I have read several forums from around 2010-2011 that say the best route to cycle into Istanbul is on the D020 as it was perfectly quiet and calm road. I have also read they were updating/widening the road around that time. Does anyone know if it is still cycle friendly? Any other recommendations would be helpful!
We will be crossing into turkey at the Malko Tarnovo border from Bulgaria.
Thank you in advance!
Hi, I cycled this road about two months ago. It is true that much of the road has now been converted to a motorway but for this section there is a hard shoulder consistently one lane wide which is great for cyclists. I also chose to head all the way east towards the Bosporus through a forest rather than follow the D020 all the way into the city because at this point it was very very busy.
Cycling south along the Bosporus was actually quite easy because even though it had many cars, they were all very slow and stuck in traffic.
This city is just the hell for bikers.
No other words...
The D 20 is mostly comparable quiet. Few kilometres from Istanbul you don't find any quiet roads.
So it's almost the best solution.
Take care. Traffic is crazy here
The D 20 is mostly comparable quiet. Few kilometres from Istanbul you don't find any quiet roads.
So it's almost the best solution.
Take care. Traffic is crazy here
Thank you for your responses! We ended up following the D 20 all the way into the city. Unfortunately several sections of the D20's shoulder were closed near the quarrys which made it quite stressful with huge trucks flying by but overall it seems this was the lesser of evils compared to other possible routes into the city. Also, as mentioned, the road is very busy with fast moving traffic actually getting into the city so we had to be very careful. Thanks again and happy riding :)