Places offered on ride from Istanbul to UK, starting june 2015

[mmmmartin]

A friend of mine who is not on this forum is planning to fly to Istanbul in June and ride back. He is doing it with a friend and thinks four would be a better number, so has asked me to put up this post.

"In a nutshell, the plan is to cycle from The BLACK Sea to The NORTH Sea – Istanbul to
Cuxhaven, The distance is c. 3,500 km/2,000 miles. We reckon on a 2 month
trip home/home with about 50 cycling days, average ~74 km (46 miles)/day.
The first half would be using cheap hotels/hostels in E Europe, then camping
through Czech & Germany. Time will be spent doing some tourist stuff & rest
days. Start June 15 2015.
Route is fly to Istanbul, do W Turkey, cross Bulgaria, then Romania taking in
scenic Transylvania, Hungary, a bit on the Danube to nr. Vienna, head N into
Czech to reach the Elbe, follow that on the Elbe cycle way to the N Sea at
Cuxhaven, train/ferry home.
Rob & Steve are going, being 2 retired cyclists; we seek 2 more to make a good group.
These should be experienced in camping cycle touring in Europe."

PM me for contact details for my mate Rob. I think this would be a great chance for someone who is wondering about doing a long cycle tour but unsure of who to go with, and such simple matters as who looks after your bike when you go into a shop, or who looks after the tents while the shopping is done. Rob has done several trips with me, including Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark. I suppose someone with less time could start with them and somehow leave early, or maybe even join them along the route, but I have no idea how that could work.

So, again, send me a PM and I'll put you in touch with Rob.

Oh, and please - none of those posts saying "I can't come but good luck."

 

[Pale Rider]

I won't be coming and you may need a bit more than luck.

Take care in Turkey, even in Istanbul.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/turkey

 

[Brains]

I'd love to come, but still over decade off retirement and I just can't seem to get those lottery number right, weeek after week.

I've looked at the route in detail in the past as i was thinking much the same thing in reverse.
The general opinion of thos that have done it is that the Danube is boring through Bulgaria, where you can see the river, which most of the Bulgarian length you can't, its from the top a leve that goes on for mile after mile.
The Iron Gates are worth a visit and after Budpest you are on the cycle route to the source

You could do the Danube/Vitava/Elbe route
But I'd give some serious consideration to the Danube/Main/Rhein route or probably better still the Danube/Altmuhl/Rhein via the Fossa Carolina

Having cycled a lot of both Elbe and Danube, it's the Fossa Carolina route I'd take, if only for the stunning scenery
I also would not particularily want to do the Czech Rep. As we found, read the details in the BikeLine books on the route (English versions are available for the Danube and Elbe)

 

[BigonaBianchi]

This looks interesting. I havebeen thinking of riding from northern Cyprus to uk along a similar route. I have stuff going on which may get in the way, but I would like to know more about your plans. I've done the trans am, and uk to med, and Bremen, Basel, and le.jog. Feel free to pm me if you wish. Cheers.

 

[mmmmartin]

send me a PM and I'll put you in touch with Rob. also, i have started a "convo" with you and send you his email address

 

[jay clock]

Lovely ride but personally I think a group of 1 or 2 is ideal. 4 has a load of issues in terms of group dynamics for me

 

[Yellow7]

I won't be coming and you may need a bit more than luck.

Take care in Turkey, even in Istanbul.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/turkey

The Internet, ensuring hysteria is maintained. Maybe best stay at home with the doors locked and read a good book? Scaremongery aside go for it, try and include Romania's Transfagarasan mountain pass, I included it on the present tour I'm on but misty rain ruined the awesome views, well worth including.