It's all a bit last minute, but I'm finally planning a one week cycle tour in Greece! Due to a shortage of time, I've only had a day to come up with this route. Here's what I've got so far.
Planning a One Week Cycle Tour in Greece
I've been trying to put together a one week cycle tour in Greece for a while now, but to say that this year has been crazy on the travel front is an understatement.
I've just worked out that between May and August, I've travelled through Portugal, been hiking in Nepal, visited the Greek island of Patmos, cycled from the River Danube to Lake Constance in Germany, and spent two weeks on the Greek islands of Schoinousa and Iraklia. I've certainly achieved my travel goals for the year!
As I needed to catch up on work (to pay those travel bills!), it didn't look like I could start a bike tour until the autumn. Somehow though, I've found a 7 day gap in my schedule starting on the 17th of August, so I'm just going to go for it!
Now, I know that this is not the best time of year to visit Greece, and something I encourage other people to avoid. However, because I will be avoiding the traditional coastal tourist haunts in Greece, it should be ok.
How To Plan A Bike Tour Video
Where to cycle in Greece
Just in case you didn't know, I currently live in Athens, Greece. So this bike tour is planned to basically start and finish from my doorstep. Last year, when I cycled from Greece to England, I covered the route to Corinth and beyond. As I didn't want to go over old ground, this time I've decided to head north instead.
The route is going to form a loop, and along the way, I want to check out some of the best places in Greece for archaeology and history. Key points will include:
- Marathon (various archaeological spaces)
- Thebes
- Thermopylae
- Delphi
- Ancient Athens (on the way back)
Credit Card Bike Touring
Normally, I take a lot of bicycle touring gear when I venture out on long distance cycling trips. I've decided to approach this trip a bit differently though.
Instead of carrying camping and cooking gear, I'm going to go as lightweight as possible, and stay at affordable hotels along the way. Rather than carrying two day's food at a time, I will simply carry enough until the next meal.
I weighed the gear that I will take with me, and it comes in at around 5kgs! There's definitely an appeal to this credit card bike touring lark! Here's a look at the bike touring gear I'm taking with me.
The Bike
For this trip, I am testing a new bike for Stanforth called the Skyelander. It's a 700c ‘classic' style touring bike, and ideal for the trip I have in mind. I've put a sneak peak of the bike below, but you can expect a full review of the Stanforth Skyelander after the trip.
If they don't need it back, it would also be great to keep hold of it until late September, as I am still determined to put together a 3 week Peloponnese cycle tour in the autumn!
Keeping you updated
The blog posts from the trip are likely to go live a month after I complete the cycle tour. The vlogs from the tour will probably be published a couple of weeks after it finishes. The best way to keep tabs on me on the road, is to follow my Facebook Page, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. I aim to put plenty of content and bike touring videos live each day as I cycle!
A 1 week cycling loop from Athens
Here's the rough routes I have come up with. Start and end points are the places I will be staying each night. Although I haven't booked the accommodation as I write this (it's my next job!), a quick scan has shown I can pick up rooms for around 30 Euros per night. That's all I have for you in this blog post. Please leave a comment underneath, and share this post with someone you think might be interested!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Related: Shakedown Bike Tour