A Greek Odyssey
Greece is perhaps my favourite European cycling destination. Back in 2022, while cycling from the Uk-Turkey, I spent 5 glorious weeks following the small mountainous roads from the Albanian border down through the Peloponnese. It was late October and the weather was perfect; clear blue skies most days, and the crowds of European tourists, which I do my best to avoid anywhere I cycle, had departed.
One of many beautiful camps in Greece Late October, 2022. Perfect weather for cycling and camping.
Roads were generally empty; as were the beaches, which made wild camping blissfully peaceful, and easy. I swam frequently and indulged in scrumping some of the citrus fruits that were coming into season, as well as the remaining grapes on the vines. The scenery was diverse; the choice of routes infinite.
Sleepy villages with the odd bakery and mini market for resupplies characterised most places, with locals more focused on the upcoming olive harvest than the few tourists who might still be here.
November, 2022. The Pelopennese is largely off the tourist list of destinations in Greece.
For all of the reasons above I decided to return in early October 2024; this time flying into Athens and riding out towards the Pindus Mountains on the mainland, before turning my attention to some of the islands: Corfu, Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Crete. Ferries operate on a reduced schedule after the end of October, but it is still possible to reach most places.
If you're not familiar with the Pindus Mountains (I wasn’t), they dominate the central spine of mainland Greece, rising up above 2500m in elevation.
My bike and gear has remained pretty much unchanged in the last year, although I carried a drone camera and an Insta360 video camera on this trip. I carried the drone in my hip bag alongside my camera, and kept the drone remote controller in a small handlebar bag. Total weight of luggage (minus food and water) around 16kg, 4 of which was electronic equipment.
I don't consider Greece a budget destination, but then few countries in Europe really are these days. Foodstuffs in supermarkets have comparable prices to the UK, although eating out and accommodation is certainly more affordable.
I predominantly camped, and sought out budget room options every 4-5 days for a proper shower, battery charge and bed (mostly using booking.com). Hostels exist in larger towns with dorm beds costing €15-20 Euros. In other places I found rooms, often whole apartments with a much welcome kitchenette, for €20-35. This is certainly at the cheapest end of the range, with prices reflecting the low season rates. It would have been half the price were I cycling with someone else and sharing the room; I guess that's one negative to solo travel
Outside the tourist season rooms are significantly cheaper. I always looked for the cheapest options, preferably with a kitchenette. A comparable room in the UK would cost over 3 times this amount, so I felt I could treat myself once or twice a week.
My first night outside of Athens I pitched the tent beside a rural church. I would go on to sleep next to many churches in Greece. They were peaceful and safe, often with a water supply. Most were small and located either outside villages or just remotely in the countryside. I often used Google maps to search for churches, most of which were tagged and many included photos. This gave me an idea, alongside the satellite imagery around them, of whether they might be suitable to camp at. I always felt safe and was rarely ever seen.
I rarely ate in restaurants/tavernas, so sadly pictures of Greek cuisine are distinctly lacking in this travelogue. Many are closed once the tourist season finishes, and I don't consider paying €8+ for a Greek salad as value for money, especially for a hungry cyclist! I mostly frequented bakeries for pastries and supermarkets for other supplies.
A familiar sight. I visited numerous Lidl supermarkets during my two months in Greece (no less than 14😆), stocking up for a few days and always making sure I had something from the bakery.
A random assortment of Lidl food. A typical day of food would be porridge with banana for breakfast, a bakery for pastries, else homemade sandwiches for lunch, followed by pasta, rice or noodles cooked beside my tent when camping. Nothing exotic or wildly exciting, just portions that would fill me up.
I never bought water. Many villages /towns have public fountains, especially on the mainland, so filling up my bottles was very easy. On a few rare occasions the water may have been slightly saline, but I never found it unclean.
A familiar midday scene. Fresh bread, hummus, cheese, tomato….cold beer, and a bench with a view.
One of my first few days in the Pindus Mountains. The original plan was to follow a route on the bikepacking.com website, but I soon realised that I needed to be carrying far more than a days supply of food. Rural Greece is so depopulated that there are very few shops to resupply. I subsequently ditched that plan and descended 1000m, which was a good decision in the end as I was able to then visit one of mainland Greece’s most famous of locations - Meteora.
Meteora was a worthwhile stop, before climbing back into the Pindus Mountains
I gave myself 2 months for this looped trip, which I knew should be plenty of time, but Greece is particularly hilly. I rarely do long days in the saddle, especially when daylight hours in October and November become increasingly short.
The quality and ease of wild camping in Greece is one reason I wanted to come back. Almost every place I pitched was a scenic spot.
As European countries go, Greece is not a popular cycling destination. While there are some bike shops and a small community of road and mountain bikers, I don't think it compares with somewhere like Spain or Italy. I saw very few local people on bicycles.
Road conditions certainly vary, and dogs can be an issue. Perhaps that scares some people. The best thing to do in the latter is slow down or stop; dogs can't chase a cyclist that isn't moving.
There is little I would have changed about the route shown below, other than probably skipping Zakynthos and using the week I spent there as an extra week on Crete. Heavy rain, which was really the only heavy rain of the 2 months, trapped me for several days, meaning it was a week later that I finally made it to Greece's largest island, which has plenty to occupy an adventurous cyclist for 2-3 weeks+.
Perhaps I'll return there one day; March or April, when the temperatures are still pleasant and the flowers emerge, would be ideal months, as would May. After that I think the temperatures here become uncomfortable for cycling, and the islands fill up with the tourist herd.
Some Stats
Aside from visiting 14 Lidl's, here are some stats from what was a great 2 months of cycling.
Total distance cycled: 3000km
Elevation gained: 47,200m
Total days: 59
Non-cycling days: 4
Total cost £1163 (including flight £76, Insurance £66)
Nights camping: 39
Nights hosted: 4
Nights in paid accommodation: 15
Money spent on accommodation: £242
Number of Lidl supermarkets visited: 14
Punctures: 0
Longest day: 95km
Bike travellers met: 19 (9 French, 1 Italian, 1 American, 1 Spanish, 1 Swiss, 1 Netherlands, 2 English, 1 German, 2 Swedish)
I documented this trip in more detail through Instagram stories and daily video reels, which can be found @petegost.
As ever I took a number of photos. Here are a selection. They aren’t in any particular order, but give a good impression of how great a destination Greece is for cycling.
Starry night in Corfu. While there were many clear nights, it was rare to find a night sky that didn’t have some light pollution. The MSR freelite tent is a perfect star-gazing tent.
The tent is semi-freestanding, which means the bottom corners need to be held out, but it was never a problem to find stones, whether camping on the beach or beside a church. At only 1kg in weight, its a very light 3-season tent.
Spoilt! Hard to leave such beautiful places. I was rarely in a rush to pack up.
Many of the churches I camped beside had covered areas and seating spaces. A total luxury really.
Bike travellers on the ferry to Crete. I met a good number of other foreign bike travellers (19 in total) although all had different route plans to me, and is often the case, I met most of them on the road going in the opposite direction. It was good to share conversation on this 7-hr ferry journey.
A wonderful app to download on your phone is one that plots the position and timings of the sun and moon. To lie in your tent and watch the sun rise out of the sea…..that’s 5 star accommodation for me. This was my first night on the island of Kefalonia.
Sunrise the next morning.
I had few social interactions with local Greeks, which is partly a reflection of how quiet the countryside is here, but also that I’m comfortably self-sufficient on the road. This means that I so rarely approach people to ask questions. I generally find most Greeks keep themselves to themselves, indifferent to another tourist passing through.
There was a time when I travelled without a smartphone and therefore couldn’t find out all the things I might need to know. This led to a lot more social interaction. That time is long in the past.
On this occasion a group of farmers were having a social get together a few metres away from a church I was camping in. An invite for food and raki followed when one found me inside the church (it had been raining so I opted to sleep inside).
The weather during the 2 months was predominently sunny, but on the island of Zakinthos the weather turned wet for several days - heavy rain and winds.
Crete was definitely a highlight, and I wish I had more than the 2 weeks I gave myself to cycle here. The Asterousia mountains in the south east of the island felt and looked very different from the landscapes I had been cycling through in the west of the island a few days previously.
Western Crete - green and mountainous.
Quiet coastal roads and empty beaches. Temperature around 20C. Thats Crete in November.
I cyclced more on small paved roads than I did gravel tracks like this (70/30 split perhaps), but when the gravel tracks connected with places I wanted to go, I often took them, finding the riding and scenery more enjoyable. Photo from south eastern Crete.
Switchback descent in south eastern Crete.
One of my favourite church camps, partly because I arrived here in rainy and windy weather and found the perfect covered space to camp and be protected, waking up to blue skies the next day.
Other than churches and beaches, I camped in a number of olive groves, both on the mainland and the islands. If I was to come back again at this time of year I’d happily work for a few weeks in the olive harvest, assuming I was paid well in olive oil, which costs a fortune these days!
Ancient olive trees on Zakinthos. Out of the tourist season the main activity on all the Greek islands is the harvesting of olives.
The ship wreck beach on Zakinthos is a popular destination in the summer months.
I was glad to leave the Pindus Mountains and descend to the coast and islands as October finished. Night time temperatures were dropping, so I occasionally made a campfire when there was deadwood around and I wasn’t camping close to any houses. I later found that fires are illegal until November.
Another advantage to cycling here in November is that it’s the start of the citrus fruit season. Plenty of scrumping to be done at the roadside.
Away from the coastal tourist development that characterises a lot of the Greek islands these days, traditional villages can still be found within the interior. Picture from Zakinthos.
Village house in Zakinthos
Back in Athens I picked up the bike box that I had left here two months previously. Time to box up the bike for another adventure.
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