Thessaloniki - Istanbul without highway
 

Hi people,

I am looking for a way to link those two cities by conventional roads, I mean, _NO_ highway.

It seems that it is not very easy, going on highway takes aprox. 7h30mn, and without it it may take 2 days, because you have to go north until Edirne :eek3:

Well, I don't care if this will take 2 days, but I would like to know if there is any way to stay in the south, through Alexandopoli, Kesan (Turkey)...

Maybe anyone has do it and knows the way. Should I have to do a mix between local roads and highway ?

Thankyou !

hi,

Thess to Istanbul is
a long motorway that can be done in a day.

The motorway will take you via Edirne but there is a non motorway (but still a main route) border post from Kipoi in greece (close to Alexandroupolis) to Kesan in Turkey.

I believe is major crossing point so you can't miss it.

On the way from Thess. East the motorway goes through the mountains around the greek city of Kavala, couple of miles of scenic route but other than that it is a long borring motorway..

If you end up looping up via Edirne, be aware that the Kastanies (Greece) - Karaagac (Nr. Edirne, Turkey) border crossing isn't a main route - it caused us trouble when we were unable to buy bike insurance on the Turkish side (the 3ed party minimum cover thing).

We ended up looping in via Svilengrad in Bulgaria to use the monster crossing there. Of course, if you've already got bike insurance to cover you, it's no trouble!

HOW MUCH WAS THE BIKE INSURANCE AT THE BORDER CROSSING? (WILL BE TRAVELLING THRO TURKEY LATER THIS YEAR ON A TRANSALP.) CHEERS

Afraid I can't remember, and the certificate's in Turkish, but I think it looks like 8.41 EUR for 90 days. Sounds rediculously cheap though, doesn't it?

Also, Macedonia was 50 EUR for 15 days and Montenegro 10 EUR for 15 days.

Thess Istanbul, following the coast
 

Nice, just stick to the coast,
Chalkidiki thought it was too touristy

gets quiet towards Kavala
laidback chilled Retsinas on the beach
Xanthi is also laid back

Even u can follow dirt roads Porto Lagos to and then before Alexandroupoulus
very secluded beaches, Greek ruins in the hills buried under pinewoods

Photography and Journey, Greece and Thessaloniki, Kavala, Chalkidiki.
Zoom in on map

then route to Galipoli we took rather main roads

but north from Galipoli is very nice till Teridag mountains at the sea of Marmara
Photography and Journey, Turkey, Gallipoli, Istanbul, Sultan Ahmed, Hagia Sophia.

then u enter the Istanbul congestions

Hi,

Thanks for all your replies, finally I think I got something clear. I'll divide my path in two days.

First day, until Alexandropolis, where I managed to get a couch:
Thessalonique, Grèce à Alexandroúpoli, Grèce - Google Maps

As you can see, I just desactivated motorways and I choosed to go by Lagos.

Now for the second day:
Itinéraire Alexandroúpoli İstanbul ViaMichelin : calcul de trajet Alexandroúpoli İstanbul

This one is in viamichelin, because google maps says there is no road in south on the Greek-Turkey border, :confused1:, so it says to go north until Edirne... Well, viamichelin seems to do it pretty well, with only 30mn of boring motorway.

manfredschweda, thanks for your info and links (nice photos also!), you talked about dirt roads, you think I will find some with my path ? I'm not sure my kawasaki's road bike will be very confortable :scooter:

Thanks.

What is the Plan after the border?
 

Are you going to travel further Istanbul?:welcome:

Regards

Unfortunately no,

My travel will begin in Andorra, and stop there, at the doors of Asia :-) (Well, in fact, once there, I have to do all the way back !)