Hello!!!
I'm planning my trip to Georgia, starting on the 1st of September in Istanbul, from there I'll take the night train to Ankara and then I'm planning to take a bus to Trabzon. I can't find any info about buses from Ankara to Trabzon. What I'm concerned about is how long it takes from Ankara to Trabzon by bus.
From Trabzon to Hopa I know I can take another bus, and for what I've found out it doesn't seem to be a very long trip. I'd be glad to know about the time that it will take me to do all that, since depending on how much time I will spend travelling, I will be able to decide how much time can I spend in each of these places. My main goal is reaching Georgia, but it'd be great to see something of Turkey, not only roads.
Thanks for your help!
It's all in the LP Guide to Turkey. The otogor (bus station) in Ankara is so vast and crowded, the LP Guide can't list all the departures and arrivals. My LP Guide says (and I agree) just go to the bus station and you can be on a bus within an hour or two.
Ankara to Trabzon, 780 km.
As to your last question, are you on holiday? If so, why are you fretting about every bus that might be available. The goal of travel is to enjoy, relax, see the sites. You don't want to spend all your time reading and fretting over bus schedules.
According to the LP of Turkey it takes about 12 hours from Ankara to Trabzon (780km).
But, if I were you I'd change my plans.. Ankara is worth about 1 day of your time (to visit the Ataturk mausoleum and maybe the citadel or the museum). This would mean: 1 night train, 1 day in Ankara, 12 hours to Trabzon and then to the border with Georgia. You'd only see roads (as you mentioned yourself)...
I've never visited the north of Turkey, but the map on page 4 of LP mentions Safranbolu, Amasya and Sumela as highlights... I'm sure a one week travel from Istanbul to the Georgian border, staying in the Northern part of the country would be quite nice.
Also: if you like hiking, consider the Kaçkar mountains!
I hope this helps,
Joachim
PS: I traveled from Istanbul to Ankara, Cappadocia, Mt Nemrut, Van, Dogubayazit, Kars, Ani, Mt Kaçkar, all the way to Georgia, but this would set you back about 2 or 3 weeks. If you have some time to spare, I'd certainly recommend it though!
Hi,
Thank you for the replies!
First of all, I'm not in my holiday yet, I will start travelling the first of September, that's why I am trying to get as much info as possible beforehand.
As I said before, my main goal is Georgia. Not that I'm not interested in Turkey, but it's just that my trip won't be very long. It's only 20 days, and I want to spend as much time as I can in Georgia. I prefer going there via Turkey since the direct flights to Tbilisi are so stupidly expensive, and aslo because I really would like to see some of the not so touristic side of Turkey. Not very interested in summer resorts and towns filled with tourists. That's why I was thinking about staying in Trabzon and anywhere else around the black sea and surroundings. I really didn't expect it was so long from Ankara to Trabzon, but I have to admit I have made a lot of research about Georgia and I completely forgot about researching Turkey. I don't even have the LP, but I will get it as soon as possible to see what it says about northern Turkey.
Well, thanks a lot once again!
trusted partner
