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[meeza]

First time poster here.

Im looking into travelling from Istanbul to Cairo by road in Summer 2008. I also want to visit Syria Jordan and Lebanon on the way.

Can someone give me the best route to travel between the countries and also the places to visit and avoid.

Any other tips would also be useful!

Thanks in advance!

[wakingdream]

Hi there,

I've not done this trip but did find a few sites that may be useful;

Cairo to Istanbul:Overview. This one seems quite thorough with lots of good info.

Personal blog: Istanbul to Cairo Overland

Train info for the first leg of your trip.

Gallipoli Tour, Palmyra, Cappadocia, Dead Sea, Petra, Mt. Nebo and Wadi Rum would be just some of the sights you might want to see.

I would suggest a guidebook. You're looking for quite a bit of information. Lonely Planet publishes a guidebook called Istanbul to Cairo. You may find the overland information quite helpful as I'm sure it outlines your options quite specifically. You can get that LP used for a good price. Once you know what some of your options are, then you can explore the options for things to see along the way.

Good luck and welcome to the forums!!

[rbisset]

I looked at that LP in a library in Darwin! It seemed ancient compared to the new versions. There is Lonely Planet Middle East which covers all the countries you could want and more.

[wakingdream]

The Middle East version seems better if the Istanbul to Cairo one is old.

If there's a new version, do you think it might cover more specific info then the ME one? Or do you think it's likely much of the same info?

[Jambo]

Well, I did it the other way around, from Cairo to Nuweiba by bus then by boat to Aqaba. Then up to Petra (read about that leg here) and a great little place called Dana, up to the Dead Sea and Madaba and through to Amman. From there we crossed the border to Syria, heading to Damascus, Palmyra and Aleppo. In Turkey we visited Sanliurfa, Goreme, Olympos, Patara, Gallipoli and Istanbul. So, you could just do all that but in reverse.

The route is not all that difficult, it kind of looks after itself once you are in Syria and Jordan because most of the good places are towards the western side of those countries.

Hope this helps.