Start in the Hanlar district: the Grand Mosque, then tea in the courtyard of Koza Han, the silk market of 1491. Walk up to Tophane for the tombs of Osman and Orhan, and give a second morning to the Green Mosque and the Muradiye tombs. Eat İskender where it was invented. A third day buys Cumalıkızık, the cable car up Uludağ or a soak in Çekirge.
Bursa was the first Ottoman capital, taken in 1326, and the dynasty's founders are buried on its citadel hill. Their mosques, tombs and silk hans make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city still trades on silk, thermal water and the kebab İskender Efendi first sliced from a vertical spit here.
Bayezid I built it between 1396 and 1399 after his victory at Nicopolis: twenty domes in four rows of five, over walls of calligraphy and a fountain under the central dome. It is the largest multi-domed mosque the Ottomans built.
Mehmed I's mosque of 1419, its mihrab tiled by the masters of Tabriz, faces his blue-green tomb across a narrow street. The planned portico was never built, which is why the facade looks unfinished.
Bayezid II's silk caravanserai, finished in 1491, with a small mosque on a fountain in the middle of its courtyard. Silk shops still fill the upper gallery and the courtyard is the city's favourite tea garden.
Murad II's mosque of 1426 and the garden of twelve tombs beside it, most of them his family's. The tiled mausoleums of the princes are the finest early Ottoman interiors in the city.
The founder of the Ottoman state and his son, who took Bursa, lie opposite each other inside the gates of Tophane Park. Both tombs were rebuilt after the 1855 earthquake, Osman's in a baroque style.
A village of the early 1300s about 10 km east of the centre, its timber-framed houses in cobbled lanes under Uludağ. It is part of the UNESCO listing, and many of the houses are still lived in.
The gondola that opened in 2014 climbs about 8.8 km from Teferrüç to the hotel zone of Uludağ in roughly 22 minutes. Sarıalan, at 1,630 m, is the picnic stop; the top station serves the ski slopes.
A merchant's bridge of 1442 over the Gökdere stream, lined with shops like Florence's Ponte Vecchio. Destroyed in 1922 and rebuilt, it now holds craft workshops selling ceramics, glass and woodwork.
Murad I's thermal bath of the 1380s, built on Byzantine foundations and enlarged by Bayezid II in 1511. The spring water still arrives at about 45°C into marble pools under the original domes.
A 360-degree painting of the conquest of Bursa on 6 April 1326, under a dome, with sound and a historical introduction. It sits a five-minute walk from Gökdere metro station.
İznik ceramics, calligraphy and dervish objects in the Green Madrasa.
The slopes above the cable car usually run from December, with the best snow in January and February.
Concerts, dance and theatre across the city; first held in 1962.
International folk dance troupes compete as part of the Bursa Festival.
The city marks its liberation in 1922 with ceremonies and exhibitions.
Mudanya commemorates the armistice signed in the town in 1922.
The anniversary of the 1326 Ottoman conquest, the date the panorama museum depicts.
Shadow theatre from Turkey and abroad, in the city of Karagöz and Hacivat.
An international photography festival; recent editions have run from November into January.
A small airport about 50 km east of the centre, with mostly domestic flights. Most visitors fly into Istanbul and cross by sea bus or road.
İDO fast ferries cross from Istanbul to Güzelyalı and BUDO sea buses to Mudanya, both in roughly 1 hour 30 to 2 hours. Buses link both piers to the Bursaray metro.
Two Bursaray metro lines cover about 39 km east to west, meeting at Acemler. The T1 tram loops one way around the old city centre.
Thin döner over pide, tomato sauce, yogurt and sizzling butter.
Small meatballs on pide, under butter and tomato sauce.
Grilled beef and lamb meatballs from the nearby town of İnegöl.
A Tatar-style meat pastry found only in Bursa.
Candied chestnuts from the Uludağ slopes, the city's sweet.
Small cheese sweets soaked in syrup, made with a cheese of their own.
Flatbread spread with tahini and sugar, for breakfast or tea.
A hard, salty cheese from the Karacabey plain.
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