Day 1 Cycling Athens to Milos Camping in Evia (Greece)

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On the 4th June 2025, I cycled from Athens to Milos Camping in Evia as part of my Cycling Everywhere bike tour.

My loaded Thorn Nomad touring bike on day one of my Cycling Everywhere bicycle tour (starting in Athens, Greece)

🚴 59.0 km (36.6 mi)
⏱️ 5h 24m (moving: 3h 50m)
⬆️ 667m (2187ft)
⬇️ 848m (2782ft)

The Route from Athens to Milos Camping in Evia

(Wednesday 4th June 2025, Greece)

First day of the Cycling Everywhere bike tour, so a reasonably easy day in order to get used to cycling with weight once more.

It’s always a bit of an issue cycling out of a major city, especially one as cycle-unfriendly as Athens! Still, I had a route planned that took me away from the worst of the traffic, and an early-ish start saw me avoid heavier traffic later.

Ideally, I would have left early on a Sunday morning (and I recommend that to anyone thinking to ride a bike out of Athens), but after living in Greece for so long, I was more used to the traffic, and didn’t want to wait the extra days.

The aim of the day’s ride was to keep it simple, do a short day, and end up in a camp ground I had previously stayed at. This would act as a kind of shakedown day to make sure the bike was fine, baggage balanced, and all kit doing what it was supposed to!

Download the GPX file for this route from Komoot

Photos

Cyclist standing with a loaded yellow touring bicycle on a roadside among olive trees in the Greek countryside

First selfie of the tour — standing with my loaded bike among the olive groves of Evia, still getting used to the weight on day one.

A large red ferry docked at a Greek port with mountains visible across the calm blue water

The ferry at Nea Palatia that took me across to Evia — the first water crossing of many on this bike tour.

A yellow touring bicycle loaded with panniers parked on the deck of a ferry, with mooring ropes and sea visible through an opening

My bike secured on the ferry deck for the crossing to Evia. All the gear I'd need for the months ahead.

The campground was a short cycle ride from the ferry port I arrived at on Evia island
Once over on Evia, I cycled a short distance to Milos Camping, and set up the tent.

All in all a pretty successful day’s ride for day 1 with no issues to report – uneventful can be fine sometimes! Evening meal was couscous with cucumber, tomato and tuna. Lovely!

Cous Cous is one of my go-to bikepacking meals when on a bicycle tour

A note on weather: It was 30 degrees during the day, and things are warming up in Greece. At night, I didn’t even need to use my sleeping bag!

Also read:

Dave Briggs cycling from Athens to Nordkapp to Lisbon– Dave Briggs
Dave is a long-distance cyclist and travel writer from the UK who has been living in Athens, Greece since 2015. In 2025, Dave set off on an epic cycling adventure from Athens, Greece to the North Cape in Norway, and then south through Scandinavia and Europe to Tarifa in Spain before finishing in Lisbon, Portugal. Follow Dave on social media for travel inspiration from Greece and beyond:

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