Hi, I am dying to ride to Istanbul from England but keep hearing that I'll have problems in Serbia and Bulgaria (not really fancy being robbed or stabbed)

I have ridden to Barcelona on my own last year and loved it. Have ridden 12 hrs on the first day

My Kawasaki Versys has done a good job.

Any suggestions would be brilliant. I would like to know what problems I should expect, how long it would take (not fancy sight seeing just want to ride there)how much it would cost, etc.

Many thanks

If that worries you go down through Italy, ferry to Greece and straight into Turkey. About four days on the road + the ferry.

Oh, and just seen it's your first post - welcome

Thank you, ferry sounded good initially, nearly 8 hrs on Ferry, not sure which one is more scary. Just trying to find out if the rumors are true about Serbia+Bulgaria, if true I might have to put up with the ferry.

If you take a look at the website in the link and click the button for "show all rider tracks" you will see that many riders took the ferry route across the Adriatic sea to get to Istanbul, from London.
But not all: a few rode through Serbia and Bulgaria.

The Transcontinental Race -

All of them travelled on pedal cycles, alone.
The winner took about 8 days to complete the race, some took more like two weeks; some dropped out along the way as is the way with life.

Ditto for welcome to this site and I used to ride a Versys: I wrote a report about it which is located in the Kawasaki tech forum.

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Dave

I have just returned from a trip (Today) which included travelling by bike overland to Istanbul. I had no issues at all with any countries I went through.......... apart from Luxembourg, old people can't drive very well and I stepped in dog s**t 3 times! Its everywhere.

My route was England>France>Belgium>Lux>Germany>Austria>Hungary >Romania>Bulgaria>Turkey.

The return trip was Turkey>Greece>Albania>Montenegro>Croatia>Slovenia> Italy>Austria>Germany>France>UK

Riding through Istanbul is not for the faint hearted. Similar applies for the Albanian Capital Tirana, watch out for oil on road here, I "rear-ended" a car when the ABS took over, the guy took it well when I told him his car was OK.........eventually

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

I just returned from 2 months wandering around the Balkans and can heartily endorse g6snl - some beautiful and fascinating places - especially Romania and Albania - obviously you have to take some care on some of the roads which are not in great condition - especially Bosnia but in terms of security, you're way more likely to be robbed in London.

Enjoy!

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http://www.guyfixsen.com
http://wanderinggoo.blogspot.com
F650GS twin - Enfield Bullet 350 - Honda XL250 Degree

Hello, and welcome to the HUBB forum.

I don't think you need to worry at all about being robbed or stabbed, regardless of how you plan your route from England to Istanbul.

Several years ago, I rode from Zurich to Istanbul, travelling through Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece on the way there, and then Greece, ferry, and Italy on the way back. I didn't encounter any problems at all. I wrote a rather detailed post about that trip, you can find it here: Notes from a September 2011 ride through Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece

During the past 3 weeks, I have travelled from Zurich through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece. I'm in Northern Greece right now, and will be heading into Macedonia (FYROM) tomorrow, then onwards through Serbia to Hungary. Again, I have had no personal security problems of any kind so far.

The only thing you really need to worry about is the condition of the roads in Albania and in Greece. In Albania, 90% of the major roads are in very good condition (having been rebuilt during the past 10 years), but the other 10% are in very poor condition. Worst of all, you get no warning in advance of hazards such as pavement to gravel transitions, huge bumps, holes, etc. But as long as you ride in the daylight hours only, and stay focused on watching the road (and vehicles) ahead of you, it's 'do-able'.

Greek roads are a more serious problem than Albanian roads. The Greeks have not spent a penny on road maintenance - of any kind - in the past 6 years, and serious deterioration of the road surfaces is taking place everywhere. There are all sorts of unmarked depressions (due to landslips), sharp ridges in the middle of 110 km/h highways, very little of the paint marking remains, and most of the road signs have been vandalized. Vegetation at the side of the road has not been trimmed for years, and is now encroaching onto the roadway and (worst of all) blocking sightlines at intersections and at curves in the road. Riding in Greece is, in my opinion, strictly a daylight activity only for visitors to Greece.

So, in summary, no worries at all about your personal security, provided you keep your wits about you as you would in any big city. I assume you are from England... if you can survive in the big cities there, then you have all the skills you need to stay safe enroute.

Road conditions in the "south" (Albania & Greece) are the big problem. If I were you, I would route as follows:

UK > France > Germany > Austria > Hungary > Romania > Bulgaria > Greece > Turkey. On the way back, you could go all across Greece to Igoumenitsa, then take the ferry from there up to Anacona. The ferry trip is expensive, but no more expensive than the fuel and hotel expenses you would encounter if you took the highway instead.

Michael

I rode down through to Italy then Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia this summer and had no bad vibes at all. We avoided capital cities and had a great time. Someone just said that the road surfaces were bad but I didn't find them so. We (wife and I, two up) camped and used cheap hotels and will certainly go back.

Thank you very much for all for great ideas, fantastic to get comments from very experienced riders. I feel more confident now. I have ridden in Istanbul many years ago and it was scary but my brother is a part of a bike group in Istanbul now, I'm sure they would help me while I am there. My plan is to ride to Ankara then head south.
How long did it take you guys to reach Istanbul?

Many thanks again for all great replies.

It's still scary. I have never, ever seen a city with greater traffic density than Istanbul, not even Jakarta or Tokyo. Heck, there are 15 million people there, and every one of them drives a car, every Goddamn day. The traffic jams beggar belief, and the drivers are kind of aggressive. Best suggestion I can offer is that you plan your transit through Istanbul such that you avoid riding between 7AM and 9PM. In other words, spend the night about 50 miles outside the city, then get up before the crack of dawn and head into the city at first light.

I don't think anyone can give you a good answer to that question, because it will depend entirely on how many miles you are willing to ride in one day, what the weather is like (rain will slow you down), whether you are camping or staying in hotels, etc.

It's 1,800 miles (2,900 km) between London and Istanbul if you take the shortest route, which is via the Balkans. It will be maybe 100 miles longer (but certainly a heck of a lot simpler) if you route through Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria and thus avoid all the former Yugoslavian countries.

You'll be able to do 500 km a day comfortably until you exit Hungary into Romania. Roads through Romania and Bulgaria aren't quite up to the same standards as Western Europe, so let's say 400 km a day through those countries. The last 50 miles into the center of Istanbul will take half a day, as noted above.

You mentioned in your first post that you rode 12 hours on your first day (when you went to Barcelona), but there is a world of difference between riding 12 hours for one day, and riding 12 hours day after day. From strictly a safety and fatigue point of view, I don't suggest you plan to average more than 500 km a day. Allowing for coffee breaks, bathroom breaks, lunch, and so forth, that's probably about 8 hours riding a day.

So, doing a little math, that works out to about 7 days riding. More realistically, you will probably want to take a day off sometime in the middle, and then you have to add some time to stop and look at the sights along the way... so, perhaps 8 to 10 days?

If you were an experienced long-distance rider, and were rehearsing for the Ironbutt Rally (Google it), you might be able to do London to Istanbul in 2 or 3 days, but honestly, that's not realistic. Besides, you would need a week off to recover once you arrived, so what's the point of pushing it?

Michael

I took 6 days (route in previous post)to get from my home in Essex to Istanbul (euro side) But I had a deadline. I was required by my wife to be at Istanbul Airport to meet her. Failing was not an option. ( if you are married you'll know that)

Sabiha Gökçen was her airport which is on Asia side of Istanbul. I spent Friday afternoon crossing through Istanbul in heavy traffic. Coming out the other side unscathed should qualify you for a medal and certificate, I think the man had a day off as I did not find him. Perhaps he could forward it to me?? As I mentioned and Michael reiterates it is quite challenging and not for the faint hearted......... Friday afternoon is not a good time either.

So 7 days to Asia side. I did start early each day, had a few hrs break in hottest part of day and rode daylight only. I did not thrash it either. Took in what ever sights I came across. Avoided most motorways.

For me the slowest part was Hungary due to roadworks everywhere, and /or bad roads. But in every village the "Mellon girls" made up for it. You will hopefully see what I mean....

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

God, I was thinking that I could be in Istanbul in 4 days!
looks like this is impossible, had ridden 12hrs then 8 hours next day on myBarcelona trip. going around 80 mls/hr. I guess it is harder than I thought, I will need at least 3 weeks holiday.

No, 4 days would be an endurance test, like riding in the Iron Butt Rally. It could be done, but you wouldn't enjoy it at all, and you would be seriously fatigued once you arrived.

Tim was pushing it to do the trip in 6 days. If you have not done a cross-continent ride before, I think you should 'hope' for 7 days, but 'allow' for 9 days in the event of bad weather, excessive construction along the way, etc.

Do keep in mind that once you get to Istanbul, you will have to ride back to the UK. You don't want to arrive in Istanbul thinking "I don't ever want to see that friggin' motorcycle again in my life..."

An alternative route back home would be to go across Greece to Igoumenitsa, then take the ferry up the Adriatic to Ancona, Italy, then go home from there. Going home that way will substantially reduce the number of miles you have to ride to go home.

The ride across Greece to Igoumenitsa will be 100% 4 lane controlled access dual carriageway (a relatively new road, in good condition). But that is a toll road. The ferry trip is not cheap either, so do some research on the cost of the Greek toll road and the ferry to avoid unexpectedly busting your budget.

I think your comment about setting aside 3 weeks for the tour out and back is quite realistic.

Michael

PS: Don't forget to fit new tires front and back before departure, plus get ALL the necessary servicing done (oil change, tune-up, suspension and chain carefully inspected, etc.). It is a major nuisance to have to change tires whilst underway - this because the dealer out in the middle of no-where rarely has your size of tire in stock - and the last thing you want is a breakdown of any kind in a foreign country. When planning for a ride of this length, you have to make sure that all the components will last until you get back home. Hence, if you have 3,000 miles left on your tires now, that's not enough, it is to your advantage to replace them before you leave home. The same rationale applies to the chain, suspension, and so forth.

Not sure if you have an up-to-date GPS or not, but I could not imagine making a trip like that without one. The money you will save from having speed camera warnings on the GPS will pay for it many times over.

~Thank you so much for your detailed suggestions.
It doesn't even finish with going to Istanbul, another day to go to south.
I seems like I have take my time and enjoy the journey instead for rushing all the way.

Many thanks again

Just seen this and I did the same trip last year. I went on my own, on an R1200GS. I was tight for time and wanted to see a lot so I stuck to motorways and not doing crazy speeds, mid 70mph. I left from Hampshire, Chunnel, Brussels, Aachen, Koblenz and overnight in Mainz, Germany. Next day headed off via Nurenburg and stopped in Maribor in Slovenia. Next day I headed for Zagreb and continued on the motorway past Belgrade. Was planning to stop near Nils in Serbia but continued into Sofia, Bulgaria as I was told the Bulgaria/Turkey could be slow, so wanted to save time for the next day. The ride to the Turkey border was uneventful once I'd missed the big potholes on the Sofia ring road. The border was nothing major, get visa, check docs, get bike x-rayed, pack everyting away and of course check documents again. All done in about an hour. Then on to the motorway to Istanbul and I was parking the bike outside the hotel in central Istanbul late afternoon of the 4th day. See trip report below:-

Candover Valley UK to Euphrates Valley Turkey - Updated with pictures.

Now clearly I did not sightsee on the way but my time was tight and I'd been to the Balkans a few times before. For me the priority was to get to Turkey and maximise the time there for sightseeing. I'm no adventure rider, am in my mid 60's and only do one longish ride a year, normally with mates but fancied this one on my own. The ride was not stressful as I had the route plugged into the Garmin and music to listen to and there is lots to see along the way, even from a motorway. Make your own decision but 4 days to Istanbul is quite practical. However you get there, it's a fascinating country and you should enjoy it.