Bursa in 2 days: the first Ottoman capital and Cumalıkızık

Start the day on the hill where Bursa's first Ottoman town took shape, inside the old citadel. After Orhan Gazi took the city in 1326 this became the early Ottoman seat of government, and in Tophane Park the founder of the dynasty, Osman Gazi, and his son Orhan Gazi lie in tombs side by side. The six-storey Clock Tower at the edge of the park took its present form in 1905 and works as a landmark looking down over the city. The tombs are places of prayer and remembrance, so keep your voice low and follow any notices about shoes. The road down from here towards the bazaar shapes the rest of the day on its own.

Coming down from the hill you reach the city's largest early Ottoman mosque. Built under Bayezid I, the Grand Mosque is counted as the first of the monumental multi-domed Ottoman mosques: twenty domes carried on twelve great square piers create an interior that feels almost like a forest of columns. The large calligraphy panels on the walls and the fountain in the middle remind you that this is a busy city mosque, not a museum. Pause inside for a while and watch how the light falls through the domes; it is a place of worship in use all day.

Right beside the Grand Mosque, the Han District is the heart of a trading life built on silk, and part of the UNESCO World Heritage site. Koza Han was built to fund Bayezid II's mosque in Istanbul; the small prayer room in the middle of its two-storey courtyard and the arcades around it still make a pleasant corner for tea and a rest. The upper-floor rooms are lined with shops selling silk and silk goods, and while you look at scarves or fabric it is easy to picture the old caravanserai at work. For lunch, walk to the nearby Kayhan Bazaar; two of Bursa's best-known dishes were born there.

After lunch, walk to the Yeşil quarter across this bridge lined with shops over the Gökdere stream. Small workshops sit on both sides, many of them making or selling crafts and gifts today. Bridges with shops on them are rare, so a short stop here gives you more than a quick crossing. Look down at the stream between the shops, then start the climb towards the Green Mosque on the opposite slope.

The mosque that gave the Yeşil (Green) quarter its name is one of the most refined examples of early Ottoman decoration. Pass through the marble portal with its stalactite carving and you meet green and blue tiles covering much of the walls; the tiled mihrab, more than ten metres high, is counted among the building's most precious parts. The tomb of Mehmed I, who built the mosque, stands on the rise just opposite, and its outer walls give colour to the whole quarter. Take your time inside; the tile patterns separate from one another when you look closely.

Opposite the mosque, the Green Madrasa is one of the earliest Ottoman colleges and now houses the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts. Rooms around its arcaded courtyard show tiles and ceramics from the Seljuk, Beylik and Ottoman periods, along with woodwork, metalwork, coins and crafts. Here you can study, at eye level in the cases, close relatives of the tiles you saw in the mosques all day. The museum is open every day, so this part of the plan works whichever day of the week it falls on.

End the day at Emir Sultan Mosque, on a hill on the lower slopes of Uludağ a little east of the Yeşil quarter. From the hill, with the mosque and its graveyard, the view opens over the city in the late afternoon. The single-domed building was raised by Hundi Hatun, daughter of Bayezid I, after the death of her husband Emir Sultan. Tea gardens and coffee houses are nearby, a good place to rest before dinner.

Start day two at Muradiye, the last complex the Ottoman sultans built in Bursa. Alongside the mosque, madrasa, soup kitchen and bath built by Murad II, tombs belonging to the sultan's family are gathered in a wide, tree-filled garden. In the morning the garden is calm and shaded; the tombs were decorated in different periods and each tells its own story. Muradiye is also one of the components of the UNESCO World Heritage site. The nearby Ottoman House Museum is currently closed, so it is not part of this plan.

Towards midday, head up to Cumalıkızık on the lower slopes of Uludağ. The village is one of the endowment villages founded in Orhan Gazi's time, and its economic ties with the hans and mosque complexes in central Bursa are why it belongs to the UNESCO site that tells the story of the Ottoman shift from principality to empire. Walk its narrow cobbled lanes between stone and timber houses; people still live in most of them. Having lunch in the village and browsing breakfast produce in the shade gives you the calmest hours of the trip.

Back in town, if you have time, stop at the Atatürk House Museum in Çekirge. During his visit to Bursa in 1923, Atatürk received this house as a gift from Bursa Municipality and stayed here on each of his visits. The items on show in the rooms are originals he used, and even a short visit gives a close sense of everyday life in the period. The museum is closed on Mondays; if your second day falls on a Monday, skip this stop or take the Uludağ option instead.

For those who prefer nature, the afternoon alternative is Uludağ. The mountain rising right behind the city is a national park, with glacial lakes near the summit, and it is known as a ski centre in winter. You can go up by cable car or by road; check the cable car's operating details and hours through official channels before you go. Cool air and pine forests in summer and snowy slopes in winter make even a short escape feel far from the city.