RTW South route through Europe or Northern to Siberia
 

I am planning a trip from Spain to Novosibirsk and beyond. Initially I was looking at going through Sweden and Finland and coming out at St Petersburg. After some thought I decided it would be better to go through Poland to Estonia and then onto St. Petes. I thought about it further and figure that most of the riding across Siberia was likely to be in cooler weather and through lots of mountains/trees. That got me thinking that for a change of pace, maybe I should go down the length of Italy, take a ferry to Greece then onto Turkey, coming up through Volgograd and then further north to the road to Novosibirsk. I'm traveling this June and with the Worlds Cup and traffic in Russia staying south in the warmer weather that might be a better trip. Any thoughts on Sweden/Finland, Poland/Estonia, or the Southern route through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Georgie? I like the beaches a lot so leaning south but know there is a lot to see in any case? What about roads, general travel, accommodations, border crossings? Any Comments or help greatly appreciated!

The negative of the southern route: you will be going through troubled territories. I think the northern coast of Turkey is not so much of a problem, but it's still a country next to a war zone and involved in the war itself. Also, the North Caucasus and those regions of the Russian Federation can be a bit dodgy as well.

The positive: Lots of beaches. The South Caucasus is a great destination.


The negative of the southern route: Poland can be long and boring. Sweden is usually boring but has fast, efficient roads, you can go from Goteborg to Stockholm in a half-day's ride (e.g. I've gotten off the ferry at 10am in the morning and easily made the late afternoon ferry to Denmark; on a previous trip I started in the same place and made it as far as Lillehammer no problem). The best riding in Scandinavia is Norway.

The positive: very civilized. Easy to travel in. Poland and the Baltics will be cheap compared to Scandinavia and Western Europe.

If you are not going to the World Cup hosting cities during the actual World Cup, but let's say a little after, all the tourist infrastructure will still be there, and it will probably be not crowded and cheaper. Also it makes sense to start the early summer via the southern route, loop back around via the north, maybe even go as far as Murmansk-Kirkenes and if you have time, ride down through Norway.

I appreciate that input greatly. On the political situation, my understanding is that Georgia is completely safe and that at the moment Turkey along the Black Sea is pretty safe also. I think most of the issues are near the Syrian border. Any travel through the area I think has to at least pay some attention to high profile terrorist targets (Istanbul), although, l view it like bears, its a numbers game, you hope your not the 1 in a million.

Georgia is quite safe as long as you stay out of the breakaway territories (Abkhazia and South Ossetia). Lots of my friends have visited there lately, one freelancer friend moved there permanently - he's really into mountaineering so it's his paradise. :)

Yeah, any big city is potentially a terrorist target, Istanbul is definitely worth visiting.

Not sure where you're from, but Southern Russia and the Caucuses will probably be very hot during the summer. Unpleasantly hot for me. Georgia is safe, and if you stick close to the Black Sea after you exit Georgia, you should be OK. Personally I would probably avoid Dagestan but others here have ridden it with no problems IIRC.

Volgograd is hosting some of the World Cup games, so check schedules before you go there--I expect that hotels would be very pricey if you're there during the games.

While I understand that people like to avoid Moscow while in Russia because it is a huge city with lots of traffic, it is an amazing place and if you have not been it would be a real shame to miss it while you are in Russia.

Finally, your ride through Siberia will not feature lots of mountains and trees as you suggest--Siberia is generally rather flat, although there are some smallish mountains past Irkutsk. And while there are certainly lots of trees in Siberia, much of Siberia is also rather agricultural, so you'll see a lot of farms as well.

Depending on the weather, Siberia can be rather cool or rather hot during the summer.

AnTyx, I appreciate that input greatly. Do you know what kind of climbing he is into? Typically sport climbers, traditional (trad), free? I do just top roping and will be looking for those opportunities.