I very much want to take a tour of the Black Sea region next year.  I´m looking for a reputable agent that organises coach tours right the way along the coast as far as Trabzon and Rize. 

If anyone knows of any good agents (Turkish or English) and their websites, please can you post them here? 

Alternatively, I suppose I could organise my own tour by taking a series of coach journeys from one point to another. I know the bus services are good.  Has anyone ever done this?

Thanks in advance

I´ve travelled the whole of the Black Sea coast from Amasra to Georgia,stopping at Amasra,Inebolu,Sinop,Ünye,Trabzon,up into the Kaçkars for a few days,then on to Hopa and over into Georgia. We travelled on local buses between the towns. Easy peasy-you can get from anywhere to anywhere else by bus in Turkey! It´s a beautiful trip with spectacular scenery.

I did an almost similar trip to Sonunda apart from I started heading south East after Trabzon. All the time I used local buses and coaches. I would say a tour company is not neccesasry as it is easily done yourself. Maybe if you want the expereince of travelling in a group (maybe with guide) then using a company may be your preffered option.  The choice is yours

I´ve travelled a lot around Turkey. It´s easy to get from place to place and when you arrive, if you want, there are usually easy to arrange day trips. E.G. from Kahta you can ´do´ Mount Nemrut,in Cappadocia a day trip will take you to Ilhara Gorge and the underground city,from Trabzon-Sumela and from Kars-Ani.etc.

We´ve found that this suits us more than a fixed timetable on a tour.

Thanks for the information.  I´ve travelled around Turkey by bus quite a lot myself and I know the network of buses is extensive and easy enough to use.  I´ve never travelled along the Black Sea coastline and wasn´t sure whether DIY or a tour was best.

I thought a tour might be safer if I´m travelling alone but I do like the buzz of arranging my own itinerary.  I guess I just wanted some kind of confirmation that organisation of a DIY trip is fairly straightforward.  It´s possible that friends will be travelling with me (sometime next year) so I think a DIY trip would be most flexible.  I´ve never needed to book my bus seat ahead so I presume this would also be the case for this trip.

What about accommodation? Is it easy to find on the day or is it best to book ahead?  I´ve usually booked hotel accommodation before leaving the UK but in this instance I´m not sure.

It´s good to know that local tours and site visits are easily arranged too .

Thanks again

Until our last couple of trips, where we´ve been to the SW tourist areas more, we´ve never booked ahead and only once have not been able to get in to the first hotel we´ve pitched up at (so we went round the corner to an equally nice place) We´ve never booked seats on buses either. The Black Sea trip was part of a 5 week trip and we went in May/June.

Don´t forget your Lonely Planet!