Visit Istanbul Guide
Bursa from Istanbul
Bursa from Istanbul is a ferry across the Sea of Marmara and then a coach — roughly two and a half hours each way to the first Ottoman capital, its silk bazaar, its royal tombs and a cable car up a 2,500-metre mountain. It is the most rewarding of the long day trips. The others are on day trips from Istanbul and the plan on the Istanbul city guide homepage.
Quick answer What is there, and how long it takes
The Green Mosque and Green Tomb with their İznik-precursor tilework, the covered silk market of Koza Han, the tombs of the first two Ottoman sultans, and the Uludağ cable car. Two and a half hours each way, so a genuinely early start.
Key takeaways
- The mosques and tombs are free; the cable car and museums are not
- Koza Han's courtyard is the place to stop for tea between the sights
- It is the strongest long day trip if you liked Topkapı and want the origins
- Compare it against the other options before committing a day
Key facts
Opening hours
| Mosques and bazaar | Daytime–Early evening |
|---|
Closed The silk bazaar keeps shop hours; mosques pause for prayers
Admission
- Adult
- No single official fare — ferry, coach and cable car are priced separately
- Reduced
- Varies
- Free
- The mosques and the tombs
Planning it
- Time needed
- A full day; leave by 08:00
- Book ahead
- Essential — weeks ahead
- Address
- Bursa, 155 km from Istanbul across the Sea of Marmara
What a day in Bursa holds
The Green Mosque and Green Tomb (1421) are the reason to come: turquoise and blue tile from the workshops that preceded İznik, in a building that reads as the Ottoman style still deciding what it will be.
Koza Han, the silk cocoon market of 1491, is still a working textile bazaar with a courtyard tea garden in the middle — the best pause of the day.
The Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami), twenty domes on twelve piers, with calligraphic panels covering the walls and a fountain in the middle of the prayer hall.
The tombs of Osman and Orhan, the first two Ottoman sultans, on the hill at Tophane, with the city below.
Uludağ, the mountain above the city, reached by one of the longest cable cars in the world — worth it in clear weather, pointless in cloud.
Bursa questions
How far is Bursa from Istanbul?
About 155 km, but the useful figure is time: roughly two and a half hours each way using a fast ferry across the Sea of Marmara and then a coach.
Is Bursa worth a day trip from Istanbul?
If early Ottoman architecture interests you, yes — the Green Mosque and Green Tomb are the best of their period anywhere. If you want scenery rather than buildings, the Princes' Islands cost far less time.
What is there to do in Bursa?
The Green Mosque and Tomb, the Grand Mosque, Koza Han silk bazaar, the tombs of the first two sultans, and the Uludağ cable car.
How much is a taxi from Istanbul to Bursa?
No operator publishes a fixed fare for a 155 km cross-water journey, so this page prints none — and a taxi is the wrong tool for it. The fast ferry plus a coach is both cheaper and quicker.
Why is Bursa, Turkey famous?
It was the first capital of the Ottoman state, it holds the tombs of the first two sultans, and it was the centre of the silk trade — the Koza Han cocoon market is still trading. Modern Bursa is also known for Uludağ, the ski mountain above it.
Page last reviewed 2026-09-03. Prices, hours and terms are set by the venue or operator and confirmed at checkout.
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