Description

Description

Belgrad Forest (Turkish: Belgrad Ormanı) is located on the European side and the north-west of Istanbul and is one of the natural tourist attractions of Istanbul. This forest is beautiful in four seasons. You can enjoy the fresh and clean air and spend hours away from the heavy traffic of Istanbul and the hustle and bustle of the urban life. Of course, many people visit this forest for fun and for picnics in the spring, summer, and on holidays. There are hiking pathways and picnic spots in this forest that you can use. Oak trees, eastern birch and hornbeam and Anatolian chestnut trees and a variety of plants form the vegetation of this forest. This forest is the home to 71 bird species and 18 mammal species. In this forest you can see historical springs and aqueducts, some of which belong to the Ottoman Empire and Sultan Suleiman. At the moment, many people are queuing up to drink the pure water of these springs. During the Ottoman Empire the area of this forest was 13,000 hectares, but now it is reduced to 5442 hectares.

In addition to the beauties of this forest, you can also visit the Ataturk Garden (Atatürk Arboretum), which houses 2000 species of native and exotic plants. It is open to nature lovers all day long, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and is free. Founded in 1916, the garden is 300 hectares.

How to get to Belgrad forest from Taksim?

The best way to visit this forest is by taking a taxi or renting a car.

But if you have no problem with walking and you don’t have much to carry with you, you can take 42 bus route from Taksim or 153 bus route from Sarir and get off at Bahkecoy station. You will need to walk the rest of the way to get to the forest.