İznik Gölü Çevre Yolu (D150 kuzey kıyı, 16-09 güney kıyı)

A full lap of the lake: D-150 north, 16-09 south

DISTANCE: 82 km
DRIVING TIME: 1 h 18 min
STOPS: 13

Car
Motorcycle

Directions in Google Maps İz on Google Play

01Orhangazi — D-575 × D-150 kavşağı
02Ilıca
03Boyalıca
04Çakırca sapağı
05İznik Çevre Yolu kavşağı
06İznik — İstanbul Kapı
07İznik merkez
08Güney kıyı yolunun başı
09Göllüce sapağı
10Müşküle sapağı
11Narlıca
12Sölöz sapağı
13Gölyaka

DRAWING · NOT A LIVE MAP© OpenStreetMap contributors

A pass-free, level ring around the biggest lake in Marmara, through olive and fruit orchards: the D-150 on the north shore, the 16-09 at the water's edge on the south.

İznik Gölü is the largest lake in Marmara and the fifth largest in Türkiye: 298 km², a 95 km shore, 65 m deep, 85 m above the sea. The ring turns at İznik, once Nicaea, where the first ecumenical council met in 325 and the seventh in 787 in the Ayasofya. Tilework was born here in the 15th century, vanished by the early 18th, returned in 1985. In 2014 a 4th-5th century basilica was found underwater 20 m offshore; the 600 m² building made Archaeology magazine's top discoveries of 2014.

What to eat

Havyar Köftesi
Carp roe kneaded with onion juice, spring onion, mint, parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs, shaped into small patties and fried in hot oil.
Çakırca quarter on the north shore, 31 km from Orhangazi; Şarlo Mustafa Balık ve Pide Salonu on the village lane fries carp roe in season. The roe season runs November to February, so in summer there is no point asking.
Papaz Yahnisi (Balık Yahnisi)
Yellow fish marinated overnight, floured and fried, then baked under a tomato-paste sauce with spring onion, parsley, sliced tomato and lemon.
The lakeside restaurants and home tables of İznik, along the İskele/Sahil Yolu that drops to the shore from the Lefke Kapı; the plain fried version of the same fish goes by the name 'çizik'.
Orhangazi Gedelek Turşusu
Pickled peppers, cucumber, cabbage, green tomato, beetroot, green plum and medlar, fermented for 20-30 days in spring water with no chemical additive at all.
6 km from Orhangazi towards Bursa, the roadside picklers at the entrance to the Gedelek quarter, a short detour from the D-575 end where the ring closes. Registered as a mark of provenance since 2017.
Gemlik Zeytini — sele / kuru sele
A thin-skinned table olive that turns from burgundy to black, cured in dry salt or in brine under granite weights, never with lye.
The olive shops of Orhangazi and the lakeside breakfast places at Gölyaka and Çakırca; both shores of the ring are olive grove. The designation of origin covers Gemlik, İznik, Orhangazi and Mudanya.

What to buy

İznik Çinisi
Hand-made underglaze tiles, plates, bowls and vases in the classic palette of red, leaf green, blue, navy and turquoise.
Central İznik, the Çini Çarşısı inside the walled town in the Süleyman Paşa Medresesi; nine workshops make and sell in the restored 14th-century medrese. Origin no. 137, distinct from Kütahya ware, so look for the emblem and the word İznik in the shop.
Müşküle İğne Oyası
Needle lace knotted stitch by stitch to edge headscarves, tablecloths, bed covers and towels; flat and light, the one souvenir that takes no boot space.
Müşküle quarter (İznik), on the 16-09 provincial road on the south shore about 15 km past İznik; there is no shop, the women work at home and sell to order, so you ask in the village. Registered since 2021, with 167 patterns published in 2013.
Orhangazi Gedelek Turşusu
Jars and barrels of pickled vegetables and fruit, from peppers and cabbage to medlar and brined vine leaves, kept without chemical additives.
Gedelek quarter (Orhangazi), where the ring closes; the cooperative counts 78 picklers, and the pickles are sold in one-kilo jars and by the barrel. Registered as a mark of provenance, no. 249, since 2017.
Gemlik Zeytini (Orhangazi’de göl kıyısı sofralık siyah zeytin)
The black breakfast olive of this shore, salty and cured whole, with thick flesh and 28-35 per cent oil in the fruit.
Orhangazi town centre, the D-575 x D-150 junction where the route begins; designation of origin no. 76. The municipality holds its olive festival on Cumhuriyet Meydanı every November.
İznik Müşküle Üzümü
A very large amber-yellow table grape, about 5 g a berry, thick-skinned and bloomed, keeping well long after the harvest.
Müşküle (İznik), on the 16-09 on the south shore about 15 km past İznik; the geographical boundary is the İznik district. It ripens three to four weeks after other table grapes, harvested from late October into November.
Orhangazi Asma Pidesi (tescil yolunda)
A local flatbread still going through registration; the application text has not been published, so what goes into it is nowhere documented.
Orhangazi centre, the town where the route begins; the municipality applied for a mark of provenance on 22 January 2026. The record is still at application stage with no registration number, so it is not a registered geographical indication, and no particular bakery is confirmed.

Road notes

Drive it clockwise: from Orhangazi the north shore D-150 runs 39 km to İznik, and the south shore 16-09 brings you back through Gölyaka. The whole ring is 82 km and 1.3 hours; the other direction reads the same, because the loop is symmetrical.
Orhangazi is an industrial district of 80,000 people and 39 per cent of them work in the factories, so the way out of town blocks up at shift change. Start the ring outside those hours.
Put the festivals in your plan: the Gedelek pickle festival is set up in Orhangazi's Gedelek quarter at the start of every September, 4-6 September in 2026. The olive festival comes in November on Orhangazi's Cumhuriyet Meydanı; the 47th was held at 10.00 on 24 November 2025.
İznik is where the ring turns, and the stop is inside the walled town. The Ayasofya stands where the four gate roads cross, and the tile workshops are close by, in the Çini Çarşısı inside the Süleyman Paşa Medresesi. It has been a mosque since 2011, so there is no ticket; mind the prayer times and mosque manners.
The underwater basilica lies only 1.5-2 m below the surface and shows from above when the lake is still. On a windless morning go down to İznik's western shore and look out beyond the ruins of the Senate Palace; the same shore is the place for evening light, best around the equinoxes of 20 March and 22 September.
In summer a ferry runs between Orhangazi and İznik, but the service is seasonal, the times move, and it is not confirmed whether cars are taken on board, so ask before you set off.
At olive harvest the oil leaking from the transport lorries makes the tarmac slippery. In November and December take the bends carefully, above all on a motorcycle.
In Bursa the July average high is 31.0 °C and August 31.1 °C, and there is next to no height difference on the ring (lake 85 m, İznik 98 m, Orhangazi 121 m), so there is nowhere to climb for cooler air. December is the wettest month at 99.4 mm; choose May or September.

Along the way

İznik Surları ve Lefke Kapı
A ring of Roman and Byzantine city walls whose eastern gate is a triple arch you drive and walk through on the way in.
İznik Ayasofyası (Orhan Camii)
A 4th-5th century Byzantine basilica at the exact centre of town, where the Seventh Ecumenical Council met in 787; a mosque today.
Aziz Neophytos Bazilikası (su altındaki bazilika)
The remains of an early Christian basilica lying 1.5-2 m under the lake surface, visible from the shore when the water is calm.
Keramet Ilıcası ve çınarlı göl kıyısı
A village thermal pool the size of an irrigation pond, ringed by century-old plane trees, where the lake first comes into view.
Senato Sarayı plajı
A sandy public beach beside the ruins of the Byzantine Senate Palace, the easiest place on the whole ring to walk into the lake.
Gölyaka–Dutluca göl kıyısı
The last shore stretch before the loop closes: olive groves running down to the water, fish restaurants lining the road.

When to go

Spring / Autumn

Warnings

At olive harvest, in November and December, oil leaking from the transport lorries makes the tarmac slippery. On the south shore along the 16-09 cut your speed before the bends, above all on a motorcycle.

Itinerary

Distances between stops were measured along the route's line and scaled to the total; that is why the last stop reads the route's own kilometres.

01 Orhangazi — D-575 × D-150 kavşağı
02 Ilıca
03 Boyalıca
04 Çakırca sapağı
05 İznik Çevre Yolu kavşağı
06 İznik — İstanbul Kapı
07 İznik merkez
08 Güney kıyı yolunun başı
09 Göllüce sapağı
10 Müşküle sapağı
11 Narlıca
12 Sölöz sapağı
13 Gölyaka

START ▶ Orhangazi — D-575 × D-150 kavşağı · FINISH ■ Gölyaka

Orhangazi — D-575 × D-150 kavşağı0 km
Ilıca (Keramet sapağı, D-150)+16 km16 km
Boyalıca (D-150 / D-595)+7 km23 km
Çakırca sapağı (D-150)+10 km33 km
İznik Çevre Yolu kavşağı+7 km40 km
İznik — İstanbul Kapı+3 km43 km
İznik merkez (Atatürk Caddesi)+1 km44 km
Güney kıyı yolunun başı (16-09)+5 km48 km
Göllüce sapağı (16-09)+9 km58 km
Müşküle sapağı (anıt çınar)+6 km63 km
Narlıca (16-09)+8 km71 km
Sölöz sapağı (16-09)+6 km77 km
Gölyaka (16-09)+5 km82 km

Directions in Google Maps

Sources

54 SOURCES

This record is the counterpart of the route card on İz's Explore screen. The whole shelf, and how it was compiled, is on the route shelf. İz is live on Google Play and on the App Store.