Bursa and the Slopes of Uludağ by Fast Ferry

Bursa is one of the fullest day trips you can make. It was the first Ottoman capital, a centre of the silk trade, and it has a two thousand metre mountain behind it. Thanks to the ferry, leaving İstanbul in the morning and returning the same evening is genuinely possible.

Getting there: the fast ferry from Yenikapı or Pendik reaches Mudanya in about two hours, with shuttles and municipal buses on to the centre. By car it is two and a half hours over the Osmangazi Bridge. Check the return sailing first and build the day around it.

The day: start at the Ulu Mosque, whose twenty domes and interior fountain form an arrangement without parallel in Turkey. Next door are the covered bazaar and Koza Han, the heart of the silk trade; do not pass up tea under the plane tree in the courtyard. In the afternoon ride the cable car up Uludağ, a thirty minute journey with the plain opening out below. There are walking trails at the Sarıalan station, though winter plans depend on the snow line. If time remains, visit the Green Tomb and the Muradiye complex, whose garden tombs are a quiet exhibition of Ottoman tilework.

Eating: this is the home of İskender kebab. Take home candied chestnuts and, in season, Bursa peaches.

Tips: buy cable car tickets in advance at weekends and bring a light jacket, since the mountain is cool even in summer.