in Hamsiköy
- Return to Trabzon to end tour
We’d barely left Trabzon when the landscape started to shift—green everywhere, thick and damp like it just rained even though it hadn’t. Our guide, Yusuf, kept pointing out little things I would’ve missed—the way the clouds hung low over Altındere Valley or how the trees changed shape as we climbed. The drive was about an hour but honestly felt shorter; maybe because I spent half of it trying to pronounce “Sümela” right (Yusuf finally just smiled and said, “Close enough”).
The walk up to Sümela Monastery is something I still feel in my legs—300 meters isn’t far but the forest path is uneven, roots poking through the dirt, everything smelling like wet stone and pine needles. We stopped at St. Barbara Chapel for a breather (and secretly for photos), and you get this view of the monastery clinging to the cliff that almost doesn’t look real. Inside Sümela itself, it’s quieter than I expected—just the sound of shoes on old stone steps and someone whispering in Turkish behind me. The frescoes are faded but you can still make out faces if you squint. It’s strange thinking how many people have walked those same halls.
Afterwards we wound our way back down and hopped in a minibus again—public transport inside the park is just part of it here—and then headed for Zigana Pass. The road gets twisty and you can feel your ears pop as you hit 2,050 meters. Yusuf told us Marco Polo once crossed here; I tried to picture him looking as windblown as we did at the top. There’s not much up there except wind and sky and this sense that you’re standing somewhere old.
Lunch in Hamsiköy was simple—rice pudding that everyone talks about (I get why now), milky-sweet with cinnamon on top. The village itself is quiet except for a couple kids chasing each other past our table. On the way back to Trabzon I kept thinking about how different everything smelled up there compared to home—like cold milk and woodsmoke and something green I still can’t name.
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