Hey guys
We want to cycle from Switzerland to India crossing Turkey in Summer 2018.
Do you have some proper route recommendation for this leg of the trip?
Cheers and thanks!
Andy
Route through Turkey
水, 2017-08-30 02:50
#1
WS Member
Route through Turkey
Hi Andy, I'm currently cycling Turkey on my way to Georgia. It all depends on how you want to get to Turkey. You can go the main land route which most people take through Bulgaria or Greece but I don't know enough about the that route or you can island hope the Greek islands to Cesme, Ayvalik or Canakkale.
I island hopped to Cesme following the D300 to Izmir there's a cycle path out of Izmir up to the coast. I then picked up the E87 to Troia (Troy in English) and followed the D200/E90 to Bandirma. There's a few Warmshowers hosts along the way and a ton of cheap campsites up the coast.
From Bandirma I got the ferry to Istanbul which in my opinion was a mistake as Istanbul is a crazy place to cycle in. I got the ferry from Istanbul to Yalova followed the D130/E881 and picked up the D100 again there's a few Warmshowers host but not many. So you have to wildcamp on the D100 petrol stations are good for this and some have really cheap hotels.
So for now I'm following the E80/D100 until I get to the E95 and take that to Samsun and follow the D010 to Hopa.
If your headding to Georgia then get off the coast road and slip over to Bayburt and cycle back to the Black sea (it's worth it) on the D915. It's way better to cycle the D915 north than south as heading up is easier from the south and most of the switchbacks are on the north side. http://www.dangerousroads.org/europe/turkey/3923-bayburt-of-yolu-d915.html it's really a fantastic road to cycle.
So we think about the following route:
Istanbul - black sea coast to Sinop - taking a bus to Trabzon - coast to zhe start of D915 - Bayburt - Erzurum - Agri - Dogubayazit - Iran
what do you think?
Great news that your going to cycle the D915, South to North will see you cycling up the switchbacks, about a half mile after the switchback you will still rise to the top but it wont be as steep, there you will find many places to wild camp (none at all on the switchbacks i'm afraid) then it's all down hill from there, a wonderful ride. Post pictures :-)