Sinop travel guide

Sinop, Brazil

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Sinop

Introduction

Sinop is a city in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, known as the Capital of Nortão and regarded as a major city of northern Mato Grosso. It is one of the state's larger urban centres and spreads across a wide municipal area.

Beyond its role as a regional hub, Sinop has a scientific and monitoring dimension: a Sivam radar has been installed here for monitoring the Amazon Basin, and Embrapa maintains a branch in the city, the only one in Mato Grosso.

Before you go

Sinop sits on a peninsula backed by mountains, with poor inland access, so it has long looked to the sea rather than the interior. The earliest known settlers were Hellenistic people from the 7th or 8th century BC; the Hittites may have arrived sooner, though historians think not, and their artefacts here are taken to indicate trade goods rather than settlement. The coast has the shortest crossing south from Crimea, which made the town worth raiding, the last incursion being a surprise seaborne attack by Russia in 1853.

These days Sinop is a beach resort for the townsfolk of Istanbul and Ankara, and accommodation gets very full from June to September, so plan your stay around that if you're coming in summer. Few Westerners ever come this way.

Getting there

Sinop Airport receives one direct Turkish Airlines flight daily from Istanbul, a short hop of about ninety minutes; the terminal is modest but adequate for the limited traffic. By bus, services from Istanbul run several times a day and take around thirteen hours, travelling via Gebze, Izmit, Adapazari, Bolu, Karabuk, Safranbolu and Taskopru. From Samsun, buses run every hour or two and take about two and a half hours, while a single overnight service connects Ankara in roughly seven hours. Operators on these routes include Metro Turizm and Flixbus.

Getting around

Sinop is easily navigable on foot, and walking is the most straightforward way to get around the city centre for sightseeing, errands and nearby services. Basing yourself centrally makes this easiest. If you drive, be aware that parking is difficult in summer, so walking or local transport may be the simpler choice during peak periods.

Dolmuşes and taxis serve the out-of-town bus station (otogarı) and the airport; since the bus station sits outside the centre, plan to connect by dolmuş or taxi rather than on foot. Dolmuşes suit shared, lower-cost trips, while taxis are useful when routes do not match your schedule or when you are carrying luggage. Do not expect rail, metro or tram services, and confirm schedules and fares locally on arrival, as they change over time.

Where to stay

Most of Sinop's hotels cluster along Kurtuluş Caddesi in the town centre, where you can walk to the harbour and the main sights. Otel 117 occupies a historic mansion near the harbour and pairs its old-building character with modern rooms. Almost opposite, the Sinopark Hotel is a clean, comfortable and simple base in the centre, while the Reis Hotel next door is similarly clean, friendly and central. A little further east along the same street, Hotel 57 is another acceptable downtown option.

Outside the centre, the Sinop Antik Hotel in Gelincik is a charming converted mansion with its own private beach and good catering. Also in Gelincik, the Sinop Orman Kampı is the campsite closest to town, a pleasant coastal site with basic facilities; it is one of a dozen campsites around Sinop. If you have your own transport, the Sunrise Otel sits on the headland east of town.

Food & drink

Sinop has its own versions of two Turkish classics: a local mantı, and nokul, a type of puff pastry. For the mantı, seek out Esra'nın Mutfağı on the second floor of the Sinop Valiliği İş Geliştirme Merkezi, inside a nondescript gray building — it's closed on Sundays. Find it and you'll be warmly welcomed, then questioned on how you found it; say you were looking for the best Sinop mantısı. They know what you're there for and will serve the classic plate, half topped with walnuts and half with yogurt. For nokul and other pastries, head to Demirkollar Ekmek Fırını on Sakarya Cd. in Camikebir.

Around the harbour and fortress you can eat at Cem's Kitchen, Mavi Ay, Poyraz, Saray, Hey Yavrum and Nihavent. For a drink, Kale Burç Cafe Bar at the top of Sinop Fortress has harbour views and sometimes live shows. Mavi Esinti is a tearoom on the seafront, a short walk east of the fortress; others nearby are Chillin Cafe, Vento del Nord and Vitrin Club.

What to see and do

Sinop's old core is compact enough to cover on foot, and the city walls are the place to start: the best-preserved stretch crosses the isthmus west of the centre, with a bastion at each end, and continues along the harbour shore to the south. Just west of the centre, the Hacı Ömer Mosque was built for harbour workers in the early 20th century, and the fountain between it and the neighbouring hotel commemorates the casualties of the 1853 Russian surprise attack. The fortress itself overlooks the harbour; first built in the 8th century BC by Hellenistic settlers from Miletus, it was extended over the centuries, including by the Genoese, and later served as a high-security prison that features in the work of a dozen Turkish writers. You can look around and climb to the rooftop cafe for views. South of the fortress, the harbour splits into a quieter east wharf used by fishermen and a busy commercial west wharf.

On Fatih Cd, a statue of Diogenes celebrates the Cynic philosopher born in Sinop, shown with his lantern and a dog. Nearby, the Alaaddin Mosque was built in the 13th century in Seljuk style, and the Pervane Medrese just north of it, a religious school founded in 1262, now hosts souvenir and craft shops. The Archaeological Museum displays finds from the area along with a Seljuk sultana's tomb and a temple to Serapis, while the Ethnographic Museum occupies a former mansion. Other scattered sights include the Kef Evi Mosque, the ruined Byzantine Balatlar Church with frescoes in its still-roofed chapel vault, the Seyid İbrahim Bilal Mosque and shrine, and the half-moon Pasha Bastion, an artillery position built against Russian sea attack, now neglected and overgrown. For swimming, beaches close to town are trash-strewn, so head to Karakum Plajı on the headland east or Akliman beach on the north shore. Further out, Hamsilos Nature Park is a forested bay with camping, picnic areas and a rocky beach, İnceburun is a breezy peninsula with a 19th-century lighthouse, Erfelek Tatlica Falls is a cascade reached by hiking trails to the southwest, and Çeçe Sultan's Tomb is a Seljuk-era pilgrimage site in the hills above Gerze.

Three days in Sinop

Day one: Start in Sinop itself, getting your bearings in a city that few Westerners visit. Note that the name is shared with a Brazilian municipality in Mato Grosso, in the Nortão region near the Capital, so check you have the right Sinop before you book anything. Once you are settled, look into the Hellenistic history of the area, which reaches back to BC times and later involved the Hittites, and take in the Black Sea setting that links the city to Crimea, Russia, Istanbul and Ankara. June through September is the season to aim for.

Day two: Use the transport links to explore beyond the city. Sinop Airport is served by Turkish Airlines, and overland routes run via Gebze, Izmit, Adapazari, Bolu, Karabuk, Safranbolu and Taskopru, or from Samsun with operators such as Metro Turizm and Flixbus. Sinop Otogar is the bus hub, and connections reach Kastamonu and Boyabat. Basing yourself in Sinop makes these day trips manageable.

Day three: Turn to the wider region's research and environment. Sivam and Embrapa are names to look out for in connection with the Amazon Basin, and the Brazilian and Mato Grosso context is worth understanding if your interest in Sinop began on the other side of the Atlantic. Keep the day flexible and use it to fill any gaps left by the first two days.

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