michaellmcc
Guest
I'm traveling from Paris to Baku, Azerbaijan via Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, and Georgia in September. Any other bikers plan to be on the road in Turkey or Georgia? Any helpful hints?
Mick O'Malley
Registered user
Micheal
I've done the trip and wrote it up on Horizons Unlimited. Have a look at:
www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/mccarthy/
The story starts
www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/mccarthy/000061.php and you can followi it through from there (Europe, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan....)
Obviously you're not planning to stop in Azerbaijan - how do you plan to come back?
Simon
I've done the trip and wrote it up on Horizons Unlimited. Have a look at:
www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/mccarthy/
The story starts
www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/mccarthy/000061.php and you can followi it through from there (Europe, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan....)
Obviously you're not planning to stop in Azerbaijan - how do you plan to come back?
Simon
The Foolish Fellow
Registered user
baku
are you coming back?
are you coming back?
istanbulian
Guest
Also try looking at www.ommriders.org for info on Turkey.
This is a great journey but be prepared for some very poor road surfaces as you travel through Georgia. I would also recommend not trying to travel at night in Turkey, Georgia or Azerbaijzan.
The security state in Georgia is still questionable but other than that this journey is far easier than most people make out.
Don't try this in the winter, however, as everywhere East of Istanbul experiences very heavy snowfall and especially in Anatolia the temperatures drop alarmingly. You may think this is "teaching you to suck eggs" but I have met more than one overlander who has been caught out by the bad weather here, believing that Turkey is always sunny, and spent days on end stuck in some dreary little village whilst waiting for the roads to re-open.
If you need any detailed info just let me know.
Ian
Istanbul
This is a great journey but be prepared for some very poor road surfaces as you travel through Georgia. I would also recommend not trying to travel at night in Turkey, Georgia or Azerbaijzan.
The security state in Georgia is still questionable but other than that this journey is far easier than most people make out.
Don't try this in the winter, however, as everywhere East of Istanbul experiences very heavy snowfall and especially in Anatolia the temperatures drop alarmingly. You may think this is "teaching you to suck eggs" but I have met more than one overlander who has been caught out by the bad weather here, believing that Turkey is always sunny, and spent days on end stuck in some dreary little village whilst waiting for the roads to re-open.
If you need any detailed info just let me know.
Ian
Istanbul
michaellmcc
Guest
Thanks to all for the feedback.
Simon - I've read your reports on the Horizons Unlimited site and appreciate your perspective very much.
With regard to return, my job is taking me to Baku, so don't have a date in mind. It won't be this year.
Michael
Simon - I've read your reports on the Horizons Unlimited site and appreciate your perspective very much.
With regard to return, my job is taking me to Baku, so don't have a date in mind. It won't be this year.
Michael
kcain
Guest
Hi there,
I live in Tbilisi where I have an R1150 GS Adv. I have done the trip UK/Tbilisi 4 times and have recently completed a return trip to Sofia.
Which route are you planning to use across Turkey? Call me on +99577 42 35 07 or e-mail me on kcain@caucasus.net.
The bikers in Georgia are very helpful and hospitable.
Kevin
I live in Tbilisi where I have an R1150 GS Adv. I have done the trip UK/Tbilisi 4 times and have recently completed a return trip to Sofia.
Which route are you planning to use across Turkey? Call me on +99577 42 35 07 or e-mail me on kcain@caucasus.net.
The bikers in Georgia are very helpful and hospitable.
Kevin
baku_mackem
Registered user
Trip advice (from someone else)
I've lived in Baku for several years now while working for BP over here. I've ridden my KTM 400 mainly offroad with a little on-road in Baku. Several guys I know have trekked from UK-Baku-UK/Scandinavia, and the best summary of tips I've had is shown below.
If you make it here and are looking for somewhere to crash, my email is mallg3@bp.com. I am always happy to accomodate another Brother GS owner.
One word from me - be very clear on getting your visa situation for Az sorted BEFORE you arrive.
Having just done my Budapest run, and with last years run, I can give you some pointers based on average feel so to speak.
1. I rode anywhere from 300 – 400 miles in a day (once or twice 460 and 540 – too much). 300 is pushing it. If you look at some of the professional tour itineraries 250 miles a day is a high mileage day for them – around the 200 mark is usual. What this means is you can spend a bit of time looking around the scenery / town relaxing instead of the inside of a hotel room (6 hours riding vs 9, including short breaks).
2. Mapping method - I mapped out an overall trip route and then rough daily route using Michelin route planner based on an eight hour day, with fewer breaks than they suggest. Then I mapped out each day separately on my Garmin. This is ok until you get to Ge/Az – there the standard maps are useless. It is possible to get ‘bootleg’ maps for Georgia and Azerbaijan (Michelin stops after Turkey). Then on my tank bag pad, for each day, I wrote a list of waypoints to double check and once or twice got useful verbal / mimed directions when I doubted the Garmin routing. My routing was Aberdeen-Nottingham-Chunnel-Nurberg (Nurbergring) -Passau-Budapest-Sibiu-Bucharest-VelikoTornova-Istanbul-Merzifon-Trabzon-Tbilisi-Baku … 17 days with four rest days … I’ll try to find my spreadsheet schedule to send on to you.
3. On my way out to Az I avoided Serbia but actually it’s got a cracking highway to within 40 km or so of the Bulgarian border. I used this road on my Budapest trip and I will use it again in future. The 40 km or so is a bit of a nightmare though - Class A type roads but full of potholes and eroded edges.
4. Now this is the tricky bit – Turkey is a nightmare. It’s a big country to cross, around 900 miles, from Edirne to Sarp via Istanbul / Trabzon. At 300 miles a day it’s 3 days to cross but the speed limit is 90 km/h or 50 mph (for a bike) – 6 days, outrageous. I got a fixed penalty for travelling along with a group of cars at 110 km/h – I got the ticket they were ok. The speed traps are stationary camera cars by the side of the road with road blocks around 2 miles after – there’s a lot of them, mainly in populated areas of course, but you manage to spot them eventually. It’s only in Turkey I got a ticket and I wasn’t driving like a maniac. The nightmare of the nightmare is trying to navigate Istanbul. For long periods the traffic crawls and the bike gets very hot in 30+ deg. That was the same on my last trip, the heat alone is exhausting let alone starting / stopping. You could navigate south through Ankara but that puts another 250 miles or so on the tally … think carefully about crossing Turkey. Having said that some of the scenery is stunning and the mountain roads are ace and in good nick.
5. To avoid Turkey I’ve looked at the Black Sea ferry crossing between Varna in Bulgaria and Batumi in Georgia – 3 days and 700 USD but at least you get a break. This is difficult to plan though as they publish the sailing times at the start of each month – advance planning isn’t possible by more than a few weeks.
6. I have used the Motorrad centres in Bucharest and Istanbul but there is also a good Motorrad centre in Sofia if you need it (I had a look at some bikes there). There is a good bike garage here, associated with the BMW importer Improtex, that does the Yamaha police fleet. They can get genuine BMW parts and they replaced my cylinder block successfully but they aren’t Motorad approved and have no plans to become Motorrad approved.
7. Insurance: EU countries and Serbia (amongst other non EU countries) is covered by my BMW insurance. At Turkish border you must buy compulsory 3rd party insurance (around 60 euros if memory serves) – how much that protects you I don’t know – probably not much. I couldn’t get insurance for Georgia so I drove without it. I got good insurance in Az from Atesgah. The paid out 7000 AZN for my mishap – bumped this years premium up of course
8. Serbia and Turkey have toll roads – in Serbia you pay at check points (in total I spent around 40 quid in tolls in Serbia but you need the currency of course). In Turkey I bought a card at a paystation for around 40 quid which covered my transit through Turkey.
9. Equipment wise … I was never stopped for not wearing a high visibility vest but I had one. Puncture repair kit, basic first aid kit, torch, warning triangle, tool set, so called ‘gaffer’ tape, cable ties – none of this I needed until my Budapest trip this year. I dropped my bike at Ge customs (thought the side stand was down) so I wrapped some gaffer tape round the sharp edge of the broken clutch lever. Served me well until Bucharest and the Motorrad service centre. Fortunately my tool set included a knife to cut the tape …
10. No issue at borders within EU with bike. Show the V5 if requested, Turkey stamps your passport – valid for 6 months but you’ll only be there a few days. Ge confirms you’re passing through and not importing – don’t know how long you get to pass through. Az stamps your passport.
11. Bike import in Az … you need the V5 of course. At the border you get a temporary import pass, 72 hours during which you must go to Az Customs and do a temporary import (12 months) for the bike. There you pay a deposit which is refundable on exit from Az. The deposit is 20% of the bike value (basically VAT) – I have around 8000 AZN on deposit – it’s held in the bank and I have a receipt. There is a Customs admin fee of around 250 AZN. When you have the temporary import paper you need to go to the police centre to get a bike registration and number, around 150 AZN. Your UK plates and V5 are held there until you leave. This year I managed to extend my import by a year with a letter request. You definitely need your driver for this business, there a lot of hanging around at counters. My driver might be able to help, he’s been through it.
I've lived in Baku for several years now while working for BP over here. I've ridden my KTM 400 mainly offroad with a little on-road in Baku. Several guys I know have trekked from UK-Baku-UK/Scandinavia, and the best summary of tips I've had is shown below.
If you make it here and are looking for somewhere to crash, my email is mallg3@bp.com. I am always happy to accomodate another Brother GS owner.
One word from me - be very clear on getting your visa situation for Az sorted BEFORE you arrive.
Having just done my Budapest run, and with last years run, I can give you some pointers based on average feel so to speak.
1. I rode anywhere from 300 – 400 miles in a day (once or twice 460 and 540 – too much). 300 is pushing it. If you look at some of the professional tour itineraries 250 miles a day is a high mileage day for them – around the 200 mark is usual. What this means is you can spend a bit of time looking around the scenery / town relaxing instead of the inside of a hotel room (6 hours riding vs 9, including short breaks).
2. Mapping method - I mapped out an overall trip route and then rough daily route using Michelin route planner based on an eight hour day, with fewer breaks than they suggest. Then I mapped out each day separately on my Garmin. This is ok until you get to Ge/Az – there the standard maps are useless. It is possible to get ‘bootleg’ maps for Georgia and Azerbaijan (Michelin stops after Turkey). Then on my tank bag pad, for each day, I wrote a list of waypoints to double check and once or twice got useful verbal / mimed directions when I doubted the Garmin routing. My routing was Aberdeen-Nottingham-Chunnel-Nurberg (Nurbergring) -Passau-Budapest-Sibiu-Bucharest-VelikoTornova-Istanbul-Merzifon-Trabzon-Tbilisi-Baku … 17 days with four rest days … I’ll try to find my spreadsheet schedule to send on to you.
3. On my way out to Az I avoided Serbia but actually it’s got a cracking highway to within 40 km or so of the Bulgarian border. I used this road on my Budapest trip and I will use it again in future. The 40 km or so is a bit of a nightmare though - Class A type roads but full of potholes and eroded edges.
4. Now this is the tricky bit – Turkey is a nightmare. It’s a big country to cross, around 900 miles, from Edirne to Sarp via Istanbul / Trabzon. At 300 miles a day it’s 3 days to cross but the speed limit is 90 km/h or 50 mph (for a bike) – 6 days, outrageous. I got a fixed penalty for travelling along with a group of cars at 110 km/h – I got the ticket they were ok. The speed traps are stationary camera cars by the side of the road with road blocks around 2 miles after – there’s a lot of them, mainly in populated areas of course, but you manage to spot them eventually. It’s only in Turkey I got a ticket and I wasn’t driving like a maniac. The nightmare of the nightmare is trying to navigate Istanbul. For long periods the traffic crawls and the bike gets very hot in 30+ deg. That was the same on my last trip, the heat alone is exhausting let alone starting / stopping. You could navigate south through Ankara but that puts another 250 miles or so on the tally … think carefully about crossing Turkey. Having said that some of the scenery is stunning and the mountain roads are ace and in good nick.
5. To avoid Turkey I’ve looked at the Black Sea ferry crossing between Varna in Bulgaria and Batumi in Georgia – 3 days and 700 USD but at least you get a break. This is difficult to plan though as they publish the sailing times at the start of each month – advance planning isn’t possible by more than a few weeks.
6. I have used the Motorrad centres in Bucharest and Istanbul but there is also a good Motorrad centre in Sofia if you need it (I had a look at some bikes there). There is a good bike garage here, associated with the BMW importer Improtex, that does the Yamaha police fleet. They can get genuine BMW parts and they replaced my cylinder block successfully but they aren’t Motorad approved and have no plans to become Motorrad approved.
7. Insurance: EU countries and Serbia (amongst other non EU countries) is covered by my BMW insurance. At Turkish border you must buy compulsory 3rd party insurance (around 60 euros if memory serves) – how much that protects you I don’t know – probably not much. I couldn’t get insurance for Georgia so I drove without it. I got good insurance in Az from Atesgah. The paid out 7000 AZN for my mishap – bumped this years premium up of course
8. Serbia and Turkey have toll roads – in Serbia you pay at check points (in total I spent around 40 quid in tolls in Serbia but you need the currency of course). In Turkey I bought a card at a paystation for around 40 quid which covered my transit through Turkey.
9. Equipment wise … I was never stopped for not wearing a high visibility vest but I had one. Puncture repair kit, basic first aid kit, torch, warning triangle, tool set, so called ‘gaffer’ tape, cable ties – none of this I needed until my Budapest trip this year. I dropped my bike at Ge customs (thought the side stand was down) so I wrapped some gaffer tape round the sharp edge of the broken clutch lever. Served me well until Bucharest and the Motorrad service centre. Fortunately my tool set included a knife to cut the tape …
10. No issue at borders within EU with bike. Show the V5 if requested, Turkey stamps your passport – valid for 6 months but you’ll only be there a few days. Ge confirms you’re passing through and not importing – don’t know how long you get to pass through. Az stamps your passport.
11. Bike import in Az … you need the V5 of course. At the border you get a temporary import pass, 72 hours during which you must go to Az Customs and do a temporary import (12 months) for the bike. There you pay a deposit which is refundable on exit from Az. The deposit is 20% of the bike value (basically VAT) – I have around 8000 AZN on deposit – it’s held in the bank and I have a receipt. There is a Customs admin fee of around 250 AZN. When you have the temporary import paper you need to go to the police centre to get a bike registration and number, around 150 AZN. Your UK plates and V5 are held there until you leave. This year I managed to extend my import by a year with a letter request. You definitely need your driver for this business, there a lot of hanging around at counters. My driver might be able to help, he’s been through it.
Great reply...but 10 years later 
Did the OP ever get there (and back)?
Did the OP ever get there (and back)?
It's shite like this that puts people off riding in far away places. Turkey is a huge country and no worse to ride in than anywhere else IMO. Yes, there are plenty of speed checks but it's hardly enough to make riding there a nightmare.
This is true.
€27 for a months insurance as recently as 1 June this year. Like you I couldn't get insurance for Georgia so drove without it too.
I rode about 3000 miles in Turkey over eleven days and never paid any tolls.
No issues at borders for me either, but you do need to have bought a Turkish visa online before you show up at the border.
Turkey
You now need a permit to use any motorway in Turkey, you CANNOT pay at the booths with cash or credit card.
You can purchase a ticket at a main post office ( PTT ) or at some Shell petrol stations, you will need your V5 and passport. The cost of the ticket is a minimum of 35 lira. I do not know how far this will get you on the motorway or how you know when it as run out yet
Will be starting to head back towards England on Monday, will post update if I have any more information.
If you get caught without a valid ticket the fine is 10 times the toll charge
You now need a permit to use any motorway in Turkey, you CANNOT pay at the booths with cash or credit card.
You can purchase a ticket at a main post office ( PTT ) or at some Shell petrol stations, you will need your V5 and passport. The cost of the ticket is a minimum of 35 lira. I do not know how far this will get you on the motorway or how you know when it as run out yet
Will be starting to head back towards England on Monday, will post update if I have any more information.
If you get caught without a valid ticket the fine is 10 times the toll charge
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