The promenade at sunset
Ten unbroken kilometres for walking and cycling, and where the whole of Samsun comes out on summer evenings.
Ten Blue Flag beaches on a single ribbon of sand roughly ten kilometres long, with a tram that stops at them one after another: that is the Atakum coast, and the reason people in Samsun will tell you their Black Sea city has nothing to envy the Mediterranean. The strip begins about five kilometres west of the centre and runs west to the edge of the university campus, its beaches known by name to every local: Palmiye, Golf, İnci, Körfez, Dantel, Denizkızı, Gençlik and the rest, eleven named beaches in all, ten of them flying the flag. What makes the place is not the sand alone but what sits behind it: an unbroken walking promenade and cycle path the full length of the coast, changing cabins and toilets at regular intervals, and behind that a long parade of cafés, restaurants and shopping centres along the coast road. On summer evenings the promenade becomes the city's real living room, families with pushchairs, teenagers on bikes, the smell of grilled corn, and it is heaving on weekends in July and August. The weather is a genuine argument in its favour for Gulf families: high summer here seldom climbs much above thirty degrees, a world away from Antalya or Istanbul in August. A frank word about the water: the Black Sea is not the Mediterranean. It is shallow near the shore, which suits children, but it is colder than you expect even in August, the swell can pick up without warning and rip currents are real. Swim only where there are lifeguards and flags, and keep small children close. The proper swimming season is June to September; outside it the promenade is still a fine walk on a clear day, arguably a finer one, with a grey sea roaring beside you and a hot tea in a warm café. Getting there is simple: Samsun's tram runs the whole length of the coast along Atatürk Bulvarı from the centre to the university, and all three lines share the same track through Atakum, so any stop between Atakum Belediyesi and Körfez leaves you a few minutes' walk from the sand, twenty to thirty minutes from downtown depending on the stop. By car the coast road is wide, but parking fills up on summer weekends. Everything is free, beaches, cabins and promenade alike; you pay only for what you drink.
Ten unbroken kilometres for walking and cycling, and where the whole of Samsun comes out on summer evenings.
Among the busiest and best-staffed with lifeguards and cafés, a sensible choice for families with children.
Seldom much above thirty degrees in August, shallow water for the little ones, and a tram that spares you the car.
Atatürk Bulvarı (coast road), Atakum, Samsun
For long swims and warm water Antalya wins outright; the Black Sea is colder, moodier and has currents. But if you are already in Samsun or heading along the coast to Trabzon, this is an excellent day on the sand with children, provided you stick to the lifeguarded beaches, and August here is far kinder than the south.
No. All the Atakum beaches are public, mixed and free, and the atmosphere is family-oriented and fairly conservative by Turkish standards, but there are no advertised women-only sessions. For more privacy, a few hotels along the coast have their own pools.