Samsun travel guide

Samsun is a city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022.

Samsun in antiquity was Sampsounta or Amisos. A long line of conquests culminated in the Ottoman takeover in 1420. The city traded around the Black Sea and beyond, and still does, and in the 19th century it exported the local tobacco, described as a pungent but premium product. Its mosques were stone-built but its wooden secular buildings burnt again and again, notoriously in the great fire of 1869. This plus earth tremors means that the city lacks an "Old Town" and is mostly 20th century medium-rise. Samsun has a special place in the republican history of Turkey.

Getting in

Samsun is 410 km northeast of Ankara by D795. The Black Sea coast highway runs east to Trabzon (325 km) and west to Zonguldak (530 km).

Getting around

The city straggles east-west for 20 km. Except for east of Doğu Park and the short diversion around the port the seafront is a pleasant walk or cycle. If you don’t have a Turkish phone number you may find it too fiddly to register for the turquoise Binbin e-scooters or yellow Fazı ebikes. However there are a dozen outlets which hire bikes or e-scooters. Otherwise to get around you may need to take a tram, bus, dolmuş or taxi. Unfortunately, Samsun's public transport system has not been integrated with Google.

Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.