WHAT RIDING TURKEY ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE — LILLIE'S AUGUST 2025 TOUR, IN HER OWN WORDS

We can describe our 10-day Turkey Motorcycle Adventure in itineraries and terrain percentages, and further down we will. But the best answer to "what is it actually like?" is not ours to give — it belongs to the riders who hand the keys back at the end. In August 2025, one of them was Lillie from the UK. She had never been to Turkey before. She is no beginner either: she has ridden in Morocco and ridden a lot across Europe, so when she compares roads, she has a real yardstick. When our tour wrapped up in Antalya, she sat down in front of the camera and told us what the trip had been. Everything in quotation marks below is transcribed word for word from that video — the same testimonial you can watch on our customer testimonials page.

"THINGS ON THIS TRIP THAT WILL LAST ME FOR A LIFETIME"

Ask a rider to sum up ten days in one breath and you usually get a polite adjective. Lillie gave us a list of images instead — and it happens to be a tour of the route's biggest moments: the salt lake near Aksaray, the balloon over Cappadocia, the underground cities carved out in ancient times.

"It was absolutely incredible and seeing some things on this trip that will last me for a lifetime. Riding on the salt lake, doing the balloon ride in [Cappadocia], seeing all the like ancient underground caves, the off-road tracks with the most amazing views." Lillie · UK · transcribed from her video testimonial, Turkey tour, August 2025

What we like most about that opening is that she came in without a picture in her head. Turkey was new territory for her, and she said so plainly:

"I didn't know what I expected to be honest. I've never been to Turkey before. Ridden in places like Morocco, ridden a lot in Europe." Lillie · UK · transcribed from her video testimonial, Turkey tour, August 2025

That is the context that makes her verdict on the riding itself worth reading twice. This is a rider measuring Turkish tarmac and Turkish dirt against Moroccan pistes and European alpine passes — and here is where the scales landed:

"But the off-road tracks were amazing. The paved roads, there was so many like fast flowing twisties, hair pins everywhere again with amazing views. And the bikes were awesome that we were on." Lillie · UK · transcribed from her video testimonial, Turkey tour, August 2025

Off-road tracks, fast flowing twisties, hairpins, views, bikes — in four sentences she covered every ingredient we build this tour around. And then she closed with the sentence every tour operator hopes to hear on camera:

"And just everything, the whole experience has just been great from start to finish. And I'm really gutted that it's over." Lillie · UK · transcribed from her video testimonial, Turkey tour, August 2025

THE TOUR BEHIND THE TESTIMONIAL

So what exactly did Lillie ride? Our 10-day Turkey Motorcycle Adventure Tour is a clean loop out of Antalya, with airport transfers from and to Antalya International (AYT) included on official arrival and departure days. Day 2 begins with a gentle off-road adventure and curvy village roads to a lakeside night at Eğirdir; day 3 traverses scenic village roads with panoramic views to Konya; day 4 conquers the otherworldly salt lake with easy off-roading on the way to Aksaray — the "riding on the salt lake" at the top of Lillie's list. Day 5 serenades through valleys on heavenly curvy pavements into Cappadocia, and day 6 is a full rest day there, with the optional hot air balloon tour if skies permit — Lillie's balloon ride. Day 7 is the big off-road day: 305 km over mountainous terrains to the Çiftehan Thermal Zone, past one of Turkey's famous waterfalls. Day 8 rolls down charming village roads to a beachfront campsite and BBQ feast at Mersin, and day 9 is a long, mesmerizing 400 km coastal road back to Antalya for the farewell dinner. Those historic caves and underground cities she mentions — once used as safe havens in ancient times — are part of what makes this route a journey through Turkey's rich history, UNESCO World Heritage Sites and preserved ruins included.

The terrain profile we publish for Turkey is 35% off-road, 85% comfort, 100% fun — which is exactly the mix Lillie describes: amazing dirt tracks and fast flowing twisties by day, nine nights of top accommodation by night. The tour starts at $5,499 per rider on the CFMOTO 450MT in a shared room, with upgrades to the KTM 790 Adventure (+$499), Ducati Desert X (+$699) or Ducati V4 Rally (+$899) — "the bikes were awesome that we were on" covers that fleet. A professional MotoDreamer tour leader rides with the group, an expert local guide travels alongside with a support vehicle and a back-up bike, and fuel, breakfasts, group activities and entry fees are all included.

KEVIN'S SHORTER VERDICT

Lillie was not the only rider on that August 2025 departure to go on camera. Kevin from Australia kept his scorecard to a single line — and then told us where he is heading next:

"Trip was fantastic. Great bikes, no breakdowns, great roads, twisty roads, and great accommodation. See you next time, probably in Colombia." Kevin · Australia · transcribed from his video testimonial, Turkey tour, August 2025

When a rider ends one tour by already planning the next continent with us, that tells you how the ten days went.

RIDE IT YOURSELF

"I'm really gutted that it's over" is the kind of ending we cannot write for you — you have to earn it on the road. The next scheduled departure of our Turkey tour runs April 30 to May 9, 2027, and group booking is rewarded: pay for 5 riders and rider 6 travels free. See the full day-by-day itinerary, bikes and dates on the Turkey Motorcycle Adventure Tour page — and if you want more unfiltered rider verdicts like Lillie's and Kevin's, watch the full videos on our customer testimonials page. We will see you in Antalya.