Uludag National Park

Uludag - great mountain, the Mysian Olympus of antiquity, after which Bursa was called Prusa ad Olympum - rises to 2,543 metres at Kartaltepe directly behind Bursa, the highest mountain of the Marmara region, close enough that the city sits in its shadow, and it has been the country's best-known ski mountain for decades. The cable car from the eastern side of the city runs several kilometres up in stages, passing from chestnut and beech into fir and finally out onto open rock and pasture. The hotel zone near the top is a cluster of large buildings from several decades, and the pistes above it are short but dependable in a good winter. In summer the same ground is walked instead: glacial tarns in the summit basin, fir forest, and views north across the plain to the Marmara.

The landscape

• The cable car - a long staged ride through changing forest belts.
• The glacial tarns - small lakes in the rocky summit basin.
• The fir belt - dense Uludag fir across the upper slopes.
• The plain below - Bursa and the Marmara lowland to the north.

When to go

Snow is dependable from January to March, and the mountain is at its busiest then, especially at weekends and through the winter school holidays. Summer walking runs June to September. Fog is common in any season and can sit on the summit all day while Bursa below stays clear. Weekdays are markedly quieter.

Before you go

The hotel zone is dated concrete and feels closer to a crowded resort than a national park. Cable car queues on winter weekends run to hours, and lift passes, equipment hire and parking add up fast. The pistes are short by alpine standards. In summer the car parks fill early.

Nearby

Bursa's old city and mosques, and the village of Cumalikizik.

Key facts