Bursa makes for a cheap and easy day trip from Istanbul. I left my place, close to Taksim, around 1130, and had I not missed the boat at 1145, I’d have been in Bursa early in the afternoon. As it turned out I had an hour and a half to kill before the next boat and so wandered up towards Dolmabache Palace and Besiktas to kill some time.
Half-past-twelve rolled around soon enough and I was on the boat, ploughing down the Bosphorus towards Bursa. About twenty to two the boat pulled into Mudanya – the closest port to Bursa. The idea for the trip, and the trip itself, was pretty spontaneous and I didn’t realise the port was so far away from the city. Thankfully it was all pretty straight-forward. There were about half-a-dozen yellow city buses waiting at the port with an information kiosk right next door. The English speaking girl inside told me that I all the buses would pass through the city centre and a ticket was about 8 TRY or around $4.
The buses plough up the four-lane highway fair quickly and a little after 2pm I was in the heart of Bursa. I still hadn’t decided whether I was going to spend the night or not and knowing that there were boats back to Istanbul around 7 and 9 meant I’d have 5-7 good hours to explore, if I wanted to do it in a day.
I started in Bursa’s bazaar a network or covered thoroughfares rammed with little shops selling everything, anything and nothing.
Wandering through the maze of little streets it doesn’t take long before you stumble across some of the city’s Hans – old enclosed squares that house shops and restaurants. It was in Koza Han that I decided to brave the city’s famous meal – Iskander.
It’s basically a kebab on a plate swimming in tomato sauce and yoghurt and was actually pretty decent. 
After lunch I made my way up to the city’s gand Mosque to take a look around. Ulu Cami is a huge place with calligraph
y decorated walls and low hanging chandeliers.
It definitely isn’t the nicest mosque I’ve ever seen but it was pretty spectacular all the same. After the mosque I ducked into Eski İpek Han, Pirinç and Balibey Han Sosyal Tesisi for a look before heading up the hill towards Hisar Kapisi – the old city gates.
A little way beyond the gates is Topane a hill-top park overlooking the sprawling city.
As well as the fantastic views from the park, you can check out the city’s old clock tower as well as the tombs of Osman and Orhan Gazi.
Doubling back, a little way down the hill you come across Üftade Cami which offers more great views of the city as well as Uludağ Mountain.
Had I had more time I’d have made my way up the mountain, but it was now pushing 1800 and I’d decided to try to get the 1900 bus back to Istanbul so made a b-line for the port. Traffic was looking pretty dicey so I made my way down to Şehreküstü Metro stop to beat the backlog.
About two stops into the trip the train came to a standstill for one reason or another and after a good five minutes I decided I’d abandon trying to get that boat and instead got on a train in the opposite direction, towards Gökdere İstasyonu, so I could explore the city’s famous Yeşil Cami, or Green Mosque.
Just behind the Mosque is the Yeşil Türbe – the Green Tomb – which is the mausoleum of the fifth Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed I.
I basically had the place to myself so after snapping a few pictures I decided to return down the hill towards Ulu Camii.
Knowing what happened earlier, I wasn’t leaving getting back to the port to chance and so got on a metro with plenty of time.
I took the train to the Emek – the last stop – and boarded one of those yellow city buses back towards Mudanya.
There was just enough time for a dodgy chicken kebab before boarding the 2130 boat back to Istanbul.