In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Take a tour: it is a 13-hour day and the route crosses the Sea of Marmara by ferry. Tours are €24 to €60. The €60 small-group tourad (141 reviews, 14 people at most) is the one that includes the return cable car ticket, the tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi, the Ulu Cami and the UNESCO village of Cumalıkızık. The €26 tourad (218 reviews) and the €24 tourad list the cable car as an extra fee. The Uludağ cable car costs ₺500 return (₺250 for students) and runs 10:00 to 18:00; its page announces maintenance closures. Every tour includes shopping stops. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult.
The tours compared
| Tour | From | Length | Cable car | What else |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bursa and Uludağ Tour with Lunch and Cable Carad | €24 | 13 hours | Extra fee | Green Mosque, Osman Gazi’s tomb, a lunch stop, a Turkish delight shop |
| Bursa Day Trip with Lunch and Cable Car Ride Optionad | €26 | 13 hours | Extra fee | Ferry tickets, Green Mosque, Green Tomb, silk market |
| Bursa and Uludağ Tour with Cable Car and Lunchad | €40 | 13 hours | If you select it | Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi tombs, Turkish delight, Cumalıkızık |
| Bursa, Cable Car, Osman Gazi Tomb and Grand Mosquead | €60 | 13 hours | Return ticket included | Small group, Ulu Cami, Koza Han, Cumalıkızık |
The tours
All four collect guests from central Istanbul in the morning and return in the evening. They cross the Sea of Marmara by ferry: the €26 tour’s route is about 1 hour by coach to Gebze, a 45-minute ferry and 1 hour by coach to Bursa, and the same back. The journey is about 3 hours each way.
Bursa, Cable Car, Osman Gazi Tomb and Grand Mosque
From €60 · 13 hours · 141 reviews · TravelPoint · 14 people at most
Istanbul: Bursa, Cable Car, Osman Gazi Tomb & Grand Mosquead starts in the UNESCO-listed village of Cumalıkızık, then goes to Tophane Park for the tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi, the founders of the Ottoman dynasty, and into the Ulu Cami, the Grand Mosque, which has 20 domes and a fountain inside. It walks through the Koza Han silk market, serves lunch and takes the cable car up Uludağ for free time at the top. The day ends at a Turkish delight factory. Snowmobile rides at the top are an extra, and the cable car ticket is in the price.
Bursa Day Trip with Lunch and Cable Car Option
From €26 · 13 hours · 218 reviews · Abracadabra Travel
Istanbul: Bursa Day Trip with Lunch & Cable Car Ride Optionad includes the ferry tickets, return transport and an English- and Arabic-speaking guide. Its stops are a Turkish delight shop, the 600-year-old İnkaya plane tree, lunch at Uludağ, the cable car, the Green Mosque, the Green Tomb and the Ottoman silk market. A quad-bike ride is an extra fee, and so is the cable car. A reviewer reports that the tour substituted a chairlift when the cable car was out of order.
Bursa and Uludağ Tour with Cable Car and Lunch
From €40 · 13 hours · 118 reviews · Travel See Life
From Istanbul: Bursa & Uludağ Tour with Cable Car and Lunchad stops at a Turkish delight shop for 30 minutes and at the tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi for 25 minutes, and takes in the Uludağ cable car and the Cumalıkızık village. A quad safari in summer is an optional extra.
Bursa and Uludağ Tour with Lunch and Cable Car
From €24 · 13 hours · 69 reviews · We Go Türkiye
Istanbul: Bursa and Uludag Tour with Lunch & Cable Carad is the cheapest. It lists the Green Mosque, the tomb of Osman Gazi and a 1½-hour stop on Uludağ, and its lunch is a mixed grill on the mountain road. The cable car is an additional fee, and the day includes stops at a Turkish delight shop and a jam house. Hotel pick-up is between 07:45 and 09:00.
What is in Bursa
UNESCO lists Bursa and Cumalıkızık as “the birth of the Ottoman Empire”: eight sites in the city and the nearby village that mark the early 14th-century capital (whc.unesco.org). The tours take in:
- The Green Mosque and Green Tomb (Yeşil Cami and Yeşil Türbe).
- The tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi at Tophane, with a view over the city.
- The Ulu Cami, the Grand Mosque.
- Koza Han, the silk market.
- Cumalıkızık, a UNESCO-listed Ottoman village.
A lane of old houses in Cumalıkızık. Photo: Hamdigumus, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
The mosques and tombs are active places of worship; the FCDO advises dressing modestly at mosques and shrines. The Ministry of Culture’s Bursa Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum charges foreign visitors €5, rising to €6 from 1 April 2027.
Tilework inside the Green Tomb in Bursa. Photo: Yahia.Mokhtar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The cable car
₺500 return · ₺250 students · 10:00 to 18:00 · 444 6 345
The Bursa cable car (Bursa Teleferik) runs from the Teferrüç station in the Yıldırım district up Uludağ. Its own price page gives ₺500 return for a full fare and ₺250 for students and shows maintenance closures, so check it before choosing a tour where the ride is an extra (bursateleferik.com.tr).
A cabin on the Uludağ cable car above the forest. Photo: Elnur Ahmadov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
On your own
Intercity coaches leave Istanbul’s coach stations for Bursa through the day, and the bus companies publish their own fares and times. The tours’ routes take about 3 hours each way with the ferry. Carry a passport or photo ID.
Bursa is one of the day trips from Istanbul. The Princes’ Islands are the shorter ferry trip. Istanbul public transport covers the way to the coach stations and the T1 tram, what to book before you go to Istanbul lists the sights that need tickets, and where to stay in Istanbul compares the areas.
Common questions
How do you get from Istanbul to Bursa for a day?
On a tour of 12 to 13 hours, which drives to the coast near Gebze, crosses the Sea of Marmara by ferry and drives on to Bursa. One tour's route is about 1 hour by coach, a 45-minute ferry and 1 hour by coach each way. Intercity coaches also run from Istanbul's coach stations.
How much is a Bursa day tour from Istanbul?
From €24 to €60 on GetYourGuide for 13 hours. The €60 small-group tour includes a return cable car ticket, the Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi tombs, the Grand Mosque and Cumalıkızık. On the €24 and €26 tours the cable car is an extra fee.
How much is the Bursa cable car?
₺500 return for a full fare and ₺250 for students, according to the cable car's own page. It runs 10:00 to 18:00, and the page announces maintenance closures. One tour listing substitutes a chairlift when the cable car is out of order.
Can you visit Bursa in a day from Istanbul?
Yes, on a tour of 12 to 13 hours. Bursa was the first Ottoman capital, and UNESCO lists Bursa and the village of Cumalıkızık as a World Heritage Site. The journey is about 3 hours each way with the ferry, and the tours schedule shopping stops.
Are the Bursa mosques open to visitors?
They are working mosques, and the tombs of Osman Gazi and Orhan Gazi are shrines. The FCDO advises dressing modestly at mosques and shrines: cover your shoulders and knees, and carry a scarf.
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