'''Eastern Thrace''' (''Do?u Trakya'' in Turkish, although almost always called simply ''Trakya'', i.e. Thrace) is European Turkey, i.e. part of Turkey that is located in Europe.
Provinces
Canakkale Province (partially)
Edirne Province
Istanbul Province (partially)
Kirklareli Province
Tekirda? Province
Cities
Cerkezkoy - industry
Corlu ? more industry
Edirne ? the biggest and most historically significant city of the region
Ke?an ? a city in the western part of the region, near Greek border. Located on an important crossroad
Kirklareli ? a city in the north, near Bulgarian border
Luleburgaz ? geographical center of Eastern Thrace
Tekirda? ? a city on the coast of the Sea of Marmara
Geographically speaking, the city of Istanbul is also partially in Eastern Thrace, but culturally it is a world afar and should be considered as a region on its own.
Other destinations
Significant towns
On the Black Sea coast
Igneada ? known for its long and almost desolate beaches, lush forests, and many lakes
Kiyikoy, which is still widely known with its former name (''Midye'') among locals, is a town known for its traditional wooden houses, preserved city walls, and a monastery carved into rocks.
On the coast of the Sea of Marmara
east to west
Silivri ? a town rapidly changing into a suburb of Istanbul
Marmara Ereglisi ? site of ancient city of Perinthos
Kumbag ? main nightlife spot of Eastern Thrace
Murefte ? the wine country of the region
?arkoy ? has the only beach of Eastern Thrace that was awarded _eBlue Flag_f which guarantees beach and seawater purity
Gallipoli ? site of 1915 Anzac landing and WWI memorials
On the Aegean coast
Enez ? a small town on the Maritsa delta
Inland
Babaeski ? a town known for its not-very-impressive old bridge and mosque
Demirkoy ? a town sorrounded by forests up in Istranca Mountains, known for its 15th century foundry (its name itself means _giron village_h)
Uzunkopru ? name of which translates _glong bridge_h in Turkish, this town has one of the longest bridges (more than 2 km) ever built by Sinan, the Ottoman architect of 16th century.
Vize ? known for its Byzantine cathedral-turned-mosque called ''Little Hagia Sophia''
Islands
Gokceada (Imbros) ? the largest Turkish island, home of a Greek community
Marmara Island, although nearer to Anatolia, i.e. Asian mainland, has extensive transportation and cultural links with Eastern Thrace.
Other places of natural or historical significance
'''Dupnisa''' cave near Pinarhisar, habitat of endemic bat species
the '''Tumulii''' (sing. ''tumulus''), ancient Thracian mausoleums for their kings and nobles. These are man-made hills all over the region.
'''Dolmens''' and related '''menhirs''' which date back to paleolithic. Scattered around the area to the north of Edirne, near Lalapasa and Suleoglu.
'''Saros Bay''', an indentation of Aegean Sea between Thracian mainland and Gallipoli peninsula, is popular among scuba divers as this gulf is one of the cleanest and liveliest (in terms of marine ecology) bodies of water in Turkey.
Understand
Eastern Thrace is located in the northwestern corner of Turkey and makes up 3% of the country_fs landmass. Although this percentage might seem small at first, Eastern Thrace is only slightly smaller than whole of Belgium, for example.
Eastern Thrace is essentially a peninsula surrounded by Greece (Western Thrace) and Bulgaria (Northern Thrace) to the west and north respectively and bouded by Black Sea, Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles, and the Aegean Sea to the northeast, east, south, and southwest respectively.
The region_fs name (and indeed all of Thrace_fs) come from Thracians, an ancient Indo-European speaking nation. Culture of today_fs Eastern Thrace shares many similarities with cultures of Balkan (Southeastern Europe) countries as much of the region_fs population is descendants of people who immigrated from those countries starting from late 1800s to the date.
Eastern Thrace is a part of Marmara Region.
Talk
Turkish is the language of choice in the region, as elsewhere in Turkey. Local dialect is loaded with slang and other colloquially used words mainly originating from other Balkan languages (mainly Bulgarian) but this won_ft be a problem if you can speak Turkish as local folk mostly avoids using them (or _gtranslates_h them into standard Turkish) when they see you_fre non-local. Also local dialect is one of the most similar dialects to standard Turkish (which is based on Istanbul dialect).
The most frequent foreign language is English. Thousands of immigrants from Bulgaria who were settled in the region in late 1980s/early 1990s means that finding someone with a fluent Bulgarian is also a possibility (albeit a minor possibility).
Get in
There are four '''border posts''' with Bulgaria (one rail, others highway) and three border posts with Greece (one rail, others highway). There are [http://www.tcdd.gov.tr/tcdding/avrupa_ing.htm trains] and buses crossing any of these border posts.
The region is also well connected to Istanbul by '''highways''' and a motorway (toll-road), '''buses''' and trains. It_fs even possible to find a direct bus from Istanbul to a village well off-the-beaten-path. Please note that all '''trains''' to the region departs at European station (Sirkeci) of Istanbul, not Haydarpasa, the Asian one
There are two '''international airports''' in the region: [http://www.ataturkairport.com/ Ataturk Airport] of Istanbul and Corlu Airport (though Corlu Airport is reserved for flights from ex-Soviet countries only).
There is also a substantial number of '''ferries''' connecting towns and cities located on the southern and northern (Thracian) coasts of the Sea of Marmara.
Get around
by bus/minibus
All cities in the region are connected to each other by bus, and smaller towns have minibus connections to nearby bigger towns and cities.
by train
The only line out of Istanbul_fs European station (Sirkeci) splits into two near Babaeski, one of them continues towards Bulgaria and the other one towards Greece, there is at least one daily train (both local and international) operating in each line. As the railline wasn_ft laid down as straight as the highways, train journeys take more time than bus/car travel.
by car
The main highways of the region radiate out of Istanbul and generally follow a straight line towards Greek and Bulgarian borders, and Aegean Sea. Here is a list of the road numbers of main highways of the region and the notable towns and cities located along:
'''D100''': Istanbul ? Silivri ? Corlu ? Luleburgaz ? Babaeski ? Edirne to Bulgaria
'''O-3/E80''' (toll-road) follows more or less the same route with D100 except that it avoids city and town centres, only providing exits to them.
'''D110/E84''' after splitting from D100 near Silivri: Marmara Ereglisi ? Tekirdag ? Ke?an to Greece (as '''D110/E90''')
'''D550/E87''' after splitting from D100 near Edirne: Uzunkopru ? Ke?an ? Gallipoli to Canakkale (as '''D550/E87/E90''')
'''D555/E87''' after splitting from D100 near Babaeski: Kirklareli to Bulgaria
All roads in the region, even those leading to far away villages, are sealed, although pavement quality and road breadth varies according to how important and busy the road is.
by thumb
The major crossroad with traffic lights near Ke?an is probably number one hitchhiker_fs paradise in the region as there are major roads leading to all cardinal directions there, and all vehicles have to stop (or at least slow down) because of traffic lights. And there ''are'' lots of vehicles, day or night. And as a bonus, there is a huge supermarket nearby to replenish the supplies. It_fs even possible to get a lift all the way to Ukraine or Italy or Iran there (judging from the plate numbers of the trucks).
See
This region was important during Ottoman times, both because it was Istanbul_fs hinterland, and also because it was on the road between Istanbul, empire_fs capital city, and the European possessions of the empire. Therefore almost all towns and cities in the region has an important landmark, such as a bridge, an inn, or a mosque (or sometimes all of them) built by '''Sinan''', the famous Ottoman architect of 16th century. Be sure to check them out.
Itineraries
Do
Do a '''wine-tasting''' trip in the ?arkoy ? Murefte area (SW of Tekirda?). Some tour companies based in Istanbul offer such day-trips in autumn (fall). You can also organize a trip by yourself if you have a car at your disposal. Many factories in the area accept walk-in wine-tasters for a token fee.
Should you have a chance, don_ft miss to attend a traditional '''wedding feast''' (''du?un''), especially in the villages, where beer, ''raki'', and wine flow like rivers. This region has one of the most colourful wedding ceremonies in Turkey, with Balkan tunes. No need to be invited.
Eat
Tekirda? and Uzunkopru in the region are known for their local '''meat-balls''' (''kofte''), while Edirne is known for its fried '''liver''' (''ci?er''). The region, surrounded by three seas and fragmented by riverbeds, also offers many different kinds of fish.
Necatiye village, on the highway (D100) from Istanbul to Edirne (exact location: west of Babaeski, east of Havsa), is known for its own brand of '''ice-cream''', known as ''Nedo'' (shortened form of '' '''Ne'''catiye '''Do'''ndurmas?'', i.e. _gNecatiye ice-cream_h) which is said to draw its taste from the local flora which the local cows are fed on. The shop where producers sell the ice-cream is in the west exit of the village (there is a ''nedo'' sign), with a lovely garden where you can enjoy the ice-cream next to a little stream. Nice place to take a break. They sell a really big chunk of ice-cream cheaper than the big cities.
Drink
This region provides much of Turkey_fs '''wine''' and ''raki'' production and a considerable percentage of '''beer''' production. Don_ft forget to check out local brands (although most of them are available almost everywhere in Turkey ?except wine).
Stay safe
Get out
Drivers should be aware that all place names on highway signs are written in Turkish, as elsewhere in Turkey. These include the place names out of Turkey, too, no matter how different their Turkish names are from their native or English counterparts. Some such as ''Burgaz'' or ''Sofya'' are close enough to their native/English spellings, as if there just have been a spelling error on the sign, but what is ''Yunanistan''? And which direction on Earth is Greece? Don_ft get your eyes weary by looking for _eGreece_f or _eBulgaria_f on the signs, here is a short list of what you should look for instead (and what you will see commonly on the roads towards the border) (Turkish names written in ''italics'', English names in paranthesis): ''Yunanistan'' (Greece), ''Bat? Trakya'' (Western Thrace), ''Gumulcine'' (Komotini), ''Dedea?ac'' (Alexandropolis), ''Selanik'' (Thessaloniki), ''Bulgaristan'' (Bulgaria), ''Burgaz'' (Burgas), ''Sofya'' (Sofia)_c And ''hudut'', which you will see frequently on signs counting down the distance as well as on the directional signs, means _eborder_f. One hint: All place names out of Turkey, as well as the names of the border posts, are written over a yellow or brown band on otherwise normally blue or green highway signs (but keep in mind that the same yellow or brown signs are also used for places of historical and/or touristical interest, too).