Tekirdağ

Kumbağ

A town 13 km southwest of Tekirdağ known for its long sandy beaches and somewhat-kitsch entertainment venues bars etc. To the south of the town, over the cliffs starting right next to the shoreline is a pine forest. Inside the forest, there is a restaurant which overlooks the sea and an area with picnic facilities. The unpaved road running through the forest eventually reaches Yeniköy paragliding area about 10 km away from Kumbağ and Uçmakdere see below; about 20 km away from Kumbağ

Marmara Ereğlisi

A coastal town 40 km east of Tekirdağ, on the highway to Istanbul. This is the site of ancient Perinthos, some worn remnants of which lies around.

Şarköy – Mürefte – Uçmakdere area

This area is known for wines it produce. All along the main road running through this area, you’ll see nice villages on the top of the hills, and between the villages everywhere is covered by olive-, and vineyards. This area also has many wine factories, some of which are very famous, and it is possible to winetaste in many of these factories. Two places which deserve a special interest are the Hora Lighthouse, which was built by the French in late 1800s in today’s Hoşköy, and Uçmakdere village, which is located in a deep valley, and about 2 km away from the sea to escape pirate raids. The village is probably one of the best-conserved villages in its original shape in the region. There are also many remains like fountains, or wineries from Greeks apart from houses in the village too. Although the beach of the village is stony, the sea here is just as clean as it would be a thousand years ago. Behind the village is the Kartalbaşı summit, one of the highest summits about 900 mt higher than sea elevation of Mt Ganos and also of Turkish Thrace with a eagle-head shaped rock watching over deep, forested valleys below. This place was a sacred site in ancient times. You can reach Kartalbaşı summit from Uçmakdere follow the trail starting behind the village at about two and a half hours but before trying that, it may be wise to be in good condition since some parts of the trail is quite dangerous.

Marmara Island, the uninhabited northern side of which is almost always easily visible from Tekirdağ except the most humid and the most misty/foggy days and Avşa further south of the main island are connected to Tekirdağ by frequent ferries and make great excursions once you are done in the city. From the islands, you may head south to Erdek on Asian mainland to draw a half-circle around the Sea of Marmara, or to head further south to Izmir via Bandırma.

by thumb

Here is a quick list of best spots to try hitching and how to get to them:

East

to Istanbul - Take public minibus navy blue #2 from otogar, or yellow private minibus #1 from downtown. Get off at the stop in front of ‘Maxi Centre’ mall, there’s a good spot after the crossroad with traffic lights.

West

to Keşan/Greece/Çanakkale/Aegean Turkey - Take public minibus navy blue #1 from otogar or downtown, or dark yellow private minibus ‘Altinova’ from downtown. Get off the minibus in the highway on-ramp. Walk to the other side of the on-ramp. That’s the best you can get. Instead of paying for the public transport, you can also walk to this spot from city centre, it takes about one and a half to two hours on foot via a pleasent sidewalk with trees and lawns

North

to Muratli/Edirne – Take public minibus navy blue #10 from otogar or downtown. Get off the minibus as soon as it leaves the main street and turns right into a narrower road. That’s a good place.

Southwest

to Kumbag – This direction is hard to hitch not hard to raise a thumb in itself but it’s hard to succeed and realistically it doesn’t really worth it as the most far-away place you can get to on this road is Kumbag, which is only 13 km away from downtown Tekirdag and can be reached by minibuses in exchange of a few liras. If you have a lot of free time, and if your wallet is equivalently free of its load, however, you can try public minibus #1 or dark yellow private minibus ‘Altinova’, get off at the small bridge at the edge of the district where you’ll see a ‘Welcome to Barbaros’ sign, which proclaims that you are no more in the city of Tekirdag, but rather in a neighbouring town and try your luck there.