Kıyıköy is a town located on Eastern Thrace’s Black Sea coast (NW of Istanbul) in Turkey. It’s still known as Midye, which is derived from town’s Greek name (Medea), more than as Kıyıköy among its locals.
Understand
The town is located on a peninsular hill between two rivers and the sea. Both sides of the streams are sandy beaches. Behind the town is forest.
Get in
By bus
There are buses approximately once every two hours during daytime from Saray and Vize, both of which have direct bus connection from Istanbul.
By car
From Istanbul (2-2½ hr), take O-3/E80 motorway/toll-way to west, quit the motorway at ‘Çerkezköy’ exit, and follow the signs for ‘Saray’ afterwards. After arriving in Saray, signs to be followed will say ‘Kıyıköy’.
From north (Kırklareli) and west, head to Vize first, which lies around 20 km west of Kıyıköy and the starting point of other road leading to Kıyıköy.
By train
Nearest train station is in Çerkezköy (three daily connections with Istanbul). From there, you should take a bus to Saray, and then transfer to another one for Kıyıköy.
Get around
See
- 1 St Nicholas Monastery (Aya Nikola Manastırı). is a quite small religious complex engraved into a rocky slope of a hill in the forest, about 15-30 minutes walk from town centre, near the bank of the stream. There are signs near the city gate, indicating the path which leads to the monastery.
- Red city walls and gate to the town centre.
- Traditional architecture of town houses.
Do
Buy
Eat
Drink
- Marina Cafe & Bar (on the tip of the village/peninsula, edge of the cliffs), ☏ 90-544-368-06-05, ✉[email protected]. Cafe with a wooden open-air terrace offering a wonderful view of the sea and the fishermen wharf below and the rocky/mountainous shore ahead. Hot, soft and alcoholic drinks. Hot drinks from 1 TL.
Sleep
There are a couple of guesthouses (pansiyon) in the town. Going rate per person is about 20 TL.
Connect
Town’s telephone code is 288 ( 90 288 when calling from out of Turkey).
Go next
- Kastro (also known as Çamlıkoy or Kasatura Bay) on the Black Sea coast to the south (via road to Saray, watch for ‘Kastro’ signs) has a stream, a verdant forest, and a golden-yellow beach with an indemic sand lily species.
- Igneada on the Black Sea coast to the north (via Vize) is a town known for its lush forests, lakes, and kilometers-long beach.