Safranbolu

Sat 23/12/23

Today's breakfast starts at 8.30am, but since we were the only guest, our breakfast set was only ready by 9am. The breakfast set is not as big as the ones in Bolu and Amasra - it didn't have the special egg menu. So for today we only got boiled eggs on top of the bread, cheese, jam spread and cay. But it was sufficient to start the day anyway :)

breakfast place

simple breakfast set today

After breakfast we walked up to the terrace at Hidirlik hill, which is just about 500m away and a 10 min walk. The entrance fee to the hill terrace is 10 TRY per person. The view from the hill is absolutely beautiful with views of the Ottoman mansions, mosques, Cinci Han caravanserai and hammam of the old town of Safranbolu. We flew the drone here to capture the aerial view of the charming old town. 

Safranbolu drone shot

Safranbolu view from Hidirlik hill

Safranbolu view from Hidirlik hill

Hidirlik hill terrace

Hidirlik hill terrace

From Hidirlik hill we walked to the Safranbolu clock tower which is also located on a hill which offers great views of the Safranbolu old town as well. The entrance here is free. There also other miniature clock towers located here.

City History museum, next to Safranbolu clock tower

view from Clock tower hill side

cats and dogs of Safranbolu

Safranbolu town centre

Tarihi Cinci hammam

saffron monument on the right

It was then time to enjoy some saffron tea, which this town is known for - saffron and turkish coffee. We made our way to the Boncuk Arasta Kahvesi 1661 café, which is said to be around since 1661. Saffron tea and turkish coffee cost TRY 110. The sequence to drink Turkish coffee is to start with water, then Turkish coffee and finally blackberry sherbet

turkish coffee with blackberry sherbet and water

saffron tea with honey

Boncuk Arasta Kahvesi 1661 café

After tea and coffee, we had lunch at Hanim Sultan café. We had izgara kofte (meatball), etli yaprak sarma (stuffed grape leaves) and safranli pilav (saffron rice) with cay. Our lunch cost TRY 395 which we had to pay by cash. 

etli yaprak sarma (stuffed grape leaves) with yogurt and safranli pilav (saffron rice)

 

izgara kofte

After lunch, partner in crime went for prayers at the Koprulu Mehmet Pasa Mosque (1661). 

Koprulu Mehmet Pasa Mosque

inside Koprulu Mehmet Pasa Mosque (1661)

ablution place at Koprulu Mehmet Pasa Mosque 

Next we proceeded to have another round of cay and Turkish coffee at the Cinci Han caravanserai which has now been converted to a hotel and coffee museum. Cay and coffee cost us TRY 95. 

Cinci Han caravanserai

Cinci Han caravanserai

another round of Turkish coffee

We bought a fridge magnet for TRY 30 and some lokum / Turkish delights at the Kemalettin makascı zariftat lokum for TRY 100. Partner in crime then went for prayer at another mosque - Izzet Pasa Camii (1796). We have then finished covering the old town of Safranbolu so we walked back to our hotel to refresh ourselves before venturing out for dinner later.

Izzet Pasa camii mosque

inside Izzet Pasa Camii (1796)

inside Izzet Pasa Camii (1796)

zariftat lokum

zariftat lokum - half already eaten

For dinner tonight, we had banduma (chicken, powdered walnut in phyllo dough) and mixed plate with cay at Zencefil Yorecel café for TRY 545. It rained heavily that night, but we managed to walk back to our hotel as luckily it was just five minutes away. We then called it a day to have a good rest. Tomorrow will be a long journey as we head back to Istanbul which would cover a distance of 370 km with an estimated journey time of 4 hours.

banduma

mixed plate