Tekirdağ

Tekirdağ (pronounced TEH-keer-daa) is a city of 973,000 (2016 census) in European Turkey, on the northern shoreline of the Sea of Marmara. Tekirdağ is 132 km west of Istanbul, the biggest city of Turkey.

Understand

Governor's Office in downtown Tekirdağ

Tekirdağ was first founded as "Byzanthe" by Thracians. The actual location of first Byzanthe was what is now Barbaros, a village 9 km southwest of Tekirdağ. It was then colonised by Greeks from the Aegean island of Samos. After the split of Roman Empire into two parts, Tekirdağ remained in Byzantine hands and in 14th century captured by Ottoman Turks who gave the city the name "Rodosçuk". Its name underwent several changes and took its current form in 1927, in the early years of Turkish Republic.

Although it is not the case with many languages today, Tekirdağ used to be called "Rodosto" in several European languages, after its Latin name used in Roman period, which itself is derived from "Rhaidestos", the Greek name of the city, long after it was renamed in Turkish. In fact, Tekirdağ is still called "Rodostó" in Hungarian.

This is the city where Hungarian prince and independence movement leader Francis II Rákóczi (also known as II. Rákóczi Ferenc in Hungarian) lived for fifteen years (between 1720 and 1735) while in exile and died. Together with him Kelemen Mikes, the writer of Letters from Turkey (Törökországi levelek in Hungarian), which is one of the milestones of Hungarian literature, lived in Tekirdağ until 1761, when he died.

Tekirdağ since 1923 has been a part of the Republic of Turkey. The city is the provincial capital of Tekirdağ Province, which is named after the city.

The city is surrounded by the Sea of Marmara on one side, and by sunflower and grain fields on the other. On the hillsides to the southwest, viniculture is an important activity.

Climate

Local climate is a curious mix of Mediterranean climate of the regions to the south and continental climate of the inland regions to the north, with the rain patterns resembling the Mediterranean climate, while temperature patterns are comparable to the continental one — moderately dry and hot summers (temperatures may rise to 35°C) and rainy, occasionally snowy, and cold winters (temperatures may drop to -8°C; however with the effect of relative humidity, it can even feel bitterly colder than that) in short. However unlike the typical Mediterranean climate, it can rain heavily even during the hottest month (August), although these showers do not last more than 20 minutes at most. Though it's also possible that you can encounter consecutive weeks without a single drop of rain.

Autumns are mild, long and very nice and it is the best time to swim. The sea is warm, just like the air and since the sea usually has heavy surf during the summer it is nevertheless very calm during September.

Get in

By plane

The nearest international airport is Çorlu Airport (about 50 km to Tekirdağ) but it is reserved only for flights from the ex-Soviet countries, as some of the airway companies of these countries spell peril on the Atatürk International Airport with their aging plane stock and pilots insisting on speaking only in Russian. (Çorlu Airport tel [phone] - 10 lines)

So, for most flights Atatürk International Airport (IST) in Istanbul is the nearest international airport available (130 km to Tekirdağ). Once in the Atatürk International Airport take the metro (called "light rail" in the signage) and go to Otogar to board a bus heading for Tekirdağ.

By train

The construction of the branch line between the city and the main Istanbul–Edirne line has been completed—which marks the extension of the national rail network for the first time within the last 40 years in Turkey—and now the city station welcomes comfortable and fairly modern railcars (a single coach train with no locomotives—think of a bus running on railtracks) several times a day (mostly during morning and evening hours) from nearby towns of Muratlı to north and Çorlu to northeast, both of which are on the main trunk line. Railcars from Çorlu also call at Muratlı station. A trip from Muratlı takes 25 minutes and costs 2 TL pp.

When approaching from Istanbul, a transfer at either Muratlı or Çorlu is necessary. The afternoon train (departing at 3:50PM, going all the way to Kapıkule at Bulgarian border via Edirne) from Istanbul's Sirkeci station is especially useful, as it arrives in Muratlı at 7:12PM (usually with no delays) and the railcar to Tekirdağ departs at 7:20PM from Muratlı. Istanbul–Muratlı ride costs 8.50 TL pp, or 6.75 TL if you're under 26 years of age.

The small 🌍 Tekirdağ station lies about 3-4 km west of city centre at Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Blv. 1, on the edge of city and next to the highway west. Minibuses, which wait for passengers right in front of the station in accordance with the train arrival schedule, connect the station with city centre for 1.50 TL pp, taking 10 minutes. If you're deadly on budget, walking is also viable, which would take around 50 minutes along some wide but noisy (due to traffic) sidewalks.

By car

From Istanbul – first take D100 highway or O3/E80 motorway (toll-way), if you are on motorway leave it in Kınalı exit (there are Tekirdağ signs there), and at Kınalı junction follow Tekirdağ signs (although the road numbers are not shown on the signs there, the road that you will enter into is D110/E84). The pavement quality between Kınalı and Tekirdağ deterioted within the last few years, but long sections of it are 4-lane (two for one direction and two for the other). Total distance is 132 km and can be covered within one and a half to two hours.

From Bulgaria – There are two ways:

If you enter Turkey at Kapitan Andreevo/Kapıkule border gate (NW of Edirne), first by-pass Edirne via the ring road (E80, toll-free, signs are green), then either take D100 highway by quitting the E80 after you left Edirne behind (the second exit after you entered the ring-road) or continue onto O3/E80 motorway (toll-way), if you are on the motorway leave it in Lüleburgaz exit (there are Lüleburgaz and Muratlı signs there), you'll reach D100 here, take the direction towards Çorlu/Istanbul. After you drove about ten minutes away from Lüleburgaz, you'll come to a junction, signs will say Muratlı/Tekirdağ. Turn that way (right). You are now on D565 and will reach Tekirdağ in about 40 minutes. The distance from Kapıkule to Tekirdağ is about 160 km.

If you enter Turkey at Tirnovo/Dereköy border gate (north of Kırklareli), take the D555/E87 (that's the only way already), drive on it until you are in Babaeski (do not enter the motorway shown by green "Istanbul" signs before you reach Babaeski). In Babaeski you'll come across a roundabout, turn around it to the Lüleburgaz/Istanbul direction (blue signs). Now you are on D100. Keep on it until you are about ten minutes away from Lüleburgaz, you'll come to a junction, signs will say Muratlı/Tekirdağ. Turn that way (right). You are now on D565 and will reach Tekirdağ in about 40 minutes. The distance from Dereköy to Tekirdağ is about 155 km.

From Greece – Enter Turkey at Peptos/İpsala border gate, take the only road available there (D110/E90, after Keşan D110/E84). By never turning right or left you will be in Tekirdağ within one to one and a half hours. The distance is about 110 km.

By bus

There are many bus companies operating between Istanbul's Otogar (main bus station) and Tekirdağ. Just look around in the Otogar and soon you'll see word Tekirdağ on one of the windows. However, some companies operating further than Tekirdağ also add Tekirdağ on their windows and their service may be inferior. The most popular company is arguably İstanbul Seyahat (tel [phone], dialed without a prefix anywhere in Turkey except cellphones from which you should dial [phone]), but there are many more others. It is possible to find a bus to Tekirdağ about every 15 minutes, even every 5 minutes in summertime. Direct bus travel with the Asian side of Istanbul is less frequent, only once every few hours. From Istanbul's Otogar to Tekirdağ doesn't normally take more than two hours, but, especially in summertime, because many people heading for their "holiday homes" on the way to Tekirdağ use these services, stops can be tiresome, and can lengthen the travel time up to four hours when complemented with congested traffic. There is normally no scheduled stop on the Istanbul-Tekirdağ bus lines for a break.

Ticket fares from/to Istanbul are uniform across all bus companies and are 15 TL as of Sept 2010 (and a few liras more from slightly further away Asian Side of Istanbul). Because of rivalry, some companies sometimes lower their prices to around 10 TL, but these promotions are only occasional.

It may be wise to book your seat a week beforehand during the peak season (July–August) if you are going to travel from Istanbul to Tekirdağ on a Friday, or travel from Tekirdağ to Istanbul on a Sunday.

Some companies refuse to book seats during peak season, and insist on selling the tickets right away.

Buses coming from Istanbul first enter Tekirdağ's otogar, which is very tiny compared with Istanbul's, and some proceed to outlying hoods of the city in the west, and some finish their journey right there. In summertime almost all buses end their trip in Kumbağ via Tekirdağ's otogar and the avenue at the shoreline. To go to the downtown area (Çarşı, pronounced "char-sha"), you should either get off the bus at the shore and walk uphill for about 10 minutes or take one of the public busses (their stop is right next to the otogar).

Buses heading for Istanbul from Çanakkale and Gelibolu passes through Tekirdağ, so it is possible to board an Istanbul bus from these places and get off in Tekirdağ. When buying the ticket or paying the fare inside the bus tell them that you'll get off in Tekirdağ, not Istanbul, a journey which deserves a slightly lower fare than all the way to Istanbul (about 3-4 TL less than full price for Istanbul).

One easy and cheap way reaching from Greece to Tekirdağ by bus might be somehow to reach Keşan first, which is about 25 km away from Greco-Turkish border, then take a bus there coming from Çanakkale, Gallipoli or already has its terminus in Keşan and heading for Istanbul.

By boat

There are regular daily voyages from little harbour in the city centre to Marmara Island, Avşa Island, Erdek, and Bandirma across the Sea of Marmara (at least in summer months). There is a ferry line to Gemlik on the SE coast of the Sea of Marmara from the bigger and newer harbour (2 km west of city centre). There is also a line to Karabiga on the SW coast of the Sea of Marmara, near Çanakkale from the harbour of Barbaros, a village 9 km SW of Tekirdağ.

There are also ro-ro (ferry) services direct to Trieste in NE of Italy (near the Slovenian border) twice a week, but passengers without vehicles may not be accepted into these ferries. (Akport harbour tel [phone] - 4 lines)

There is also a marina in the city. There is a customs office in the bigger harbour (2 km west of city centre). You can have your passport stamped if you are arriving by your own boat and haven't disembarked in Turkey yet. It's illegal to land on Turkish soil before your passport has an entrance stamp – which can be obtained from most visited marinas and major harbours, such as this one.

By thumb

Along the highway (E84 is the European road number while D110 is the national one) which traverses all along the city and eventually reaches the Greco-Turkish border one side and Istanbul (and onto Asia) on the other, there is an abundance (several of them even within 30 minutes) of trucks bearing Macedonian, Bulgarian, and Iranian plate numbers, day and night. There are also many cars with Greek plate numbers. So it may be easy to reach to/from Tekirdağ from/to these countries by hitchhiking.

Get around

Tekirdağ, especially the downtown area in where almost all the sights are, is fairly convenient to explore on foot. Nevertheless, city has a public transport system based on minibuses, some are public and run by the city council while others are private. In any case, you don't have to have a ticket beforehand—there are no tickets even if you wish to have—and pay cash to the driver inside the vehicle.

Public minibuses (recognizable by their navy blue colour) have route numbers on the front, but it makes no sense to memorize them since they are running between the otogar and different outlying residential hoods -which are of no interest to the occasional traveller- usually via the city center. The private minibuses usually don't have route numbers, instead they are all painted different colours according to their routes. The two most important routes for an ordinary traveller would be the Barbaros-Kumbağ line, which is painted in light blue, and Değirmenaltı line which is painted in slightly greenish-yellow (There are actually three different lines using the same slightly greenish-yellow colour and they line up together in pairs at the main stop in the city center. They all do run to the same direction but their terminii are different points. Either carefully read the signs on the front window of the vehicle about where it goes to, or tell the driver the place name you want to go, he will either make an approval gesture (shaking his head downwards) or point to another minibus, which means "that one goes there". These greenish-yellow minibuses are those exceptional ones to have route numbers and #1 goes into Değirmenaltı, so look for that. The same-colour #3 and #5 also stop at Maxi Mall, which is located at the entrance of the hood).

All minibuses run on a fixed route and schedule, mostly in 10-minute intervals, however the interval frequency drop late at night to once every 30 minutes. The last minibus for most lines is at midnight (3AM for Kumbağ line during July and August)

Main stop for private minibuses is across the street from Rüstem Paşa Mosque. They don't have any standard stops other than this, they stop wherever a passenger raises his hand to show he/she is going to board or wherever a passenger inside shouts inecek var (pronounced ee-neh-djek vahr) to get off. Public minibuses only stop at standard stops (none of them has an official name) and anyone who is willing to get off next stop should push one of the buttons around the back door to make sure the minibus will stop and the door will open at the next stop.

Fees are standard (1.50 TL within the city borders, 2.50 TL for Kumbağ) and no student discounts available.

Taxis are also available from many stands around the city. The official rate for taxis is twice the rate of those in Istanbul.

For the villages and towns surrounding the city (for example Şarköy), you can find busses at the otogar, or minibuses departing from shoreline or some other designated stops around the city.

See

Rakoczi's House

• 🌍 Rakoczi's House (Rakoczi Müzesi/Rakoczi Museum), Barbaros Caddesi, Macar Sokak (on the first hill overlooking the sea; west of Museum of Archaeology), ☎ [phone]. Tu-Su 9AM-noon, 1PM-5PM. An 18th century Tekirdağ house in which Francis II Rakoczi lived while in exile. The house was restored in early 1980s almost totally the same as how it looked like when a Hungarian painter went to Tekirdağ and drew illustrations of the interior of house in 1906. The adjoining streets also housed a large Hungarian colony formed by people following Francis II Rakoczi, but unfortunately no evidence of their existence left today. While you are around, don't forget to check out the wooden 'Szekely Gate', carved in the traditional style of the Szekely, the tribe of Tekirdağ's Hungarian refugees. It was erected in front of Rakoczi's house in 2005.  
• 🌍 Archaeology and Ethnography Museum (Arkeoloji ve Etnografya Müzesi), Barbaros Caddesi 1 (on the junction of Barbaros Caddesi and the lower end of Hüseyin Pehlivan Caddesi, that descenting street from the main street of downtown), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. Tu-Su 9AM-5PM. The exhibition of this museum, which is situated in a building essentially built as the governor mansion in 1928, is mainly composed of the findings of the excavations of Perinthos and numerous tumulii in the region. The oldest objects in exhibition date back to 4500 BCE. Among the display is the mummified (and reconstructed) body of Thracian king Kersepleptes. His body complete with crown, clothes, and other remainings was excavated from a tumulus located about 12 km to Tekirdağ. Upstairs is dedicated to ethnography and there is a "traditional Tekirdağ room". The garden of the museum contains many sarcophagi from ancient times and many gravestones left by the city's once numerous Greek, Armenian and Latin populations. 2 TL.  
• Rüstem Paşa Mosque (Rüstem Paşa Camii). Although little in terms of grandeur compared with his some other works, the mosque is a work of Sinan, probably the biggest architect of Ottoman Empire. It was built in 1553. Next to the mosque is bedesten or bazaar. Actually, a replica of a bazaar, which was constructed in 1980s. In its court, there is a nice open-air cafe. 
• Ertuğrul Neighbourhood Bazaar. This historical building is also called bedesten but the renovation works within hundreds of years has taken too much from its original appearance. It now houses herbalist shops. Near the Eski Mosque on the high street. 
• Traditional Houses of Tekirdağ. There are many 18th and 19th century houses in the city spared from the fury of the bulldozer and concrete-mania. Most of them are wooden, and some are built of stone or brick like traditional Mediterranean houses. However, even most of the left ones are in a near, or almost totally ruined state. If you'd like to take a glance at how Tekirdağ might look like, say a hundred years ago, you may have a walk in the streets of where these houses are grouped together. There are two main parts of the city they stand: On the hill overlooking the sea between otogar and the downtown; and the streets also overlooking the sea between Archeology and Ethnography Museum and Rakoczi Museum. 

Statue of Kelemen Mikes located in the park

• 🌍 Namık Kemal's House (Namık Kemal Evi), ☎ [phone]. Namık Kemal St 7 (behind the presidency of Namık Kemal University, the old building across the street from City Council - Belediye) - A replica of the house where Namık Kemal, a native of the city and considered one of the national poets of Turkey, was born. Houses "Local History Association" inside.  
• Rakoczi Fountain (Rakoczi Çeşmesi), Mumcu Çeşme Rd. Built by Rakoczi, this fountain contains Latin and Ottoman Turkish inscriptions and situated between two old plane trees (platanus spp) which might be planted by Francis II Rakoczi. Once in the middle of the vineyards surrounding the city, it is in the industrial zone of the city today, near the back gate of wine and raki factory. 
• Barış ve Özgürlük Parkı. A quite large parkland near the sea (near the otogar and the marina). The park contains statues of Namık Kemal and Francis II Rakoczi. There is also a statue of Kelemen Mikes, carved in wood in Hungarian style. There are plane trees (platanus spp) planted by Hungarian president and other notables of the time when the park was opened (1990s). 

Do

Hiking/Trekking – Mt Ganos to the southwest of the city offers beautiful trails through its forests and shrublands. Especially, the 20-km quite wide earth road on the side of the mountain through a pine and oak forest occasionally fragmanted by vineyards and the picturesque village of Yeniköy, starting from Kumbağ and leading to Uçmakdere, offers impressive views over the Sea of Marmara and Marmara Islands. It can be hiked without the need of a guide or a map as it is a very clearly obvious road, has water sources located in a reasonable distance away from each other (at 1st, 5th, and 11th kilometres on the first 12-km section between Kumbağ and Yeniköy, and a couple others at the dryer and less verdant 8-km section between Yeniköy and Uçmakdere; however you can make do with these sources unless at the peak of summer heat), and can be done reasonably in a day (though returning is problematic as Uçmakdere has very little public transportation and offers no accommodation apart from a campground). Note that the local military police (jandarma) in Kumbağ bars access to the road further than 3 km away from Kumbağ during some of the summer weekends, so better done during weekdays (or start very early in the morning, before the road is shut). If having a car at your disposal, and one that is at least compatible with non-surfaced roads (you won't need a 4x4, though), you can do the same route, too, as the road primarily is for vehicular traffic, however little traffic it may have.

Paragliding – Although not widely known, paragliding is also possible on the foothills of Mt Ganos. There is a take-off area near Yeniköy village (about 10 km away from Kumbağ, about 30 km to Tekirdağ) and a landing strip at the Ayvasıl beach, about halfway between the villages of Yeniköy and Uçmakdere. To go there, first, enter the Barbaros-Kumbağ road from Tekirdağ and after about 1 km you left Barbaros behind, follow Naip signs in the fork (to right, there is also a "paragliding area" sign there but only in Turkish), when you left Naip behind follow the left sides twice in the forks and you'll soon arrive at Yeniköy. Around there you'll see signs for both take-off and landing areas. Bring your equipment and food and drink with you as you're highly unlikely to find any once in Yeniköy.

Windsurfing – Tekirdağ's sea is usually very wavy and windy during summer, so it is a perfect place to windsurf.

• There is a funfair next to the Barış ve Özgürlük Parkı at the east end of promenade. Not the biggest theme park in the world for sure, and neither it contains the most exciting rollercoaster, but it's still fun with its usual rides of ferris wheel, and gondola and the like.

Learn

Yelken Kulüp (on the west end of the shore promenade, tel [phone]) offers windsurf classes in the summer months.

Namık Kemal University, which was founded in 2005,o has its presidency in Tekirdağ. It has a faculty of agriculture near Değirmenaltı which accepts exchange doctorate students from around Europe but does not offer much else.

Buy

ATMs are mostly located along Hükümet St, the high street of the downtown area. They are either on their own, or located outside the banks (on the exterior walls). There is no ATM in Kumbağ (many shops accept credit cards though).

Money exchange is possible at banks, exchange offices, and jewellery shops located mainly in high street (Hükümet St). Exchange offices are better, as they are not as crowded as the banks are, and also you can see the rates on the electronic boards they usually attach on their windows. Many shops accept only Turkish lira. In other places, accepted foreign currency is generally limited to euro or American dollars, and their rates are usually lower than exchange offices.

Karacakılavuz (pronounced ka-ra-DJA-ka-lah-vooz), a village about 20 km NW of Tekirdağ, produces handmade rugs, carpets, and handwoven bags. The village was settled by Yörük, or nomadic Turkic people from Anatolia after the Ottoman conquest of Thrace (14th century). The villagers still weave the symbols they retained from nomadic times on their handicraft. Karacakılavuz handicrafts can be seen and bought at Provincial Directorate for Culture, which is located in the historical, brown-coloured brick building at about right the midway between Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography and Rakoczi Museum. (Provincial Directorate for Culture (İl Kültür Müdürlüğü) – Barbaros St. 5, tel [phone] or 261 88 28 fax [phone])

In the industrial areas surrounding nearby Çorlu (about 40 km) are outlet stores and factory sale shops, many of which offer tax-free/VAT refundable shopping (for foreigners) for textile fabrics. They are cheaper than elsewhere not only because there is no tax added, but also because the sellers are also the producers. Don't forget to obtain the necessary papers you'll need to have to get the money you paid for the tax back when you're leaving Turkey.

You may also buy Tekirdağ raki or wine to bring back home. Tekirdağ raki can be bought at the sale shop of the raki factory (about 2 km west of city centre, on the highway to Keşan/Çanakkale) or any alcohol shop. Wine can also be bought from any alcohol shop too but it is better to buy it from factories scattered around Şarköy-Mürefte area.

Malls

• Tekira, Hükümet Caddesi 304, Köprübaşı Mevkii (in the city centre), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]AM-10PM daily. Tekira houses clothing and electronics stores, fast-food joints, and a large supermarket of Carrefour as well as a movie theater. Free car-park. 
• Maxi Alışveriş Merkezi, Değirmenaltı, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]AM-10PM daily. Housing a large supermarket of Migros, this mall located at the eastern end of the city just next to the highway to Istanbul is good to grab a quick snack when driving to Istanbul. Free car-park. 

Eat

Tekirdağ köftesi (meat-ball) is a famous local delicacy. There are even some people visiting the city from Istanbul at the weekends just to eat Tekirdağ köftesi. It is made of fatless meat and some spices added in (don't worry if you are not used to spices, the Tekirdağ köftesi is not heavily-spiced unlike the Mid-Eastern fashion). It's given a cylindirical shape and grilled.

• Ozcanlar Restaurant, Hüseyin Pehlivan Cad. 5 (on the street descending to the Archaeology Museum), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Özcanlar is one of the favourite restaurants specialized in Tekirdağ köftesi. A portion, which is consisted of 10 meat-balls and hot sauce: 7-8 TL. 

As Tekirdağ is a coastal city, it is possible round-the-year to taste the fresh fish. Fish restaurants are mainly scattered around the shoreline promenade. For seafood, you may try Yelken Kulüp (on the west end of shoreline promenade, tel [phone]) or İlhan Restaurant (next to Yelken Kulüp, tel [phone]). Some fish restaurants doesn't serve alcoholic beverages and state their position by locating big alkolsüz ("alcohol-free" in Turkish) signs above their entrances. It is almost certain that the fish restaurants without such a sign serves alcoholic drinks.

It is also easy to find restaurants offering "national" fast-food like kebab and döner. However, food in the cheap döner restaurants may be low-quality, but if you are more interested in getting your stomach full cheaply (some döner and tomato slices inside a half-bread sandwich costs 0.50-1.00 TL) rather than your appetite, they may be worth a visit.

There are also a few American-style fast food restaurants offering pizzas and hamburgers too. Don't expect to find McDonald's or Burger King (at least in downtown). The ones you will see are local brands.

Although traditional food in this part of Turkey is mainly dependent on vegetables with little or no meat added, they can be only found inside the households. If you are a vegetarian, you may try pizzerias (all of them have vegetarian pizzas on their menus).

Desserts

It seems local desserts are of Balkan (Southeastern Europe) origin, as many towns and cities in western Turkey which are predominantly inhabited by descedants of people who immigrated from Balkans to Turkey during 19th and early 20th century take pride in being their "real" origin. Two most noteworthy are höşmerim, also called peynir helvası, which is made of cereals with some cheese dissolved and mixed in it (best to eat with some ice-cream added on top) and Hayrabolu tatlısı (also called Kemalpaşa tatlısı in some other places) which is soft, cookie-like dough rested in syrup.

The national Turkish desserts are readily available in any dessert shop.

Drink

• Tekirdağ raki — Connaisseurs say the best raki, Turkish national drink, is the one that is produced in Tekirdağ’s raki and wine factory (located about 2 km west of downtown). Although there are no signs on the bottles that guarantee it was produced in Tekirdağ, you can be pretty sure that any bottle you have bought in Tekirdağ is locally produced.
• Wine — Hills to the southwest of Tekirdağ supply 40% of the annual wine production of Turkey. Even cheap ones deserves a try.
• Cafés and tea-gardens — Tekirdağ has many cafés and tea-gardens, both indoors and outdoors. Some of them deserving a mention are as follows:
  • Cezve Cafe, Eski Bedesten Sokak, 32 (on the second street to left when walking downhill on Hüseyin Pehlivan Caddesi towards the Archaeology Museum), ☎ [phone]. A cafe located in a renovated historical 3-storey wooden building. It's worth entering even just to take a look at how the interior of these local traditional buildings is like. 
  • Kahve Bahane, Atatürk Bulvarı (on the main coastal avenue , between otogar and Cumhuriyet Meydanı, the main square leading to the city centre), ☎ [phone]. A finely decorated cafe with an open-air section by the sidewalk. 
  • Liman Çay Bahçesi (at the fishermen's wharf). It's easy to think of Tekirdağ as a little fishermen town rather than a city of 108,000 people while having a coffee in completely open-air Liman Çay Bahçesi (i.e. "Quay Tea-Garden") which commands a view of a part of the city as well as the fishermen's wharf next to which it's located. 1 TL for a glass of tea. 
  • Rıhtım (on the waterfront, east of the harbour towards marina, just behind the tourism information office). A cafe right at the waterfront lined with palm trees. Also has a smoking-free, fireplace-heated semi-open air section. This cafe also serves hubble bubble or nargile. Hot drinks from 1 TL, sandwiches from 2 TL. 
• Nightlife — While Tekirdağ is one of the cities with the highest alcohol consumption per capita in Turkey, there is no real nightlife in the city in a typical sense, only a few local pubs and discos are present. Discos are located in the first street running parallel to Atatürk Blvd (you can enter from Cumhuriyet Sq, the main entrance of downtown area from shoreline). The pubs on Şükran Sokak (also known as Sinemalar Sokağı) might be good places to observe the locals but these kinds of places traditionally tend to be men-only. Yelken Kulüp (on the west end of the shoreline promenade, tel [phone]) should also be mentioned as well. It has an indoor hall with a full view of the sea, and there is live music (generally local soft-rock cover bands) at some of the nights every week. 500 mL (roughly a pint) of beer costs 8 TL there.

Sleep

There are some hotels around the shoreline promenade and around the high street in downtown. The ones around the shoreline promenade should be better, they at least have a spectacle of the sea. Also downtown hotels may not guarantee a good sleep early in the morning as many buses and cars carrying the locals to their workplaces will be passing nearby.

There are also many hotels, apart hotels (flats for rent for short periods, look for the word kiralık, which means "for rent" in Turkish, on the windows or on the signs along the main street of the town) and pensions in Kumbağ. All of them are in walking distance to the beaches, a few of them have swimming-pools as well. Booking for hotels and pensions in Kumbağ is only needed for weekends during peak season (July–August). Many of them are closed between October and April.

Villa or flat rental is also possible in Değirmenaltı, a hood 8 km east of city center, situated between the shoreline and the highway to Istanbul.

• Golden Yat Hotel, Yalı Caddesi 42 (close to shore, just next to Rodosto Hotel), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Rooms with air-con, wireless internet access, and TV. Some rooms have a balcony with a sea view. From 80 TL/120 TL single/double rooms. 
• Hacıoğlu Hotel, Peştemalcı Caddesi 19 (in the city centre), ☎ [phone]. 
• Karaevli Hotel, Hükümet Caddesi 116 (on the main street of city centre), ☎ [phone], [phone]. Rooms with internet access, central heating, air-con, en suite bathrooms, and TV. Breakfast is included. 
• 🌍 Rodosto Hotel, İskele Caddesi 34, ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Located in a historical building dating back to 1881, close to the shore. (updated Nov 2018)
• Hotel Tuna Palas, Hüseyin Pehlivan Caddesi 12 (in the city centre; on the downhill street leading to Archaeological Museum), ☎ [phone], [phone]. 

Connect

Tourism information office (Turizm Danışma) – Shoreline promenade tel [phone] fax [phone]

The website of the city council is available in Turkish and English).

Post

The city's sole post office is on high street of downtown (Hükümet Caddesi). It is open between 8:30AM and 8:30PM. There is also a small post office in Kumbağ. It is open until 4:30PM. In both offices, it is possible to send letters and cards abroad (it might coast a little more in Kumbağ office and reaches its destination at least one day later than Tekirdağ office).

Telephone

Telephone booths are pretty much everywhere in downtown area and on the shoreline. Telephone cards are available at the post office, newspaper/tobacco kiosks and Türk Telekom shops, in which it is also possible to make a call and then pay cash.

The area code of Tekirdağ (including its environs) is 282. When calling Tekirdağ from out of Turkey dial +90 282.

Internet

You can find many internet cafes in the streets leading to or parallel with the high street in the downtown area. If you cannot find, ask a local youngster. All of these internet cafes have speedy DSL connections (some even rival with the internet cafe at the next door by sticking ads which declare their DSL speed on their windows). An hourly connection at these cafes costs about 1.50 TL. Most also serve some soft drinks and snacks too.

• Interland, Hüseyin Pehlivan Caddesi (in the lower end of Hüseyin Pehlivan Caddesi, that downhill street leading to Archaeology Museum), ☎ [phone]. Internet cafe with DSL connection in a central location. 

Stay safe

Avoid Aydoğdu Quarter, which is predominantly inhabited by Roma people and recent immigrants from eastern parts of Turkey, especially at night. (It is already out-of-the-beaten-path anyway, not near the shoreline, not in the downtown, don't get yourself worried unnecessarily, no way you can mistakenly break into the Quarter while sightseeing). All in all, Tekirdağ is generally a very safe city.

National emergency number to call the police is 155.

Stay healthy

Don't swim in the areas near the city center. Unfortunately there are both raw sewage discharged into the sea from several points and occasional chemical/oil pollution caused by commercial harbour activities (It is safe to swim in areas at least approximately 5 km away from the city center towards either direction).

In Tekirdağ, there is a somewhat serious air pollution/smog problem, particularly in the central parts of the city, between November and March, and especially during nights. This is mainly caused by coal combustion for heating. So asthma sufferers should take extra precaution during this time of the year, stay indoors or somewhere out of city centre at nights or avoid visiting at all in winter if possible. However, with the extension of the city-wide natural gas pipeline network, this problem will probably be solved substantially within one or two years, by winter 2009-2010.

National emergency number to call an ambulance is 112.

Cope

As a city which is slightly off-the-beaten path, you will encounter less English-speaking people. This is not to mean that nobody in Tekirdağ can speak English, but you may have to look for a little more than the usual in more tourism-oriented towns of western and southern Turkey. And you can also take it on the bright side: you will never come across with a tout in Tekirdağ.

All parts of Tekirdağ and surrounding region is well within the coverage area of all three cell phone line providers of Turkey. The only area without coverage is some parts of Mt Ganos with their disadvantaged geography (being far away from villages, and there are lots of deep valleys in the area which hinder cell phone waves).

Consulates

There are two consulates in the city.

• Honourary Consulate of Bulgaria (Bulgaristan Fahri Konsolosluğu), Turgut Mh., Rıhtım Caddesi 13/2 (access from Cumhuriyet Meydanı - the main square when entering the city centre), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. 
• Honourary Consulate of Hungary (Macaristan Fahri Konsolosluğu), Orduevi Caddesi 21, Günaydın Apartmanı (on the street leading towards the coast from old bazaar - Bedesten), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone]. 

Go next

• 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 an 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.

You can reach this area either by first taking the highway to Keşan (D110/E84) and then turning left (to D555) in the junction you'll come across about 40 km away from Tekirdağ (there is a Şarköy sign in that junction) or via the unpaved forest road winding around the foothills of Mt Ganos, starting from the hill behind Kumbağ.

Some travel companies in Istanbul offer winetasting trips in autumn or trekking tours to the aforementioned summit in anytime of the year in this region.

• 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 pleasant 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.

Routes through Tekirdağ

END ← Keşan ←

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