Turkey/Syria Anyone?

Does anyone have any experience of touring in Turkey or Syria? Am hoping to fly to Istanbul and then get a visa from there, and catch the train to Syria - any recommendations?

I've taken my bike to Istanbul but wasn't touring...nice ride up the Bosphorous across on the ferry and back the other side

thanks - did you find the roads were ok?

Can't tell you about Syria, but roads in Turkey are usually pretty good. Traffic can be horrific in and around Istanbul, with some mental driving. Wonderful city though.

The rest of Turkey is lovely too, varying widely in flora, fora and people/attitudes. Definately worth exploring. Cappadocia is *definately *worth a trip for the pure WTFness of the place!

It'll be getting remorselessly hot about now :-)

roads around central Istanbul were pretty sketchy given potholes and tram tracks but a wee way out and the roads were great. Cycling isn't particularly big over there so you need to watch out

Regrettably, the sleeper train from Istanbul to Damascus is not running this year due to high speed railway work between Istanbul and Cappadocia. There is, however, a train to Adana, where you can cross the border by other means. See seat61.com

Thanks for info, guys - remorselessly hot is always a good time for a bike tour - eek! Yeh, on seat61.com it still looks possible, even without the sleeper, which is what I was originally thinking of. Oh well... we'll see on Sunday!

Regrettably, the sleeper train from Istanbul to Damascus is not running this year due to high speed railway work between Istanbul and Cappadocia. There is, however, a train to Adana, where you can cross the border by other means. See seat61.com

Have you ever been on an Amtrak sleeper? Curious how they compare.

Have you ever been on an Amtrak sleeper?

What's an Amtrak sleeper? Now know that the Istanbul/Adana train has top speeds of 30mph, and stops every 15mins, making it a long ol' way to cross the length of Turkey!

Ive been in Syria for 2 months now and from what I have experienced getting the bus is much quicker and easier than getting the train. Turkish trains are notoriously poor, regardless of the new ones they are pushing.

In spite of this i am going to give middle eastern trains another chance and i am heading from Aleppo (SYria) to Adana (Turkey) then on to Istanbul from there tonight. So i will post on here and let you know what my experience was like!!!

Incase i forget to post here which is very likely as work is a bit manic and i am on the road, you can check on here http://uncoveringthelevant.wordpress.com and i will probably post something on there in the next couple of days.

I am very jealous you are traveling there they are both beautiful countries and i am coming to the end of my time here .

Enjoy

oh and roads in syria are terrible!

oh and roads in syria are terrible!

yup, tis true on all counts of being wonderful places to travel, but with deathly roads - will try and head back to istanbul by bus, and am also sad to come to the end of the trip :( and quite glad i didn't cycle here!

Bump.

I am bike-touring through **Turkey **beginning of October. I will fly to Kayseri to ride/explore **Cappadocia **heading south, and before reaching the coast, around Kahramanmaras, will head east to Lake Van, close to Iran border.

**Anyone in here has some experience touring these areas/routes? **

I'd very much appreciated tips about the best routes to go from Kahramanmaras-Adiyaman either through Elâzig or Diyarbakir to Van, as any other advices as where to camp, roads to avoid, weather,...

Thanks - Teşekkürler

auto-self-rebump

this is definitely happening...

really? none in here has done any touring round Turkey?

I am reading about it but any personal experiences or tips are very much appreciated.

I am Turkish, if you're going to cycling through major cities like Ankara, Izmir, etc you'll need to watch the hell out for car drivers there, cycling is literally almost unknown down there, lots of reckless driving going on, but once you get nearer towards the border of Syria and out of central Turkey it should gradually come a bit more relaxed and more enjoyable, but if you're going at this time of year, your rides will have to be in the early mornings/evenings because you will simply bake in the heat during the day in Turkey

http://travellingtwo.com/resources/turkey
http://travellingtwo.com/resources/syria