Cycling from London to Istanbul - leg 5

Guest Blogger Ben Wade is cycling from London all the way to Istanbul. Here is the sixth of his dispatches, documenting the final leg of the journey, from Bulgaria to Istanbul (via Romania). 

Ben celebrates reaching the end of his epic bike journey in Istanbul

When I wrote my last post I was sitting with my bike propped against a harbour wall, waiting for a ferry into Romania. The Danube by this point had become much wider and resembled more a lake than a river, so I was surprised when the battered car ferry bumped up onto the slip ramp on the other side after a relatively short crossing. Drivers quickly rushed to their cars, hustling and beeping to get ashore and I got off last as usual, pushing my bike over the rusty deck. I then slowly cycled to the front of the newly formed queue for passport control to be the first one out on the other side. Straight away I realised this new country was going to be very different from any I had previously cycled through. I was back on the ‘official’ Danube cycle route but it felt like I was the first cyclist to ever pass through the area. Kids would run out into the street, some to say hello, some to beg money, most to do both, and for three days my surroundings resembled a recurring cartoon strip background as the route passed through indistinguishable villages built along the main road. This is not a popular tourist destination and therefore accommodation and amenities were much harder to find. Carrying a small tent however, I was always able to find somewhere to spend the night, and although I met other cyclists travelling ‘light’ I would recommend taking some form of shelter to anyone undertaking a similar trip.

The open road along Bulgaria's Black Sea CoastRomania was a challenge for sure, but a challenge is good, and so on reaching the border town of Guirgui, instead of turning southeast towards the Black Sea, I pointed my handlebars north and made a dash for the capital, Bucharest. With my helmet strapped on, I raced along the hard shoulder of a newly built motorway, fully expecting to be stopped at any moment. In Romania however, the Highway Code must be a little more relaxed, as I soon found myself stuck behind a horse and cart complete with a pile of hay and family sitting atop. After that I wasn’t so worried. In Bucharest I eventually found a hostel - there is no tourist information in the city, and its residents weren’t exactly helpful either - and managed to take over a whole dorm drying out all my camping equipment. 

Ben enjoyed Romania's wonderful wild camping opportunitiesBucharest with its communist ambience was fascinating, and I’m glad I made the effort to visit, but Istanbul was beckoning now and it was time to start heading south. With a strong tailwind I cycled my biggest day so far, 175km, crossing the border into Bulgaria at Silistra and finding a great camp spot high on a hill. The next day I made it to the Black Sea and camped on the beach amongst the high rise hotels and apartments. Wild camping was certainly becoming more scenic as I became more confident finding places to pitch. Unfortunately the coastline in Bulgaria is totally overdeveloped and it was depressing to see so many half finished, concrete buildings already falling into disrepair. I began to explore some of the more inaccessible bits of coast, and my bike took me to some lovely quiet bays under the developers' radars (for the moment at least). I’m not saying where they are, but if you’re willing to look, you’ll find them. 

My passport was stamped one last time as I crossed into Turkey near Derekoy and rolled down the hill into the town of Kirklareli. It was quite a culture shock arriving into the bustling main square, but whereas Romania had felt ‘different’ for the wrong reasons, Turkey appeared different for the right reasons. Most importantly, everyone seemed really helpful - despite the obvious language barriers. I followed the ‘B’ roads in Turkey, avoiding the major highways and the dirt ‘C’ road tracks. The cars gave me plenty of room, the hills never lasted too long, and I was quickly getting used to the national drink - tea. Reaching the coast at Tekirdag, a busy seaside city, a left turn took me along the Marmara coast towards Istanbul. Although the road had recently been upgraded to a dual lane highway, the hard shoulder was wide enough to cycle along and passed numerous campsites and hotels along the coast. At Silivri however, the traffic hurtling towards Istanbul became frantic. What I hoped would be a slow reflective ride to my final stop, was a crazy dash dodging all sorts of vehicles and negotiating busy 6 lane motorways. Definitely some of the scariest riding I’d had to do on the entire trip. Then, with about 10km to go a cycle lane appeared from nowhere, and I finished my journey, as I’d begun 2 months ago, slowly plodding my way through the streets of a major city.

Nearly at the end of the road...It is a strange feeling to finally be in Istanbul. I am happy to be here obviously, concluding my journey in such an exciting place. Yet at the same time, this is where my cycle trip finishes, and it’s been such a great adventure, I don’t want it to end. The joy of waking up every morning and not knowing what you’re going to get is a simple pleasure that any traveller will have felt. In my next and last post I will attempt to summarise the trip, and pass on a few of the things I’ve learned along the way, but for the moment I need to find a green way of getting back to the UK. Now, where can a find a good website to do that…?

Read Ben's previous missives:

1. The Preparations
2. Leg 1: London to Amsterdam
3. Leg 2: Amsterdam to Stuttgart 
4. Leg 3: Stuttgart to Budapest
5. Leg 4: Budapest to Bulgaria

You can follow Ben's route from London to Istanbul on this google map of Ben's route.

For a wide selection of unique and adventurous cycling holidays, see greentraveller's Cycling holidays in Europe reachable by train.

How to travel overland (by public transport) from Istanbul to London.