Merhaba,
Tips for all friends planning to visit İstanbul..
1A-İstanbul is diamond of Turkey with so many colors to discover..Highly recommend lock up your bike at the hotel garden,buy an İstanbul card and take the local transport systems..
(except 7-9 am and 5-8 pm.)
If you have to ride,do it without panniers.Each month we are making group rides and cycling tours to get more awareness for 2 wheelers and protest bike accidents and deaths..5 days ago, the greatest protest was organised by cyclistsand was shown on all TV.s after 3 cyclists lost their lives in a week..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=ZiLnki_JnbA
1B-The best way to enter the city center is to take the seaside road after K.Çekmece lake bridge and before the airport.Thats Kennedy Road..Dont take E-5 or D-100 road or the toll road named O-3..Always rush traffic and % 30 longer..
1 km after yenikapı and boat stations, you will see the brown traffic sign to Sultanahmet and traffic lights at the corner of the Petrol station..Take the main road under the the railway bridge uphill to Sultanahmet..Also this is the best area for hotels,hostels in the heart of the touristic istanbul near blue mosque.
2-Leave istanbul by ferry to Yalova or Bandırma when you are on the way to Kas.No need to take the rush and crazy traffic through industrial areas.Ticket price for ferry is always cheaper than the amount you will pay for gas..
Ferry/boat station at Yenikapı and you can buy online tickets.
(2,10 Euro/Lt. in Turkey now..)
İstanbul Deniz Otobüsleri A.Ş.
3-When you are on the way back to home,can recommend you the aegean coastline road to dardanelles then to greece or bulgaria..(Roads are good asphalt 2-3 lines each direction,so many cameras.)This way you can also visit pamukkale hierapolis,ephesus,st.mary hill,bergammom,asos,dardanelles,gallipoli WW1 battle field arenas..Sure you will love this route if you havent done it before..Plus so many free camping areas and cheap nice pensions and hotels in lovely and small anatolian seaside towns...
(Kalkan,Denizli,Selçuk ,İzmir,Çanakkale Road)
(Always speed control between denizli and İzmir)
TIP..:
Definitely participate a bikers festival..Free camping,entertainment,music,chat with local same minded bikers, etc..Have a thread here showing 2013 festivals in Turkey...
Here is how it looks.
4.iznik Festivali - Dailymotion video
And some festival photos.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...9813774&type=1
All the best..