Daily Rize, Borçka & Karagöl Tour

Daily Rize, Borçka & Karagöl Tour — Emerald Highlands of the Eastern Black Sea

Journey into the misty green mountains of the eastern Black Sea on this daily Rize, Borçka and Karagöl tour, a private full-day excursion through tea country to one of Turkey's most beautiful glacial lakes. Setting out from Rize, you follow the coast and then climb into forested valleys to reach Borçka Karagöl, the "Black Lake," whose still emerald water mirrors the surrounding peaks. With your own guide and comfortable vehicle, this is a nature-lover's day of tea plantations, waterfalls, highland villages and unforgettable mountain scenery.

Highlights of the Rize & Karagöl Tour

• Karagöl (Black Lake) — a jewel-like glacial lake surrounded by pine forest and reflecting the mountains of Borçka
• Rize tea plantations — the rolling emerald hillsides that produce most of Turkey's tea, with a traditional tea break
• Çankurtaran Pass near Hopa — a dramatic mountain viewpoint on the way east
• Muratlı Village — a riverside village offering a taste of authentic Black Sea highland life
• Submerged minaret and tea-factory chimney — curious landmarks rising from the waters of the Deriner reservoir
• Horon dancing and nature walks — local folk culture and forest trails around the lake

Rize is the heart of Turkey's tea industry, and the tour begins among its famous terraced plantations, where you stop for a glass of freshly brewed Black Sea tea and, in Gündoğdu, the region's renowned traditional cloth. The route then heads east toward Hopa and the Çankurtaran Pass, pausing for photographs over the forested ridges, before turning inland through Muratlı Village and past the striking sight of a mosque minaret and an old tea-factory chimney half-submerged in the Deriner reservoir — relics of villages flooded when the dam was built.

The highlight of the Borçka Karagöl tour is the Black Lake itself, cradled in dense pine forest high in the mountains. Here you can walk the shoreline trails, photograph the mirror-still water, join in a lively Horon folk dance and simply breathe the cool highland air. A hearty lunch of local Black Sea dishes is served at the Meroli restaurant during the day. After hours among emerald lakes, waterfalls and mountain villages, you are returned to your hotel in Rize in the evening, having seen the very best of the eastern Black Sea highlands.