Cycling & Sailing in Greece

In October 2020, me and my wife Rachel were asked by a friend if we would make up the numbers to go on a cycling trip to Greece. ‘No,’ was my curt reply. I’d taken a bike to Greece in 2000, when we went on one of those all-inclusive family holidays that were popular back then. My wife had a great time, sailing and water-skiing, happy that the children were being kept occupied in various clubs. Meanwhile, I went out on my bike every day because I was in full-training mode. But because the roads were terrible, I was forced to ride up and down the same strip of tarmac every day, trying hard to avoid the potholes and the semi-rabid dog, which chased me each time it saw me.?

However, our friend persisted and eventually we decided to make the trip to Greece at the end of October 2020. I changed my mind because I thought it would be nice to go somewhere after the lockdown, even if the cycling was likely to be disappointing. Much to my surprise, the cycling was actually brilliant.??We spent eight days cycling around the Peloponnese on fantastic roads (EU money seems to have been well-spent), devoid of almost all traffic. We stayed in beautiful locations and ate superb food. Overall, the cycling was as good as in any other place I have ever ridden.?

It's not too surprising then that I wanted to go back again. The problem is that most British cyclists seem wedded to the idea of going to well-pedalled cycling-hotspots like Mallorca or Girona. Greece? Nobody goes there to ride a bike, right? Well, that’s not entirely true. For instance, cycling legend Mark Cavendish spent time training there before the 2021 Tour de France, in which he won four stages to take his total to 34 – equal with the great Eddy Merckx. If it is good enough for Cav, it should be good enough for anyone. Despite that, I have struggled to get enough people interested to make the return trip to Greece possible.

But opportunity did knock in September last year, when I received a call from Alexandros Zontas, who runs?www.grcycling.com. Did I want to take part in a test event combining cycling and sailing at the end of October, he asked? The idea was that we would mainly ride from point to point along the Peloponnese coast, with the boats sailing on to our next port (or beach) of call. This time there was no hesitation and I replied ‘yes’ immediately.?

Alexandros provided a steady stream of information before we flew to Athens on Friday, October 28. We would, he told us, be staying on a catamaran and in total there would be 30 of us of mixed nationalities (British, Irish, Italians, Belgians, Americans, South Africans and even Greeks) and cycling abilities. This last point worried me a little, but Alexandros stressed that eBikes would be available for those who did not consider themselves as cyclists. He reassured me everything would be fine and that I would be surprised how well it would all work out.?

After dinner with the rest of the group on the Friday night, we were picked up and taken to www.grcycling.com’s headquarters near Limenas, south-east of Athens. Most of the group had rented bikes, which Alexandros’ team made sure were a good fit. Around half were on eBikes, and they didn’t really look like cyclists to me.?

Because of a strong wind, Alexandros said there was a change of plans. Saturday would now be a ‘transition day’ and we would cycle broadly south down through Attica, and away from Athens to Laurium. There, four catamarans were waiting for us, but rather than sailing across the Saronic Gulf, we would stay on the boats overnight and leave for Poros in the morning. And with that, our motley bunch of 30 kind of cyclists set off on the first day of our adventure.?

What was incredible from the moment we started was how considerate the Greek drivers were. It’s fair to say that we did not form the most orderly of pelotons. In fact, we were all over the road. In the UK, this would have undoubtedly led to a few bouts of road rage between car drivers and cyclists. But not in Greece – and that was how it remained for the rest of the tour.?

When we arrived at Laurium, we found the boat we were staying on and then checked out our cabin. This was a shock. In my naivety, I had not realised just how small cabins are on catamarans. It was clear we had brought far too much luggage in the wrong type of bags. This was a problem as it gave us even less room not to swing the proverbial cat. Rachel summed it up succinctly. “This is basically caravanning on water,” she said. We agreed that we weren’t taken with the sailing bit of the holiday.?

Our fears worsened the next day when we set sail for Poros. Of the eight guests on the boat, six of us were sick. Give me dry land and a hotel any day, I thought, not entirely to myself. But our spirits picked up as soon as we started that day’s ride. Various routes were available, with six of us opting for the 80km ride. The cycling was as good as I had remembered and after looking at Spetses, which unfortunately we didn’t have time to go over to, we stopped in a beautiful coastal town called Ermioni for the evening. Dinner, like most nights, was in a local taverna, followed by a few glasses of wine back onboard the catamaran.???

The next day was the longest we rode (116km), with a fair amount of climbing and some stunning views. Once again, we split into different groups, with some opting for a short ride before getting back on the boats and sailing to our next stop near Paralio Astros. Here, the boats moored just off the beach and dinner was a barbeque followed by more wine on the boat. I was really looking forward to the next day’s route, as we were headed to Leonidio, which was possibly my favourite stop the last time we had cycled in the Peloponnese.?

I’m not the only person who thinks Leonidio and the Peloponnese is a magical place. At the end of August 2022, Yotam Ottolenghi posted on his Instagram feed: “Ten days in the Peloponnese, near Leonidio. Loved everything at @myrtoon, Greek salad and ‘traditional Greek pasta’ (orzo and prawns in a deep buttery stock sauce) in particular.”

We followed a beautiful coastal route, went up a completely superfluous climb out of Leonidio, before meeting up with the catamarans in the town’s old port. Dinner that night was in Myrtoon, the restaurant that Yotam Ottolenghi has been raving about. But we already knew it would be good as we also ate there back in 2020. Then, we were the only guests, separated in groups of six because of the Covid rules. This time, it was heaving and all 30 of us sat on the same table. The food, wine and atmosphere were brilliant.??

The next morning, Alexandros announced that there had been another slight change of plan because the boats were on a tight schedule to get back to their home port. He requested that we all stuck together for the first part of the ride, a 35km climb to a hillside village called Kosmas. Those doing the short ride then turned around and got back on the boat to sail to Fokiano. Those who wanted to continued for another 70km.?

Day six was comparatively short as far as the cycling was concerned, mainly along an idyllic coast road to Kyparrisi. It was hard to accept that our adventure was almost over, but some more magic was to follow. The following morning, we set sail back towards Laurium. On the way, we stopped at Hydra, the island made famous in the 1960s by Leonard Cohen. In the hight of the summer it’s almost impossible to get moored in the harbour, but in the first week of November, it’s easy. And it really is a beautiful island – no wonder that Laughing Lennie found it so inspirational. After breakfast, we headed across the Saronic Gulf to where we had started from, and then got on our bikes and pedalled the 80km back to www.grcycling.com’s base.?

So what did I conclude from this latest trip? Firstly, that Greece is really one of the best places to go for a cycling holiday. Second, that it is great to meet people from other countries; language is really not an impediment when you’re on a bike. Thirdly, I would go on a combined cycling and sailing holiday again, despite my initial reservations, but next time I would take a sensible amount of luggage in the right bags.?

And finally, that eBikes are a great leveller. Everyone on this trip enjoyed cycling, whether they did the longer or shorter routes. I can’t wait to go back and if I can’t get a big enough group of mates, I’m hoping that Alexandros will ask me to go and test another event for him.

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