Istanbul by Bike
Planning
Istanbul is a fantastic and fascinating city. The way there leads me through 12 countries, some of which I visit for the first time. The planning of the route is based on a 2-month cycling trip that Anne Felnet has undertaken from Berlin to Istanbul. The reports about it on her website made me curious. On the site of Globetrotter you can find her exciting travelogue as well as a detailed itinerary, which is very helpful for the preparation - many thanks for that.
The planned route is about 3,500km long and there are about 38,000Hm to overcome. I plan to complete the route in 5 weeks. This means that about 700km per week are on the program. My plan is to ride an average of 120km per day on 6 days. This would give me one break day per week without cycling. The exact length of the daily stages will depend on the terrain, weather and my condition. As a weekly goal I have picked out the following places:
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1. Week: Salzburg (706 km/ 5.160 Hm)
2. Week: Zadar (Croatia) (770 km/ 11.600 Hm)
3. Week: Border to Albania (604 km/ 10.000 Hm)
4. Week: Thessaloniki (670 km/ 7.860 Hm)
5. Week: Istanbul (696 km/ 5.130 Hm)
Track
The first part of the route goes through the east of Germany, briefly touches on the Czech Republic and leads via Salzburg and the Alpe-Adria cycle path, with a short detour through Italy, to Slovenia. Via Ljubljana, the route runs to Croatia on the Mediterranean Sea. Up to here I have a rough idea what to expect. From here the unknown part of the journey begins for me. This applies to the landscapes and the mentalities of the people in the now following countries and above all to the cycling. Within Croatia I will cycle through a short section through Bosnia and Herzegovina, further along the Mediterranean Sea to Montenegro. From Montenegro the way continues through Albania and Northern Macedonia to Greece and finally into Turkey to Istanbul.
The planning of the route I have done with the help of komoot and the free map software basecamp. On the bike I will navigate with my Garmin Edge 820. More details about the individual tools can be found in the links on this page.
