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Marmara (region), Türkiye
Photo: Unknown, Turkey, 1567 (Turkey), Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Eastern Marmara (Turkish: Doğu Marmara) is the portion of Marmara Region bounded by Istanbul to the northwest, the Western Black Sea Region to the east, Western/Central Anatolia to the south, and the Southern Marmara Region to the west. It combines urban sprawl with fascinating medieval buildings and lush forested mountains. Eastern Marmara is simply a geographical term, but roughly corresponds to the administrative provinces of Kocaeli, Sakarya and Bilecik.
By plane visitors from other countries arrive at one of the two Istanbul airports, IST Europe-side or SAW Asia-side - both are connected to the Metro.
Read in the guideYou really need your own wheels to traverse this region. The main highways are to a good standard but minor roads hairpin over the hills, with poor signage and worse oncoming drivers around the next blind bend.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Yenişehir · Regional · YEI
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Gebze is a city in Eastern Marmara, 65 km east of Istanbul. It's a sprawling industrial conurbation, with a population of 392,945 in 2020.
İzmit is an industrial city in the Eastern Marmara region of Turkey, just over 100 km east of Istanbul. It's at the tip of the sword-like Gulf of İzmit, a long inlet of the Sea of Marmara, and in 2021 had a population of 367,990.
Adapazarı is a city in the Eastern Marmara region of Turkey, 160 km east of Istanbul, and with a population in 2020 of 279,127. It's the chief city of a metropolis of just over a million population, which until 2000 was likewise named Adapazarı, but is now called Sakarya.
Yalova is a city in the Eastern Marmara region of Turkey, with a population of 128,933 in 2020. It's a ferry port on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara and most visitors are just passing through; the main reason to linger is for the geothermal springs.
İznik is a town in the Eastern Marmara Region of Turkey, with a population of 22,507 in 2012. It stands at the east end of Lake İznik and is nowadays a quiet market town, but as ancient Nicaea was once a major cultural centre.
Osmaneli is a town in the Eastern Marmara region of Turkey, in the valley of the Sakarya River, with a population in 2020 of 15,598. The reason to visit is for its old town, with many traditional buildings.
İnegöl is a city in the Eastern Marmara region of Turkey, with a population in 2020 of 281,384. The cornerstone of İnegöl tourism is Oylat Thermal Springs.
For the seaside village of Söğüt near Marmaris, see Bozburun. Söğüt is a town in the hills of Eastern Marmara Region in Turkey, with a population in 2020 of 17,924.
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