I’m planning a cycling trip from Valence in France to Turkey for the summer with my partner and I would love to hear your route recommendations and advice!
This is my current plan – mostly following major cycle routes through Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia and then heading through the Balkans to Turkey (ending in Terkirdag, to pick up a ferry) in around 40-50 days, typically cycling at around 80-120km a day, on a fully loaded bike, and with a lot of previous experience cycle touring.
We love mountains and quiet, beautiful roads that are less busy with cars, and are more than happy to take slower routes if it’s worthwhile, and to completely avoid most big cities like Zagreb. I’ve also previously cycled along the coastline in the Balkans, so I’m keen to avoid doing that again!
Also, as it will be summertime, I would prefer to stay at higher altitudes to escape the heat. Would love to hear route recommendations, tips for must-see places along the way – particularly on the route between Croatia and Bulgaria and ideal mountain routes on that way.
In terms of accomodation, we would be doing both camping/wild camping in the Alps, followed by a mixture of wild camping/hotels/campsites in the Balkans.
Wollandia on
There isn’t a lot to see in the flatlands of rural Croatia but 7 years ago the roads were excellent and there wasn’t much traffic. If you go through Osijek it will feel like a big city after all those villages – but it isn’t.
belchhuggins on
I wouldn’t skip the Lika region of Croatia. So, not along the coast but not far from it neither. And for me, Montenegro was more beautiful than Bosnia and Serbia. So I’d go Croatia – Bosnia – Montenegro – Albania – Greece
GullerIndustries on
Be careful to stray dogs while in balkans, and do not forget to visit Istanbul.
4 Comments
I’m planning a cycling trip from Valence in France to Turkey for the summer with my partner and I would love to hear your route recommendations and advice!
The full, interactive map is here – [https://cycle.travel/map/journey/549997](https://cycle.travel/map/journey/549997)
This is my current plan – mostly following major cycle routes through Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia and then heading through the Balkans to Turkey (ending in Terkirdag, to pick up a ferry) in around 40-50 days, typically cycling at around 80-120km a day, on a fully loaded bike, and with a lot of previous experience cycle touring.
We love mountains and quiet, beautiful roads that are less busy with cars, and are more than happy to take slower routes if it’s worthwhile, and to completely avoid most big cities like Zagreb. I’ve also previously cycled along the coastline in the Balkans, so I’m keen to avoid doing that again!
Also, as it will be summertime, I would prefer to stay at higher altitudes to escape the heat. Would love to hear route recommendations, tips for must-see places along the way – particularly on the route between Croatia and Bulgaria and ideal mountain routes on that way.
In terms of accomodation, we would be doing both camping/wild camping in the Alps, followed by a mixture of wild camping/hotels/campsites in the Balkans.
There isn’t a lot to see in the flatlands of rural Croatia but 7 years ago the roads were excellent and there wasn’t much traffic. If you go through Osijek it will feel like a big city after all those villages – but it isn’t.
I wouldn’t skip the Lika region of Croatia. So, not along the coast but not far from it neither. And for me, Montenegro was more beautiful than Bosnia and Serbia. So I’d go Croatia – Bosnia – Montenegro – Albania – Greece
Be careful to stray dogs while in balkans, and do not forget to visit Istanbul.