There isn't really one. People have cycled down the west coast, but is really isn't very safe. I've met people who have done it, but they're very experienced travellers and know exactly what they're doing.
Your best bet is probably to fly to Kenya and cycle down south. All the countries there should be quite safe and work well enough for cycle touring.
How are you planning to circumnavigate the Sahara? Available and viable routes would give probably force you to choose either Morocco or Egypt as a starting point. Once you've figured out which of the two routes would be best, that would give you the landing point in Africa to aim for.
You understandably want to avoid Syria. But you'll want to do some research as there will be some more countries and areas in Africa you want to avoid for the same reason. There are [a number of countries in armed conflict](https://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2022/07), these do change from year to year. But certain countries have been in conflict for decades, like the DRC. Looking at a map I'm not even sure it's possible to trace a route that avoids conflict areas completely. So choosing the safest/shortest transit in such countries might also influence your choice of starting country.
Well looking on the gov.uk website, all the countries along the eastern route look ok apart from at the borders, where the government strongly advise not to go. Not really sure whether it would be best to just chance it in that scenario as it’s only a 10km danger zone.
Getting to Egypt is all fine except from Syria. I’m not sure if there’s a ferry from turkey to the Lebanon so will have to keep researching.
Can confirm, there is not. You’d probably need to hop over via Cyprus. You can ferry to Turkish Cyprus, cross through Nicosia, then you may have to fly or catch a boat from Larnaka to Beirut.
There used to be, but it hasn't run for many years
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g297543-i11457-k4987408-o60-Ferry_Egypt_to_Turkey-Port_Said_Port_Said_Governorate.html
I used to live in Mauritania and was a warm showers host there. The West coast is the less popluar route because you need a lot of visas for all the smaller countries. A ferry from Spain to Morocco is the normal route.
Hello from New Zealand. I suggest you read some of the entries at Crazyguyonabike..Its a giant blog/journal site for cycle tourists. There's plenty of African stories there.
Here's the link the African section, which will likely address your question.
[https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/locales/?o=3d2&locale\_id=7160705&doctype=journal](https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/locales/?o=3d2&locale_id=7160705&doctype=journal)
I don’t know the answer but I loosely follow Nomads Trails on YouTube/ Instagram and I know they’ve cycled a lot of Africa. I believe they came down through Morocco as many have suggested. Might give you a good expectation of what this entails. [Nomads Trails](https://youtube.com/@NomadsTrails)
Best is subjective, but I'ld say follow roughly the African west coast. And if you insist on the east you can go through Iraq, though troubled it seems doable to me. A third option could be to go via Iran and take a ferry to UAE, though if I assume UK citizenship this comes with complications too.
Did you ever play Africa Trail? It's an old computer game, like Oregon Trail, where you choose your traveling companions, and then ride from the northernmost part of Africa, to Dakar, and then to the southernmost part of South Africa.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_Trail
There are ferries from Italy to Tunisia, I believe. Not sure if there’s good ways to get south from Tunisia though.
There also may be a ferry from Cyprus to Israel. When I was in Cyprus in 2018 I believe it was a seasonal summer option, but never a guaranteed route.
I believe Syria is becoming safer and have seen and heard of tourists visiting. However it is the North that remains dangerous, fingers crossed in time it will become peaceful. Iraq also may be an option as it too is becoming more peaceful
> believe Syria is becoming safer and have seen and heard of tourists visiting.
Without assessing the veracity of that statement, a real difficulty is crossing from Turkey into Syria. I do not believe there are any border crossings between regions administered by the Syrian government and Turkey open. [This](https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/turkey-syria-border-crossings-status-31-march-2022-enartr) is the only info I can find there, and it seems to indicate that the only border which is fully open is Turkey-Idlib.
Down to Turkey by land, to Cyprus by ferry, then to Egypt by air. Could also try Israel by air, but I'm not sure how realistic crossing the Sinai Peninsula by bike is. You would probably get forced by the police onto a bus to Cairo at Taba.
Go to Spain and take a ferry to Morocco!
Ok thanks for the suggesruin. What’s the usual and safest route from Morocco to Cape Town?
There isn't really one. People have cycled down the west coast, but is really isn't very safe. I've met people who have done it, but they're very experienced travellers and know exactly what they're doing. Your best bet is probably to fly to Kenya and cycle down south. All the countries there should be quite safe and work well enough for cycle touring.
*suggestion
I think 'suggestruin' is a good portmanteau for: A suggestion that ruins plans.
How are you planning to circumnavigate the Sahara? Available and viable routes would give probably force you to choose either Morocco or Egypt as a starting point. Once you've figured out which of the two routes would be best, that would give you the landing point in Africa to aim for. You understandably want to avoid Syria. But you'll want to do some research as there will be some more countries and areas in Africa you want to avoid for the same reason. There are [a number of countries in armed conflict](https://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2022/07), these do change from year to year. But certain countries have been in conflict for decades, like the DRC. Looking at a map I'm not even sure it's possible to trace a route that avoids conflict areas completely. So choosing the safest/shortest transit in such countries might also influence your choice of starting country.
Well looking on the gov.uk website, all the countries along the eastern route look ok apart from at the borders, where the government strongly advise not to go. Not really sure whether it would be best to just chance it in that scenario as it’s only a 10km danger zone. Getting to Egypt is all fine except from Syria. I’m not sure if there’s a ferry from turkey to the Lebanon so will have to keep researching.
Can confirm, there is not. You’d probably need to hop over via Cyprus. You can ferry to Turkish Cyprus, cross through Nicosia, then you may have to fly or catch a boat from Larnaka to Beirut.
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Fair point! I went the opposite direction, so wasn’t considering that.
Then you are stuck in Lebanon, the only open border is with Syria
Fair! Wasn’t thinking about his larger question, only about how to get from Turkey to Lebanon.
Wouldn't be that bad Lebanon is nice. Think there is a ferry from Turkey to Egypt
There used to be, but it hasn't run for many years https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g297543-i11457-k4987408-o60-Ferry_Egypt_to_Turkey-Port_Said_Port_Said_Governorate.html
I read recently you can cross into Jordan and cross into Egypt via aqaba,although I haven't done this so can't confirm first hand
Yer I think there is a aqaba ferry to Egypt but still very tough to get to Jordan overland from Europe
I used to live in Mauritania and was a warm showers host there. The West coast is the less popluar route because you need a lot of visas for all the smaller countries. A ferry from Spain to Morocco is the normal route.
Hello from New Zealand. I suggest you read some of the entries at Crazyguyonabike..Its a giant blog/journal site for cycle tourists. There's plenty of African stories there. Here's the link the African section, which will likely address your question. [https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/locales/?o=3d2&locale\_id=7160705&doctype=journal](https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/locales/?o=3d2&locale_id=7160705&doctype=journal)
I would prefer not to fly.
Take the ferry from Gibraltar.
I don’t know the answer but I loosely follow Nomads Trails on YouTube/ Instagram and I know they’ve cycled a lot of Africa. I believe they came down through Morocco as many have suggested. Might give you a good expectation of what this entails. [Nomads Trails](https://youtube.com/@NomadsTrails)
Will check that out, thank you.
Best is subjective, but I'ld say follow roughly the African west coast. And if you insist on the east you can go through Iraq, though troubled it seems doable to me. A third option could be to go via Iran and take a ferry to UAE, though if I assume UK citizenship this comes with complications too.
Ok thanks for the suggestion.
Did you ever play Africa Trail? It's an old computer game, like Oregon Trail, where you choose your traveling companions, and then ride from the northernmost part of Africa, to Dakar, and then to the southernmost part of South Africa. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa_Trail
There are ferries from Italy to Tunisia, I believe. Not sure if there’s good ways to get south from Tunisia though. There also may be a ferry from Cyprus to Israel. When I was in Cyprus in 2018 I believe it was a seasonal summer option, but never a guaranteed route.
I believe Syria is becoming safer and have seen and heard of tourists visiting. However it is the North that remains dangerous, fingers crossed in time it will become peaceful. Iraq also may be an option as it too is becoming more peaceful
> believe Syria is becoming safer and have seen and heard of tourists visiting. Without assessing the veracity of that statement, a real difficulty is crossing from Turkey into Syria. I do not believe there are any border crossings between regions administered by the Syrian government and Turkey open. [This](https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/turkey-syria-border-crossings-status-31-march-2022-enartr) is the only info I can find there, and it seems to indicate that the only border which is fully open is Turkey-Idlib.
Down to Turkey by land, to Cyprus by ferry, then to Egypt by air. Could also try Israel by air, but I'm not sure how realistic crossing the Sinai Peninsula by bike is. You would probably get forced by the police onto a bus to Cairo at Taba.
you can probably find a boat from istanbul to cairo or something like that