2023-12-02 08:44:32
They fly to Bodrum or Antalya to swim, study antiquity in Ephesus or Pergamon or come to Istanbul to shop and feast – but tourists rarely go to Turkey for a road trip.
But everyone who loves adventure and likes to explore a country by road is making a mistake. At least they’re missing out on something. Hardly any other country in Europe offers such spectacular roads that are so little developed by tourism as Turkey, which is partly part of Europe and part of Asia. We present three spectacular routes.
The D915: hairpin bends and thrills
It requires guts, the D915 road in the hinterland of Trabzon on the Black Sea coast. It is not for nothing that the website Dangerousroads.org advises that only those who are a little crazy should drive here. The mountain route built by the Russians in 1916 is often referred to as the “most dangerous road in the world”.
It starts harmlessly in the suburb of Of. Yes, it’s tight. But it is paved and winds gently through the tea plantations in the coastal mountains. Further inland, however, the curves become narrower and the gaps in the asphalt become larger.
Until the tar of the D915 completely ends behind a tea room on the outskirts of Çaykara. The locals sit there and marvel at who comes along and takes on an adventure that is everyday life for them.
Known for its hairpin bends: the D915 road in the hinterland of Trabzon on the Black Sea coast
Source: dpa-tmn
After all, from here there is no other way to Bayburt on the other side of the mountains than the Derebasi Turns, the 13 photogenic hairpin bends that climb up to the Soganli Pass at 2035 meters.
Sometimes on display, sometimes driven deep through the rock, they overcome more than 300 meters of altitude in just five kilometers with gradients of up to 17 percent and are so narrow that they scare you.
And as if the unsecured route with a total of 29 hairpin bends – 16 lead down to the other side of the pass – wasn’t already adventurous enough, there’s also weather that often serves up four seasons in one day. It’s not for nothing that the D915 is closed for an average of six months a year.
It takes guts, the D915. It is not for nothing that the website Dangerousroads.org advises that only those who are a little crazy should drive here
Source: dpa-tmn
But when it is open, it has another surprise in store on its 180 kilometers from Of to Bayburt. As soon as you reach the top of the pass, you go in gently curved curves on fresh asphalt across a wide, almost alpine plateau.
The Stone Road of Kemaliye: built close to the Euphrates
The next adventure awaits 300 kilometers further in the southwest. Only: While the D915 was high up, the Stone Road from Kemaliye in the Erzincan province now goes deep down to the banks of the still young and wild Euphrates.
A gravel road carved straight through the rock winds its way through a gorge that is hundreds of meters deep and often so narrow that the sun only shines on the bottom for a few minutes a day.
Stone Road from Kemaliye in Erzincan Province: There are 38 tunnels in just under nine kilometers
Source: dpa-tmn
There are 38 tunnels over just under nine kilometers, many of which are so narrow that a hand can hardly fit between the mirror and the stone. At its narrowest point, the stone road is not much more than two meters, and the tunnels are not much higher either.
But there are large holes outside every few meters that provide a breathtaking view of the gorge and the river. Not that you should stop here. Because the worst thing that can happen to you on Stone Road is someone pushing behind you or even oncoming traffic. But because it’s hardly possible to do more than walking pace when driving with centimeter precision, at least the passengers enjoy the views.
The Stone Road from Kemaliye in Erzincan Province runs along the still young and wild Euphrates
Source: dpa-tmn
The history of the road that connected the region to central Anatolia is no less exciting. Because the authorities found the construction too complicated and expensive, the residents themselves picked up picks and shovels in 1870 and laboriously fought their way through the rock without machines. This is what the innkeeper at the exit of the gorge tells us.
That impressed the state so much that at some point it got involved and finished building the road. “And after just 132 years, Stone Road opened in 2002,” says the innkeeper, before serving two more cups of Çay. Given this amount of time, the 45 minutes it took to cover the almost ten kilometers are put into perspective.
Cappadocia round: a photo opportunity behind every bend
From the refreshing Euphrates we continue 500 kilometers to Göreme in dry Cappadocia. Here, erosion has conjured up a fairytale landscape from volcanic ash that is 30 million years old.
Wind and water have not only placed hundreds of cones on the plain, some of them over 20 meters high. Because the stone is so soft, entire peoples have dug caves and built houses in it over the last few thousand years.
Cappadocia: Here, erosion has conjured up a fairytale landscape from 30 million year old volcanic ash
Source: dpa-tmn
The two mountains at the entrance to Uchisar, for example, pass for the Turkish Twin Towers of antiquity. Staying in a hotel in the area often means sleeping in a cave, a “cave suite” with air conditioning and ankle-deep carpets. There are lovingly decorated churches in the rocks and entire cities underground where Christians once fled from the Arabs.
Today, at sunrise, hot air balloons with tourists in their baskets rise above the unusual landscape – it is the most famous photo opportunity in Cappadocia. But because more fascinating perspectives of the mountain formations of the national park await behind every bend, the detour to the Anatolian pampas is also worthwhile for self-drivers.
In the morning at sunrise, hot air balloons rise over the unique landscape – it is the most famous photo opportunity in Cappadocia
Source: dpa-tmn
It makes no difference whether you drive to lively Ürgüp or to the pottery metropolis of Avanos, to the underground city of Derinkuyu or the tourist hotspot of Göreme: in Cappadocia, the journey is once again the destination.
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But if you want to see as much as possible in as short a time as possible, drive a large circle around Göreme and make sure that you always stay within the ring of D300 and D302. You should take a day to do this with a few stops, but even if you give yourself three days, you’ll never get bored.
Further information about driving in Turkey:
Formal: To drive in Turkey, a national driving license is sufficient; an international driving license is not required. The maximum permitted speed in town is 50, on country roads 90 and on the motorway 120 kilometers per hour. Traffic density is low outside the metropolises and the road network is well developed. The highways are often empty.
Entry: The journey from Germany is long with your own car, but entry into Turkey is possible without any special formalities. Your ID card is sufficient.
Autowahl: If you come by plane, take a rental car. For a week including all kilometers from Istanbul, for example, you currently pay less than 200 euros for a car. When choosing a car, the following applies, given the sometimes narrow streets: the smaller the better. But then long-distance comfort suffers. Despite the gravel, an off-road vehicle is not necessary on any of the three routes.
The three streets: If you come to Turkey for the sake of driving, you can combine the three mentioned, but widely separated, roads into one big road trip and will find other winding side routes along the way. If you’re in a hurry, you can make the jump between the routes in less than a day.
Source: OSM Contributors; dpa topic service; Infographic WELT/Felix Scharnowski
– D915/Derebasi Turns: Country road from Of to Bayburt, approx. 180 kilometers, nearest airport: Trabzon.
– Kemaliye Stone Road: Road on the banks of the Euphrates near Kemaliye in Erzican province, approx. 10 kilometers, nearest airport: Erzincan.
– Cappadocia tour: Round trip from Göreme via Avanos, Ürgüp and Uchisar, approx. 70 kilometers, nearest airport: Nevsehir.
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