route ideas for cycling in greece

[bobbiedobbs]

Hi:

I am thinking of bicycling in Greece next fall - am looking for a route with mostly moderate terrain - did a search on organized bike tours to get an idea where people go....not many trips in greece, among those that do go, the Cyclades and parts of the Peloponnese seem popular....any thoughts or recommendations on routes/cycling in Greece generally? I am probably an average cyclist with experience riding in Portugal, Ireland, italy, the US and Canada. Don't want to do much in the way of mountains...Thanks.

[tmoritz]

I've been intrigued by this web site cycling.waymarkedtrails.org.  Not a lot of routes mapped in Greece though.  Looks like Eurovelo 8 goes down the west coast.  In some cases you can download GPX routes from the Waymarked Trails web site.  I then feed the GPX file into www.gpsvisualizer.com to generate a route profile.  Let me know if you want any help with these steps.

If you want to plan your own route you can lay it out on Google Maps then copy a link to that map and run it through GPS Visualizer's profile utility by pasting the link in the data entry field labeled "Or provide the URL of data on the Web:".  This is how I planned our route through Europe last spring.

Good luck,

Tom Moritz

[42n8]

Hello,

I'm curious about how your trip turned out Bobbiedobbs.  I'm planning a tour beginning in Athens and heading north along the coast to Venice this April, 2014.   Any thing you could share would be much appreciated!

Nate

[cyclolook]

Hi Nate, i,m a  greek cyclist familiar with the greek west coast route, which is the obvious choice in relation with your planned itinerary. Please feel free to contact me about anything that might be helpful for your planning. Regards, kostas

[42n8]

Hello Kostas,

Thanks for your response!  At the moment I'm trying to decide whether to ride north from Athens along the eastern coast and eventually cutting in toward Macedonia.  OR to head west out of Athens and ride the southern coast of the Gulf of Corinth.  From there I would continue north along the coast or take a ferry from Prata for some island hopping.  I'd appreciate any thoughts,

Nate

[cyclolook]

Hi Nate, well i'd say that the west coast route in not only much better landscape wise, but also more bike friendly as you can easily navigate yourself on secondary, low traffic roads. You are right in choosing the south part of the Corinth gulf, as this is a mostly flat route as far as Patras. You can cross the gulf by ferry or (better) by the side of the spectacular bridge. The route along the north side is propably more spectacular, but on the steep side at least in some parts. As for the island hoping in the Ionian sea, it is well recomended. All islands are nice (Corfu, kefalonia, zakinthos)  but Lefkada can be reached on the bike (no ferry needed). Ionian beaches are among the best in the country. The Ipeiros region further north, is mountainous and of outstanding beauty, with villages in the Zagori area, north of Ioannina, renowed for their unique architecture and stone buildings. --Kostas