Bike trip to Istanbul – A Trans-European track


A Trans-European track was chosen from a list of 6 long distance rides published in  the German MYBIKE magazine. The reasons to choose the track to Istanbul were twofold. On one hand this marks the first half of a ride to Iran. On the other hand the editors clearly advertised the track as being the most adventurous Trans-Europe route available. I generally don’t judge a book by it’s cover but the description alone caught attention:

A paradise for cyclists. The further we move to the east, however, the roads get worse, gravel roads and potholes increase. Instead of cars there are horse-drawn carts and the supply possibilities on the way become rarer. Always pack enough food!

A Trans-European track

The plan manifested itself to become reality in early September 2018. The track was set to cover 12 countries. Most of them I didn’t travel to before:

  • Germany
  • Austria
  • Italy
  • Slovenia
  • Croatia
  • Bosnia
  • Montenegro
  • Albania
  • Macedonia
  • Bulgaria
  • Greece
  • and finally Turkey

We started our journey heading east on a Saturday morning from the main station of Stuttgart. A few hours later it dawned on me. This was serious. The stats estimated a total distance of 3.400 KM and a total elevation of 38.000 meters and there I was after 4 hours: Suffering to haul around my gear even before leaving my home country. A hearty lunch and a nap later I recovered a little and as soon as we arrived for our first night I slept like a stone.

Cities and tracks

Starting from this day I made it a habit to start with enough sleep and eat as much as I could. Literally I shoved plate after plate to keep the energy level up and the wheels spinning. The track itself wound through amazing places. We travelled through cities like Munich, Salzburg, Bad Gastein, Trieste,  Labin, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Shkodra, Tirana, Xanthi and finally Istanbul. The track led us along wild streams and capital rivers. We crossed mountains and saw beautiful panoramas along our way.

What does it feel like to ride your bike around Europe?

There is no way I could give a precise description of the multitude of feelings that arise during such a long bike trip. Fortunately we saw rain only during 2 days out of 33. This in itself seems like a wonder to me in retrospective.

Trans-Europe track before Salzburg
An underpass close to Salzburg before entering the city center
Trans-European track on the Alpe Adria cycleway
Another underpass while riding the Alpe Adria cycleway
Trans-European track - Bridges on the Alpe Adria cycleway
Cycling the Alpe Adria trail can be accomplished even by novice cyclists. The views were gorgeous.
Trans-European track - The Alpe Adria cycleway crossing the Alps
Riding down the Alps held astonishment behind many corners. The beauty of a perfect cycleway and lush greens
Trans-European track - Cycling on old train tracks
An old train route the cycleway leads over bridges, through rock tunnels and canyons
Rolling down that hill
and through old train track galleries
Trans-European track leading through the city of Trieste
Leaving the city of Trieste early morning leaves no doubt about the best time to visit a city
Trans-European track - the Parenzana trail in Croatia
The Parenzana trail in Croatia however leaves a lot to be asked for compared to it’s sibling the Alpe Adria trail
Trans-European track - the middle of Croatia
This part of the track was reached after ignoring a gated dead end in the middle of nowhere with a grummy mate trying to tell us something in a language yet to be discovered
The Croatian back-country was wild compared to the coast, even though it was steep and hilly we encountered a lot of horses and donkeys roaming around
Peaks are my secret favourite, from here it would go down for the next 5 KM
Trans-European track with a border between Croatia and Montenegro
One of the last hills before crossing the border from Croatia to Montenegro
Trans-European track with roads that benefit cyclists
Macedonia would remind me a lot to the Prairies of Canada. The roads were long and I could perfectly picture myself going down all these roads in a camper-van
Trans-European track after riding through the rest of summer
The season had changed during our trip from late summer to autumn. The colours and temperatures (not pictured here) were proof of it