England to Turkey trip planning

[AndyG]

Hi Guys

I'm planning a trip from England to Turkey around the end of September to meet up with my wife (who will be flying out) for a holiday and then returning afterwards.

I'm looking at going via France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria & Turkey.

I'm trying to work out how long I need to plan for this so that I can arrive at about the same time as my wife. I don't really have a clue as to how long things like border crossings will take and what sort of speed I can expect to average once past Germany.


Thanks for any advice
Andy

[Paul]

Hi Andy,
You ride straight off the boat at France and will find good fast roads all the way if thats what you want. I can only give info as far as Croatia because I havn't been to Serbia, Bulgaria or Turkey, you don't even need to stop at the borders any more in the EU. You should buy a Vignette (temporary Tax disc) for Austria and I guess that you may need to buy insurance for Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey, I had to buy it for Bosnia-Herznegovina a couple of years ago.
In regard to time I took four days to reach Poland last year at a leasurly pace doing the same as you, meeting family at Kracow for a holiday.

Hope this helps, have a great time

[AndyG]

Thanks Paul

[mktmhoward]

I would like to ride to Istanbul myself and looked at crossing the Adriatic possibly Ancona to Dubrovnik. It is an option as I believe you cross overnight.The ride back would then be different. Realistically, this is not an option for me in the near future but it might be an idea to consider.
Good luck with your trip

[Still Gotta Pulse]

Andy,

I have just mapped out a route in GE and from what I can see, though I don't know the speed limits once beyond Austria, the route from Austria isn't going to hold you up.
Mileage from Graz to Turkey (pick your final destination and adjust accordingly) is approx 1437 miles. Take a medium average of 50mph and you have just short of 29hrs on the road.
60mph gives you 24hrs on the road.

How many hours do you want to do per day? Adjust accordingly.

Similarly from Calais to Turkey you have approx 2,250 miles.
50mph = 45hrs
60mph = 37.5hrs

A 6hr day @50mph will give a target of 7.5 days.
An 8hr day @50mph will give a target of 5.6 days.

A 6hr day @60mph will give a target of 6.25 days.
An 8hr day @60mph will give a target of 4.7 days.

These figures are based upon a disciplined riding time at a maintained average. We both know this doesn't happen in the real world so again, adjust accordingly.

I would do as much research as possible for the route that suits you best, whether that be scenic/economical/fast/mixture and then you will have base point to start from.

Allow for healthy breaks/fuel stops in those target times and you can expect to add another day overall.
In order to not have to fight the clock I would be adding a further day.

Do take a look at the route GE maps out from Graz to Turkey in the 'directions' tab and then zoom in close to analyse that route. It 'appears' to be a good fast stretch, but of course, there is no substitute for ongoing research.

Good luck!

[SteveW]

I've done the trip a few times. Quickest way is through Hungary then Serbia then through Bulgaria. You could go through Romania and cross over the friendship bridge over the Danube south of Bucharest, but I find it slow going. You could do the trip by motorway through to near the Bulgarian border. I would allow for 3 overnight stops if you are pushing it. However theres lots to see and you may want to stay off the motorways and allow 7 days. I may be heading to Eastern Bulgaria at around the same time do you fancy a riding buddy?

[Paul]

I would like to ride to Istanbul myself and looked at crossing the Adriatic possibly Ancona to Dubrovnik. It is an option as I believe you cross overnight.The ride back would then be different. Realistically, this is not an option for me in the near future but it might be an idea to consider.
Good luck with your trip

There is, or at least was an overnight boat in 2009 from Split to Ancona and back then I think it was about £40 for bike and rider. Split is a lovely city.

[AndyG]

Thanks everyone for the good advice.

This will be more a Nick Sanders than Sam Manicom type trip as I need 7-10 days in Turkey with the wife and can probably only take a max of 3 weeks off work in one go. So I was thinking of 5-6 days each way!!

Been practising at the weekend 5-7 hour trips.

Thanks again
Andy

[flipflopdog]

Hi Andy, I noticed you have a GS12, maybe your hopeful mileage is attainable but you will be hard pushed and at high risk doing it. We did the very same trip last sept on XL600’s incorporating some rest days along the way taking just under 2 weeks 4 days. The longest day was a 560 km ride, shortest day around 220 km. I don’t really have any solid advice because we all have different levels of stamina and riding abilities other than to say, please consider your daily goals where mileage is concerned and the fact that your loving missus wants you in one piece when your get there, not a full body cast... hmy: hmy:

I can’t praise the west coast Croatia, Monty, Albrainia then Greece to Istanbul route enough but then you sound like your taking the Crows route which is fair enough. I would consider a month off in total and perhaps a chance of enjoying the ride both ways..!!

PS ; We are flying back out to Motocamp Bulgaria in just under 2 weeks to ride the XL’s back with a 9day “work free" window of opportunity and am thoroughly happy to be leaving my 12GSA in the barn...!!

All the best Andy and stay safe....

FFD

[geordy paul]

some good advice for you there,
i too have ridden that part of the world a few times and very nice it is too.
as has been said it all depends on how far you can ride in a day.
if motorway, any distance is easy, if avoiding them then
350miles is about the most im happy with, that means an early start and late finish though.
of course you can mix and match road types.
as for borders, all are easy and will take at most 1hr.
vignettes are needed for austria, slovenia and hungary all easy to find and buy.
only needed for the motorways.
i think by far the easiest and quickest route is to catch the ferry from ancona in italy
to ignoumestamebob in greece,
from calais, two motorway days to ancona, overnight on boat then one long or two easy days to
istanbul.
the down side of doing it that quick is youll miss some great roads, but we dont all
have the luxury of unlimeted holiday.
good luck, paul. ps, the blue mosque is truly stunning.