Daily Rize Handuzu Plateau Tour – Guneysu Valley & Waterfall Trail (Shared)

Daily Rize Handuzu Plateau Tour – Guneysu Valley & Waterfall Trail

This daily Rize tour explores the Black Sea highlands, from the Guneysu Valley and Arapduzu Waterfall to the Handuzu and Yedicukur plateaus. Lunch and an English-speaking guide are included, and the route also climbs to the Cagrankaya and Egzar plateaus. Rize is a land of year-round rain and endless tea gardens, which keeps its slopes a vivid green, and from the high plateaus you look down on the deep blue of the Black Sea on one side and on tea-covered hills on the others. The day introduces you to the yayla culture of the region, where families still move up to summer houses in the mountains.

The adventure starts in the Guneysu Valley with an 800-metre nature trail that winds through the forest and crosses wooden suspension bridges to the Arapduzu Waterfall. Higher up, the Cagrankaya Plateau sits at around 2,600 metres, often above a sea of clouds; from its natural viewing terrace your shouts echo across the valley and you can drink ice-cold spring water. You then walk across the Yedicukur Plateau, on the slopes of Demirdagi, to a traditional plateau house where lunch is served and tea is poured, and chat with local people about life in the highlands and around the Handuzu Plateau.

In the afternoon the route continues to the meadows of the Egzar Plateau, passing wild bilberry bushes on the way, where the group forms a ring for the horon, the energetic folk dance of the Black Sea, sings local songs and enjoys the views over the valley before the drive back. This day tour from Rize includes hotel pick-up and drop-off and air-conditioned transport, and with a choice of vegetarian, halal or meat lunch it is a relaxed daily excursion from Rize for nature lovers, walkers and photographers, available as a group or private tour.