Rize is a city in the Eastern Karadeniz region, on Turkey's Black Sea coast, with a population of 122,000 in 2022. It has limited attractions for tourists but is a good base for exploring the northeast.

Rize is best known for cultivation of tea: the climate of the northeast coast is the most suitable in the country. This is serious business: Turks are among the heaviest tea drinkers per capita in the world, very little is imported, and almost all of it is produced here.

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Map of Rize

Rize is on Highway D-010, which runs almost the length of the Black Sea coast.

41.17555640.8451 Rize-Artvin Airport (RZV  ^IATA) has daily flights from Istanbul (both IST and SAW), Ankara and Izmir. It's on an artificial island 36 km east of Rize. The Havas shuttle bus no longer runs, so you need a taxi or car hire.

Trabzon Airport (TZX ^IATA) 73 km west has better international connections.

Six buses a day are direct from Istanbul, taking 19 hours via Gebze, Izmit, Adapazarı, Samsun, Trabzon and Surmene. From Ankara is 13 hours. Some buses continue to Hopa on the border then Batumi in Georgia. Dolmuşes run frequently from Trabzon.

Bus lines are Metro Turizm and Flixbus.

41.032640.51112 Rize bus terminal is central in town, unusually for Turkey, as D-010 runs just past it.

Much of Rize can be accessed on foot, but it sprawls a long way east and west. Dolmuşes ply the main streets.

• 41.025140.51641 Seyh Mosque built in 1711 is the city's main mosque.
• Rize Museum, Palmiye Sk 4 (50 m west of Rize Museum), ☏ +90 464 214 0235. Tu-Su 08:00-16:30. Small museum of local history. Free. (updated Jun 2025)
• Yeni Orta Mosque, built in 1941, is plain outside, with a tatty line of shops at street level, but handsome within. The entrance is on Hal Sk opposite Grand 464 Otel.
• 41.023440.53422 Ataturk House, Kirazlık Cd 16, ☏ +90 464 214 0429. Tu-Su 08:00-16:30. House where Atatürk stayed on a visit of 1924, with ethnography exhibition. Free. (updated Jun 2025)
• 41.027940.51013 Rize Castle, Piri Reis Cd. Daily 08:00-00:00. Gnarly 13th century ruin perched on a hilltop with city views. Free. (updated Jun 2025)
• Kale Mosque clings to the hillside next to the castle. It was built in 1658.

• Şafak Lunapark is a weary-looking children's amusement park on the downtown waterfront.
• Football: Çaykur Rizespor play soccer in Süper Lig, the top tier. Their Rize City (aka Çaykur Didi) Stadium (capacity 15,200) is on the seafront 6 km east of city centre.
• Beach: sorry, no. Land has been reclaimed all along the shore, for instance to build the main highway, so the sea comes right up to the concrete foundations.

Lots of supermarkets in town centre, usually open daily 08:00-22:00.

Lots of eateries along the main east-west streets through tow, no stand-out.

Local specialties include muhlama (cheese melted into oatmeal), hamsi boreği (a tortilla of fried bread, anchovies and rice), and alabalik (trout).

Tea, the national drink, is produced here.

Ziraat Tea Garden (Ziraat Çay Bahçesi} is on a bosky hillside at Narenciye Sk 16, open daily 08:00-23:00.

It's a conservative city, few places serve alcohol.

• 41.024940.52021 Rhisos Otel, Cumhuriyet Cd 115, ☏ +90 553 777 7353. As central as you can get in Rize, though this means street noise. B&B double 3000 TL. (updated Jun 2025)
• 41.022940.51872 Grand 464 Otel, Hal Sk 22 (off Pazar Cd), ☏ +90 464 217 2277. Clean, comfy and central. B&B double 3000 TL. (updated Jun 2025)
• 41.025140.52353 Otel Keleş, Ömer Halisdemir Cd 4 (off Cumhuriyet Cd), ☏ +90 464 217 4612. Value-for-money simple hotel near city centre. B&B double 2500 TL. (updated Jun 2025)
• Sahil Park off Menderes Blv is the focus of a cluster of mid-range hotels. These include Milano (below), Şimal, Rhisos Gold, Aydoğan, Gözde Pansiyon and Grand 53.
• 41.025540.52824 Otel Milano, Gençlik Cd 1 (off Menderes Blv), ☏ +90 464 250 5150. Spacious and comfy, a short walk to centre. B&B double 4000 TL. (updated Jun 2025)
• 41.046340.58235 Ramada Plaza, Sevgi Cd 18 (7 km east), ☏ +90 464 229 0153. Pleasant spacious place on the east seafront. B&B double 5000 TL. (updated Jun 2025)

As of May 2025, Rize and the coast highway have 4G from all Turkish carriers, but the signal is poor in the mountains to the south. 5G has not yet rolled out in Turkey.

• Ayder is the access point for the Kaçkar Mountains.
• Trabzon west has big city attractions.
• Batumi is the next major city east, a rain-drenched beach resort in Georgia.

Trabzon ← Sürmene ←

W  E

→ Hopa ( N ) → Artvin ( S) → Ardahan