The Southern Route by Mareike und David

Alexandroupoli – Bandirma

Last stage of our cycling-journey Germany-Türkiye

At the end of our cycling-journey we wanted to avoid spending the last days in the suburbs of Istanbul. This is why we decided to turn southwards, after having crossed the turkish-greek border, instead of heading to Istanbul right away. We cycled from Kesan to the Dardanelles, where we entered the Asian continent and then continued on the southern coast of the Marmara-Sea to Bandirma.

Elevation Profile

292 km, 2.260.m climb

The route is varied in its character, there are some parts that follow big highways, which are quite acceptable for riding, due to the wide tow/tractor lanes on the side always available. A large part of the route leads us to scenic views and wonderful rest areas on the shores of Mediterranean and Marmara.

The Dardanelles peninsula is one impressive piece of landscape to cycle: At the same moment you can see the Marmara on your left and the Mediterranean on your right. To cross from the European to the Asian continent we took a ferry from Gelibolu to Lapseki (there is also a highway-bridge crossing, which we wanted to avoid) – it costs only a few Lira and is highly frequented by the locals.

From Lapseki our route follows a main road to Baliklicesme, where we switched to a smaller road. In Gümüscay we took even smaller paths. This part is quite sandy, but feasable with gravel equipment. Nevertheless it is also possible to follow the main road between Biga and Güvemalan, which is slightly south of our indicated route.

The route follows a long ascent (on the side lane of the highway) and from then on it is basically downhill till the city of Bandirma, with olive groves to both sides.
We decided to take the ferry from Bandirma to Istandbul-Yenikapi. It takes about 3 hours, costs around 800 TL (2025) and drops you off right in the middle of the capital. Alternatively a ferry could be taken from Mudanya or Yalova (following the Marmara coast eastwards).

Conclusion: We did have wonderful cycling days in Türkiye, enjoying great rest spots in impressive scenery. We did gain a good impression of what it´s like to cycle in the rural areas along southern Marmara sea. We wish you all a good route-decision for your cycling stage towards Istanbul!