The Eurovelo 13 (Iron Curtain Cycle Route) cycling route, which starts in Norway and passes through the territory of 20 countries, reaches the borders of Turkiye in Edirne.
This section of the Eurovelo13 cycle route hosts cyclists with various shades of the region’s agricultural fields during the spring and summer months.
The purple colors of Edirne’s lavender fields and the yellow-colored sunflower and wheat fields covering this geography offer magnificent visuals to the bicycle tourists on the roads.
Known as the European bicycle tourism network, EuroVelo bicycle routes were planned as a route that covers more than 70 thousand kilometers, but 45 thousand kilometers have been completed. Currently, it covers a total of 16 long-distance cycling routes.
The Eurovelo13 route with a distance of 10400 km, passing through 20 countries in total, ends in the Bulgarian village of Rezovo on the Black Sea coast. It usually passes through border regions of countries such as Norway, Finland, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkiye (Turkey).
Non-governmental organizations such as EDOSK, ETTDER and TRAKDOSK from Edirne have been making international initiatives for many years for the development and promotion of the EuroVelo13 bicycle route that enters Turkey from Edirne.
Many tourists, who go on long-distance tours starting from Europe to the Asian continent with their bicycles, pass to Asia via Edirne-Istanbul, and also the same intensity occurs when they cross from Turkey to Europe in the opposite direction. In addition to this, the fact that there are very important touristic points on this route is a striking factor.
EuroVelo 13 – A short but important part of the Iron Curtain Trail, which was once the border of the cold war period, passes through Turkey. Towards the end of the route, which exceeds ten thousand kilometers in total, it is entered from Greece through Kastnies – Pazarkule Turkish Border Gate. The route continues along the 240 km long route along the Bulgarian border in the north of the country to the provincial borders of Kırklareli. The route passes through agricultural lands, villages and hills on the Turkish territory, allowing cyclists to integrate with a cultural area quite different from the rest of the route. After passing through forest and farmland, EuroVelo 13 reaches the city of Edirne, once the capital of the Ottoman Empire and famous for the UNESCO Selimiye Mosque. EuroVelo 13 then continues through rural landscapes and Strandja Forests before crossing back into Bulgaria.
