Weekend Escape Proposal: Igneada and Longoz Forests
Last Our answer to those who want an alternative and peaceful place for the weekend at times: Longoz Forests and Igneada! place Igneada. There’s enough of everything here. Fish restaurants, Turkish coffee on charcoal, cafes with sea views that stretch as far as the eye can see, hotels with windows opening to the beach, untouched tent areas for those who want to camp.. Whether it’s walking, sea, sand, sun or raki fish… It is one of the rare places where you can do whatever you want, and more importantly, you can hang out with flip-flops and shorts all day.. Of course, since we went in the second week of September, we say this with the effect of the closure of the season, but I think there is no need to mention that Igneada is full, like everywhere else, in the summer months, especially during the holidays
About 2500 people Igneada, which has a population of 1, is a part of Kırklareli.. neighbor to the Balkans. At the foot of the Istranca mountains. There is a long and soft beach stretching along the iodine-scented coast of the Black Sea.. It has the potential to be visited in all seasons and fascinate people with a different feature every time.. This is the kind of place where you will want to come back again and again, not only with its unique nature, but also with its smiling people, delicious wines, and rich cuisine.
Now we can move on to the details of our 2-day Igneada tour, which we will recommend to you.
1. day A 4-hour journey awaits those who will come from Istanbul with their own vehicles.. You reach Igneada via Silivri and Çerkezköy by passing Saray, Vize and Demirköy respectively.. After Demirköy, especially as you approach the Istranca Mountains, bends begin, the oxygen rate increases, and a slightly stabilized road appears before you.. While winding on the winding roads, the longozes that make people move from right to left begin to show themselves.
As soon as we arrived in Igneada, we searched for a hotel.. We did a little research on the internet before, seeing that we don’t have many alternatives anyway, and we didn’t make a reservation, thinking that the hotels would not be full because it was the end of the season.. If you are planning to go in the summer and you are not going to make a tent, arrange your hotel before you go to Igneada because it can be difficult to find an empty room in the season.. After passing a couple of hostels, we entered İğneada Motel and after seeing the view from the room, we didn’t need to look anywhere else.. Sleeping with the sound of waves and waking up to the smell of the sea really gives people indescribable feelings! The motel we stayed in was clean enough, the service was quite good, the staff was warm and friendly.. In other words, since we did not expect bird milk or anything in a 1-night stay, it was more than enough for us, we recommend it.. Our first stop is the French Lighthouse. The lighthouse, which was built by French contractors in 1866 and therefore known as the French Lighthouse among the people, is located in İğneada Limakoy and rises on the edge of a 40-50 meter cliff.. All you see is the vast Black Sea stretching out in front of you.. It’s such a comfortable, peaceful place.. It takes about 10 minutes to drink a Turkish coffee here and relieve the tiredness of the road, but you don’t want to get up anyway.. We said to ourselves, “Let’s do more trekking!” We continue on the road behind our eyes.
After the coffee break, we dive into the Longoz forests. Longoz is in the opposite direction of the direction we came from.. We are already entering the forest, whose entrance is indicated by signs, with a vehicle.. According to our research on the internet, it is a very popular activity to rent an ATV and visit the longoz forests.. We saw that only one ATV was rented in the center of Igneada.. We said that there is definitely at the entrance of the forest, we were wrong, there was not.. What we read created a perception that it is necessary to travel with guides before coming here.. But we did not see a guide at the entrance.. Maybe it’s the seasonality effect.
Go in the forest, go Allah go, go Allah go.. When we were thinking where to stop and where to walk, we finally deviated from the Hammam lake sign and parked in a secluded place.. What is this! As soon as you step outside, an unnecessary friendly welcome: Flies! Thanks to these small but persistent flies (!) our hands and arms functioned as wipers during our only 700-meter walk to the Bath Lake, we could neither understand anything nor examine the surroundings.. Is this seasonality too, someone who knows, please explain In the meantime, we said “I’ve been burned, God!” While we were trying to walk with the flies clinging to our faces, we couldn’t help but wonder if these flies were only attacking us!. We may have seen some water from the little tip, but we didn’t quite fit the description of the lake.. Remembering the article I read about Lake Mert and magnificent canoe tours, we jumped in the car and made a U-turn to Lake Mert.. Unfortunately, friends, our luck was not as we expected in Mert Lake It was impossible to reach the lake with the reeds and swamp-shaped pond.. I read the warnings that you need to walk after driving a little, but it was really not like walking.. Canoeing was also a lie, and our dreams of walking by the lake too.
We couldn’t surrender to this bad luck right away.. With a sudden brake, we decided to walk into the forest in an unrelated place.. Good thing we did! Bird sounds, frogs jumping around, branches breaking when we step, interesting animals and birds flying from afar, long trees, different kinds of mushrooms, and the most beautiful silence and coolness.. It was a walk that felt like therapy.. I think you would understand what we are saying if we say that we are at peace until we fall asleep. we went to do. Frankly, the only thing that makes this place attractive is that it is right on the beach! Fish was too oily, appetizers were okay. We left the place by paying more than the price for two people.
When you look at what to eat in Igneada, one of the most recommended places is Liman Restaurant. But since this place is a little above and we prefer to be at the bottom of the sea, we bypassed this place.. We don’t know if we did it well or not, but you can try it and share your opinion Also, Kafe Limanköy and Dobrodoşli Rumeli Köftecisi in the village square are other places you can choose.
2. day we sat on the beach for a long time after breakfast at the hotel. We sat on our director’s chairs in the back of the car and buried our feet in the sea.. We had the pleasure of closing the season so quietly and calmly.. We collected shellfish on the beach and walked on the beach.. Unfortunately, we couldn’t swim because we didn’t bring swimsuits, bikinis, etc., but I admit we regret it a lot After a long time we spent here, we forced ourselves to get up again, because it’s been a long time since we spent such a peaceful Sunday, towards Begendik village we set off. The village of Begendik is right on the border of Bulgaria.. It seems like there is neither sea nor border at the entrance to the village, but when you do not give up and continue with a slight curve on the dirt road, the view you see is legendary! There is a very shabby cafe on the hill.. We sipped our coffees in front of the gusting wind and the scenery, took a short walk by the cliff.. a relaxing place. By the way, there is a very cute place for those who want to camp.. You should definitely consider it for at least one night.
You should stop by Dupnisa cave on your way back from the village of Begendik.. The cave consists of two parts, wet and dry.. You have to pay a small fee at the entrance.. We heard that there are stalactites and stalagmites and bats inside.. But we left the cave for the next time, because we preferred to spend the certain day by the sea, and we had some time problems.. By the way, we did well because the cave is 2600 meters inland and walk and walk does not end.. (We may be deceiving ourselves right now )
At the end of our two-day getaway, we left Kırklareli’s sunflower and wheat fields and the postcard-looking landscape behind and returned to Istanbul, our minds remained there.. We will definitely be back to experience the autumn, winter and summer of Igneada next time.
Additional information:
What is Longoz (subasar)? Let’s talk about it a little bit: Longoz is a special ecosystem that is formed at the point where the stream accumulates as a result of the accumulation of sand brought by the streams flowing towards the sea, forming a dam on the shore and closing the mouth of the stream. In addition to the longose forests in İğneada (Kırklareli), Acarlar (Sakarya) and Sarıkum (Sinop) in Turkey, very small remnants of longose forests remain in the Kızılırmak Delta (Samsun).. As it can be understood from the definition, the most basic condition for the existence of this ecosystem is plenty of water.
There are many alternatives for those who want to camp in Iğneada. Although there is no camping area, we saw people pitching their tents in the longoz forest or on the beach.. In addition, there are already areas designated as camping areas.. Just don’t forget to collect your garbage and don’t make a fire in the forest.
Because it is on the border of Kırklareli, which is on the Thrace vineyard route, we prefer to go to Igneada for vintage harvest. you can. Local wines are sold in small grocery stores and markets at every location, we recommend it for wine lovers.
By the way, you can click here to read our article about the Thrace vineyard route.
