How about Turkey?
It's not as far as somebody might initially think ; I woke up on the Turkish Greek border and had breakfast before setting off for the Greek port of Igounamesta to get the overnight ferry to Northern Italy and the following day, I'm in the south-east of France with a day's ride back to Calais for the tunnel.
Gallipoli during a fortnight's annual leave is very 'doable if you like your military histoy; for the culture-vultures, Istanbul is only a couple of hours riding away.
e-Visa obtained in a couple of minutes, incredibly friendly people, fantastic food and nice weather.....what's not to like
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)