Motorcycle trip Turkey

Turkey motorcycle tour season

When’s the best time to visit Turkey? From May to October is perfect for doing a motorcycle tour in Turkey. But be warned, it’s hot in Turkey during the summer. Istanbul is a microclimate influenced by the sea and the Bosporus, making its climate very changeable. The hot and humid summer is peppered with thunderstorms, showers and morning mist. The climate along the coast is typically Mediterranean with hotter temperatures on the south coast. With many elevations, the climate varies greatly from one region to another, being very complex inland. Central Anatolia has a continental, semi-arid climate. In summer, this vast plateau enjoys pleasant temperatures with cool nights. Winters are extremely harsh in Anatolia. More to the east, mountains and snow-capped peaks surround highland pastures, with the Taurus Mountains to the south and Caucasus Mountains to the north. If you want to take a Royal Enfield tour in Turkey, spring and autumn are ideal, with May and September being the best months.

Turkey’s Geography

Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey is made up of the East Thrace on the European continent and Anatolia, also known as Asian Turkey. The country shares borders with Greece, Bulgaria, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. During a motorcycle tour in Turkey, you’ll take to the roads in the highland plateaux, crossing the country from east to west at almost 1,500 m. On the other side of the Taurus Mountains is Eastern Anatolia (Mesopotamia, Cilicia and Carmania). Turkey is a mountainous country with the Anti-Taurus Mountains and Turkey’s highest peak, Mount Ararat, at 5,165 m altitude to the north. Turkey has almost 8,000 km of coastline and is surrounded by four seas: the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, known as the “Turquoise Coast”, the Sea of Marmara with the Turkish Straits –the Bosporus and the Dardanelles passages, representing the geographical borders between Europe and Asia– and the Aegean Sea facing a long, rugged coastline. This complex, diverse geography is waiting to be explored on a Royal Enfield tour in Turkey.

Turkey’s history and culture

A motorcycle tour in Turkey lets you take a step back in time to uncover the history of this fascinating country. The Hittites, Greek and Romans have successively marked Anatolia’s history. The Roman Empire established its eastern capital there. Byzantium became Constantinople in 330. Christianity made its mark and became the pillar of the Byzantine Empire on the trade route to Asia. In the 6th century, Constantinople experienced its golden age. The Byzantine Empire lasted from the 4th century until the 13th century, when the Ottomans arrived and invaded Constantinople with Mehmed the Conqueror in 1453. Saint Sophia cathedral was converted into a mosque and Byzantine Constantinople became Istanbul. Suleiman the Magnificent was instrumental in the 16th century and the Ottoman Empire spread across the Mediterranean from Austria to the Red Sea and from the Persian Gulf to Algeria. However, the Ottoman Empire slowly started to decline in the 17th century. In 1923, the country was declared the Republic of Turkey and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk became the first president. Turkey has been a NATO member since 1951. Since 2002, Turkey has undertaken many reforms in an attempt to comply with European regulations.