Some notes on cycling and camping in Turkey
After cycling through Turkey for almost 10 weeks, we thought it would be good to share the little tidbits of wisdom we have gathered here. We have our favorite routes, blogs we used for inspiration, and some random observations that might be useful to you. But please note: we traveled Turkey amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, so our experiences might not be completely representative.
Traffic and road conditions
The condition of the roads is generally good. We did use the main roads a lot (the roads that are designated with “D” followed by a 3-digit number), as these are the fastest and shortest. Mostly they have broad shoulders, where 2 people can even cycle next to each other. Please be aware that the Turks throw all their garbage out of the car window, including glass bottles, so don’t cycle too far to the right and keep an eye out for the Glittering Shards of Death. And we highly recommend the Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tyres! Whenever we would tire from all the trucks and incessant honking by over-enthusiastic Turks, we would stick to the rural roads. A bit more bumpy, a bit steeper, but quieter and with better views.
When planning your route, be aware you cannot cycle the toll roads (designated with an “O”). Bikes are not allowed. We got on one of these highways by accident, and quickly were pulled over by a security officer who escorted us to the nearest exit.
There is a lot of road-building going on, and the Turks do love a good tunnel or two. They are mostly well-lit and ventilated (but still terrifying). We brought safety vests with us, normally we would cover the bags on the back with these for better visibility, but we would wear them when entering a tunnel. Drivers do NOT slow down to the speed limit (which should be 70 km/h) and we estimate that only 10% of drivers turn on their headlamps. As we said; terrifying. Some tunnels are off-limits to bikes and they make you go over the hill…
The drivers are generally courteous (apart from resort towns and Istanbul). They all honk to let you know they are there and will overtake you. Most trucks leave enough space and will move to the left when they can. We were pleasantly suprised by this. Everybody is either very happy to see you and they almost hang out of the window to encourage you, or they are really baffled by the whole cycling business. Don’t be suprised when they drive up to you, roll down the window and start a conversation, while you’re trying to get up a 15% slope.
Be extra careful in cities. The locals are not used to cyclists and they have a blind spot for you. You can just tell that they glance over you and start driving, basically cutting you off. Also in city centers, when there are two lanes available, the right lane is used for quick parking to get into a shop (especially on Friday afternoons). Turkish cars have this “park anywhere” button; when pressed, lights start to blink and you can do whatever you want. We believe that in other countries these lights have been repurposed as “emergency lights”. Just keep an eye out and even if you have right of way, it’s better to wait than to be killed.
Turkey is very busy building cycling paths (yay!) and most major cities have some kilometers of bright blue bike lanes, often along the seaside boulevard. In some parts they are amazing, but often you can tell that they have been designed by someone who has never ridden a bike; weird turns, wrong direction of the bricks (leading to rut formation) or abrupt and therefore dangerous endings. Locals like to stroll onto the bike lane without checking (you’d get killed in Amsterdam doing that!) or they park their cars on them. There is some progress to be made…
Our favorite routes and planning
We are not really the planning type, but we did get a lot of inspiration from reading other blogs. We want to thank Scott Newman, who wrote an excellent post on cycling in Turkey for cycloscope.net. Please check it out! Although we would like to point out that the Black Sea Coast is most definitely NOT flat, as he mentioned in the article…For our own route, we mainly rely on the app maps.me. This app allows you to download the maps, so no internet access is required. Of course, whenever we can, we crosscheck with Google maps.
Cycling in Istanbul is no fun. We arrived at the SAW airport and found ourselves on a 3 lane road into town including tunnel within 30 minutes of starting our trip. Horrible. We took the ferry from Pendik to Yalova and wholeheartedly recommend that. On the way back west we tried to do the opposite; we took the ferry from Yalova to Yenikapi, and we ended up on the D100, which is basically the worst way out of Istanbul.
One of the highlights for us was cycling along the Mediterranean on the D400, which we followed from Akyaka all the way to Adana. Especially the part between Kalkan and Finike. Gorgeous views on the sea, but also challenging climbs. And then you get to Antalya, and the fun is over. The road gets crowded, the number of asshole drivers (mainly the shuttle busses) increases exponentially and there are some tunnels. After the resort towns Antalya and Alanya the road gets quieter again. You’ll see banana plantations everywhere, stunning vistas, ancient castles and ruins everywhere (please see Corycos/Kız Kalesi in Mersin province).
We had an absolute blast on a newly built coastal road in the Hatay province. Between Kale and Semandag there are 25 km of perfect cycling waiting for you. The bike lane is protected by barriers and the views are amazing! Turn south from Arsuz and follow the main road (direction Konacik), which is beautiful in its own right.
As mentioned, the Black Sea coast, which we cycled from Samsun to Karasu, is challenging. It’s beautiful though! Very green, but be warned; it rains a lot and can get very humid. We followed the D010, which was mostly deserted and certainly doesn’t feel like a main road. Small fishing villages, lonely beaches and a lot of up and down await you.
Food and water
The food is awesome, cheap and can be found anywhere. We would have Döner menus at road side places at an average price of 20 lira per person. The quality is super! We also recommend the “lokanta” which are small, local restaurants, where they serve a couple of dishes until they are sold out. Lamb stew, beans and rice, it is all simple but delicious and filling.
Shops open up late (to our standards, around 9 or 10). The main supermarket chains are the Carrefour, BIM, Şok, A101 and Migros. Especially Migros and Carrefour have massive stores, where you can find everything, but are found in larger towns only. The other 3 are omnipresent, especially A101. Then there are the family-owned Markets, that mostly sell processed food (lots of cookies!), and independent supermarkets. Most villages in the West have at least a Market (also selling bread), further East we had to plan a bit more.
The most important thing about water in Turkey: the tap water is safe to drink in most places. Nestlé has done an amazing marketing job here and the locals prefer the bottled water, as evidenced by the shit tons of plastic bottles at roadsides. No need to worry, just fill up with tap water. Also at mosques or cemeteries you’ll find taps. And even at the road side, village squares or on mountain tops you’ll find taps, called Hayratıdır. We never had any problems drinking that water untreated, but we always carry water filters and tablets for when we are in doubt. We both carried around 3 liter per person, and we never got into trouble.
If you are camping and don’t want too much hassle cooking dinner, we can highly recommend the ready made bags of food from the brand Yayla, e.g. bulgur, rice or beans. They are preservative and additive free, filling and just need to be heated up. But even cold they are OK. They can be found at most supermarkets (A101).
Dealing with wildlife (mainly the dogs)
In the north-western part, for us between Yalova and Izmir, we could hear jackals howling in the night. As this was new to us, we did not sleep well the first few nights. Apparently the golden jackal population is increasing in the balkan countries, Turkey and Bulgaria. They are a nuisance to sheep farmers, but generally not dangerous to humans.
We did have some wild boars sniffing around our tent close to Hatay, but also around Izmir we saw traces of them (like somebody ploughed the area). We kept our waste away from the tent and made some noise and turned on the flashlight when they came close, that scared them away.
Ah, and then the most-Googled topic on animals in Turkey; the dogs. Stray dogs are everywhere in the cities and harmless. They come at you wagging their tail. The dogs you’ll find in the villages, shepherd and guard dogs, can be quite aggressive. Cyclists trigger something in their brains and they will immediately chase you, sometimes in a pack. The trick is to get off your bike and they will back down. Keep eye contact, push your bike for 100 to 200 meters, and start cycling again. It seems that getting off the bike removes the “chase trigger”. Yup, it takes some nerve to try it the first time, but it works. If possible, keep the bike between you and the dog.
And then; kangals. This turkish dog breed is renowned and feared among cyclists. They are used as protection against wolves by shepherds, and they look the part. They are massive! We encountered them on the Anatolian plateau, and whenever we saw a flock of sheep, we would pick up some stones. Not that we ever had to hurt the dogs, but just the throwing motion scared them away.
Wild camping
We did plenty of wild camping in Sweden, so we did have some experience, and we are happy to report that wildcamping in Turkey is a piece of cake. First of all, it is legal. We quite easily found a spot most nights, although around touristic resort places like Bodrum and Antalya it was a bit more difficult.
In some cases we stayed quite close to the main road, for instance in an olive grove, meaning that we could hear the traffic all night long. We were tired enough not to care, but maybe pack some ear plugs. These orchards or olive groves do belong to a farmer, so if you see them or when there is a house nearby, just ask. Our strategy normally was to come in late and leave early. It goes without saying that we took care not to disturb or damage anything and take our waste with us. Along the coast there were plenty of beaches to camp, or at rivers or lakes. But we also camped in the bushes next to the main road.
We did struggle once to find a good camping spot. This was the case around Mersin along the D400. There were either houses or industry, hundreds of trucks coming from the harbor and it was getting dark. We asked the staff of a KGM office (the road authorities) and they happily let us camp on their site. Also gas stations are a great option, although it also might not be the quietest one. But you’ll be safe, have access to a toilet and you’ll probably will get at least some tea from the staff. Asking locals for a good spot to camp works too, and they probably will invite you to their home or they can direct you to a quiet location.
Speaking about the toilets at the gas stations… We recommend Shell or Opet (not Opet’s dirty little brother, Sunpet!) , where in almost all cases the toilets were perfectly clean, had toilet paper and soap. All the other brands out there can be either fantastic or you’d rather go behind the next tree. The further East you’ll go, the more common the squatting toilets become. Toilet paper is often absent, so bring your own!
In conclusion, we love Turkey as a cycling destination. It’s not for the faint of heart, as the traffic around major cities is chaotic, but you’ll be rewarded with a diverse landscape and the most hospitable people.
