The Off-Road Part of the Side Jeep Tour: Bridge, Riverbeds, Dust
The morning starts on ordinary roads. The interesting part begins at an old Roman bridge, where the surface ends and the convoy lines up for the tracks.
Short answer
The off-road part of the Side jeep tour begins at the old Roman bridge: the convoy's first halt, and the end of the asphalt. From there the convoy takes mountain tracks that cross dry riverbeds and run through stream crossings, bumpy in places. A professional driver handles every jeep and guests never drive. Summer runs are roofless, which means sun, wind and dust; winter runs are covered.
Where the tarmac stops
After the hotel pickup, the convoy of open-top 4x4s heads inland and makes its first halt at an old Roman bridge. That is the dividing line of the day: up to there, roads; after it, tracks. Guests get out, the jeeps form up, and the off-road sections begin. The Roman bridge and aqueducts guide covers the stones themselves.
Riverbeds and stream crossings
The off-road sections cross dry riverbeds and drive straight through streams where water is running. Those crossings are where the spray flies up around the jeep, and in summer, when the jeeps are open, everyone in the back gets some of it.
Between the crossings the tracks wind through citrus and pomegranate groves and fields of cotton and sesame, towards the aqueduct arches standing out in open country. The tracks are bumpy in places: this is the stretch of the day that shakes you about, and the reason the tour exists.
Who drives, and why it is only them
Each jeep has its own professional driver, and only that driver drives. There is no self-drive stretch, no turn at the wheel at the end, and no exception for guests who hold a licence, on any of the three tours. If you want to steer something yourself off-road, that is a different kind of day altogether; jeep tour, quad or buggy explains the difference.
Open-top, dust and water
- Summer: open-top jeeps, so sun and wind come in with the dust from the tracks. The jeeps also soak each other on purpose.
- Winter: the same route in covered jeeps, with no water games.
- Wear clothes that can take dust and water, closed shoes, and sun protection in summer.
- Keep a phone or camera in something that seals, especially before a crossing.
- Tell us before boarding about a back or neck problem, a pregnancy or limited mobility; the operator decides.
Which tours have the off-road part
Both day tours do: the classic Side jeep tour and the zoo route follow the same tracks and the same crossings, at €20 per adult. The night safari is a different sequence, an evening jeep run out to the water followed by dinner and a catamaran cruise, and the Roman bridge and the aqueducts are not part of it. For what to expect physically, read is it safe?.
