Hey guys, currently in Montenegro, heading to Georgia as my end goal. Obviously I have Turkey coming up fairly soon, I am planning on following a fairly central route as I travel through, similar to routes 3 & 4 in this post: https://cycloscope.net/cycling-turkey
I was just wondering how you would suggest to get in to turkey? I have heard how terrible Istanbul is to cycle through… so ideally it would be good to avoid there. Im super open to taking a ferry or bus to get into Turkey, it doesnt matter if it means I 'skipped' 100km of my route or anything haha. I am also open to going through either Bulgaria or Greece to get there, I know some public transport starts in either of the 2 – so Im very flexible!!
The two central routes that I linked also start around Cesme/Izmir area. Im aware there might be ferries to both of these places, but I know ferry routes can change all the time, also not sure if either of these ferry routes are easy to do or a bit of a hastle. I also saw a ferry route that goes to Bandirma? Maybe ferry int a great idea and just jumping on a bus is best!?
But yes, basically, what would you suggest as the easiest route into turkey being? Bonus points if it goes towards the Izmir/Cesme area, but really no worries if not.
Thanks!!
by Efficient-Pie5230
4 Comments
I was looking at this for next year, and figured island hopping from Athens to Bodrum was a good plan. Might be expensive / tricky with bikes though.
I’m keen to know the answer to this too!
I was looking at getting a ferry from Geliboli to Lapseki, so missing Istanbul entirely, but all the options seem pretty rubbish.
Ferry into Ayvalık from Greece could be nice. Beautiful start on the Turkish coast also.
You skip Istanbul area but gives you the chance to do some island hopping in the Aegean !
You can cross the Dardanelles at Çanakkale level. If you want a longer ferry route, there are plenty of options from Piraeus (Athens) or a few from Thessaloniki. Some of these might not be direct and you’d have to stop over on a Greek island close to the Turkish shore (not the worst place to spend a day/night).
You seem pretty settled on your route east, but I can only recommend a less popular route through central Anatolia from Bursa region to Ankara. It goes through the beautiful İznik lake (İznik itself as also a beautiful town with amazing Byzantine remain and art scene), a remote hilly region between Bilecik and Nallıhan with beautiful canyons and picturesque abandoned villages (Soğukkuyu), beautiful ottoman architecture towns (Nallıhan and Beypazarı) and bird reserve/lake with lunar landscapes (Nallıhan bird sanctuary).
I took this route a few months ago and loved it. Some parts of it feel so disconnected from the busy overpopulated world we live in. I have been received by locals so well – but I guess that’s the case almost everywhere in Turkey. There is also the possibility to head south halfway through it and explore the remains of the Phrygian valley.
The south coast must be amazing too, although probably much more busy in the main towns. All regions of turkey have lots to offer, it’s really a matter of what you want to see!