Bursa invented the İskender kebab in 1867 and has been eating seriously ever since. Between the Kapalı Çarşı's kebab lanes, the chestnut confectioners of Osmangazi and the trout houses of Cumalıkızık, this is Turkey's most underrated food city.
Start in the 14th-century covered bazaar where the food streets sit between the textile lanes: pastırma and sucuk counters, sheep's cheese from Uludağ, dried Bursa figs and walnut sujuk. Emir Han's courtyard tea garden opens 08:00; bazaar shops 08:30–19:00, closed Sunday.
The founding family's restaurant, run by the fourth generation of İskender Efendi who created the dish in 1867. One portion: döner over torn pide, tomato sauce, and browned butter poured tableside from a copper pan. Open 11:00–20:30 daily, no alcohol.
Bursa's benchmark candied-chestnut house since 1949, using Uludağ chestnuts syruped over several days. Also chestnut marzipan, chestnut Turkish delight and chestnut ice cream in summer. Boxes are vacuum-sealed for travel. Open 09:00–21:00.
Neighbourhood dessert shop for kemalpaşa tatlısı — the semolina-cheese dumpling from nearby Mustafakemalpaşa, soaked in syrup and served warm with kaymak. Also İnegöl köftesi grilled next door. Busiest 18:00–20:00 with local families.
Breakfast under the plane trees in the 1491 silk caravanserai built by Bayezid II, with the raised mosque platform in the middle. Serpme kahvaltı brings Mihaliç cheese, village butter, Uludağ honeycomb and hot pişi. Tea houses open from 08:00.
İnegöl köfte is Bursa province's second great meat dish — beef and lamb kneaded with grated onion and breadcrumb, no spice beyond salt, grilled over charcoal and served with piyaz beans and grilled green peppers. Portions of eight patties.
The pide street of central Bursa: boat-shaped flatbreads baked in wood ovens with kaşar, minced lamb or egg, priced by length. Between the bakeries sit tahini-halva shops selling Bursa's dark tahin pekmez blend by the jar.
The 700-year-old Ottoman village on Uludağ's slope, 12 km east, where the cobbled lanes are lined with courtyard kitchens: grilled trout from mountain streams, hand-rolled gözleme, mulberry juice and jams from village orchards. Bus 22 from Heykel.
Morning market below the Tophane citadel walls where Uludağ producers bring wild greens, cornelian cherries and Bursa's famous black figs in season. Soup stalls open at 07:00 serving işkembe and lentil çorba to market traders.
The spa quarter's lunch canteens serve the workers' menu: kuru fasulye with pilav, Bursa-style stuffed vine leaves and ayran churned in-house. The thermal hotels' tea terraces look down over the whole Bursa plain toward Uludağ.
Afternoon Turkish coffee where the Karagöz shadow-puppet tradition was born, then the fish-and-rakı street: a row of meyhanes serving meze trays, grilled hamsi and rakı by the double. Meyhanes open 17:00, live fasıl music Friday and Saturday.
The 8.2 km Teleferik climbs to 1,810 m where the summit terraces serve mountain fare: chestnut soup, kuzu tandır and mulled sahlep. The last descent is 22:00 in summer, 20:00 in winter — check before ordering a slow meal.