Driving from England to Turkey

[Old Daffodil]

We did not rely on the Sat Nav alone.We had a route planned and used maps as well.
On the roundabouts Sat Nav seems to be inconsistent on what it takes as a road exit,sometimes they just look like dirt tracks and sometimes it ignores them sometimes it doesn't.In France it wanted us to go along a road that had roadworks on and in situations like that we had to find another route for ourselves.With the way roads are being built it is a good idea to check the Sat Nav is up to date on its info I think. I would always take a good map as well as Sat Nav.When we left Greece and tried to switch Sat Nav on in Italy it would not work. It just says press this dot which we did and nothing happened.I wonder if because we switched it off in one country and turned it on in another it cannot change satellites,any suggestions?
Greece was so easy to cross, one  straight road most of the way.I was surprised in Italy,the motorway roads were not that wide,two lanes a lot of the way. French roads are so well marked and not very busy. We are still tootling around France now!

[Eric]

Sat Nav did not work very well in Turkey, when I got to the bottom of the Uzumlu hill it told me to turn LEFT towards Antalya!  Once we crossed the border into Greece it woke up and worked perfectly all across Europe and the UK.  Some things to remember though;  Sat Nav is not perfect so take maps as well to verify the route it is taking you.  Make sure you have your Sat Nav settings correct for the route you want to take, ie. avoiding toll roads, A roads only, motorways, speed camera warning etc etc.  If you do not do this you may find you are being taken where you least expect it.  Last thing, make sure you regularly update your Sat Nav.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

The problem with the sat nav we had was that the maps were not up to date. This really annoyed me as I bought it in Currys 2 weeks before we left. One place you need to be wary is around the Alps. Going through France we turned on the avoiding toll road option and when we got to the Alps the thing started directing us up the alps. I started to get worried when we had passed the ski lifts and we were still climbing. The final straw was when we started to find snow on the road. We turned round and turned off the toll road option.

[Pompeylil]

Thanks everyone for your comments - Our car has a built in sat nav - it should take us to the border of Turkey!  However as we have only ever used it in Scotland and England it will be interesting to see how it works once we are in mainland Europe etc....

We are planning the route this week and have found all your comments helpful.
Will post our own findings once we return in September, (we leave the UK at the end of July)

[Old Daffodil]

Good luck with your trip.

If you choose to enter Turkey at Ipsala and cross the Dardanelles there are two ferry crossings. The first you come to is from Gelibolu to Lapseki and the second one further along the coast is Kilitbahir to Cannakle.The Kilitbahir crossing has a large memorial to the war dead.
There is a good chance you will see dolphins playing in the waters here. It is a lovely sight and so much more enjoyable than seeing them in captivity.

[Diverbaz 1]

 

quote:Sat Nav did not work very well in Turkey, when I got to the bottom of the Uzumlu hill it told me to turn LEFT towards Antalya!

Turning left at the bottom of Uzumlu hill and up over the mountain via Seki and Burdur, is the "quickest" route north (i.e. Ankara,Istanbul) not the shortest but the quickest because of the better roads.

[Firo]

It might well be the quickest if you are going to Ankara or Istanbul but it's not the quickest route to Canakkale for the Ipsala border.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

If you use the RAC or AA route planner to go to anywhere in Southern Greece from Turkey they will take you by Istanbul and it is 6 hours longer than going by Canakkale.

[c1]

I have driven over twice in the same car and have been told via this site that you can only bring the same car in twice, with an over six month gap between each visit. however I have heard of people who have brought the same car in many times what is the true postion, is it law that the customs turn a blind eye to or are those who bring the same car in more than twice pushing their luck

[kevman]

do any of these rules change if you want to do Fethiye-UK - Fethiye in a Turkish bought MB plated car.