Has anyone tried a group cycling excursion in Greece? Our 20th wedding anniversary is in the summer of 2011 and I was looking at a week long cycling excursion for hubby and me. Backroads has one in Crete, but I don't think the dates would work. I'm guessing July and August would be too hot. My husband is an avid cyclist and I can handle 20 miles per day, but would also like good food/beaches. I've found some via internet searches but would rather get an opinion from someone who has actually done one. Thanks.

It's difficult to find cycling in Greece because fully 75% of the terrain -- mainland AND islands -- is mountainous. Most islands are really "drowned Mountains". and summer in Greece is an Awful time to go up 45° grades with a huge load on your saddlebags. I've seen cyclists in a number of islands and they did NOT look happy.... and that was in May! Why pick a place where cycling is so arduous? Have you thought about someplace like the Loire Valley in France?? You can get about 8 miles to the gallon (of wine)... and castles galore. You & your husband need to have a talk. Or a negotiation. How a bout you go to an island like Naxos, and you can cycle back and forth from the Port to all the nice beaches, on the fringes of the island where it's nice and flat. Then YOU can lie on the beaches, and linger in the tavernas having great lunches... while Mr. Masochist can bicycle up the mountain roads. Meet me for dinner, you can say, and tell me all about it!

Thanks for the advice. We'd like to go to Greece because it's one place neither of us has been. I'll keep in mind the summer temperatures and mountainous terrain.

I have to jump in with jan, Greece in July or August is too hot, and the mountains and then the food.

I might have a look at Cyprus the mountain range is more reasonable and with a good mountain bike you can get to some interesting places. Corfu gets too busy and is tiny, Rhodes, nah. Not been to Crete

Hi Kathysa, Congrats on your anniversary! I don't know that much about this company but take a look at

http://www.experienceplus.com/

They have two options for Greece cycling trips. One is an island trip where you actually are staying on a small sailing yacht and stopping at different islands to visit and cycle. The other is on the mainland. Both sound great and there are different options as far as dates. One plus is that the island tour mentions that if the winds are really up, they change the tour to go to some of the other islands. The Cyclades can be extremely windy sometimes in the summer, and at other summers not so bad.

Eurocycle had a couple Greece tours and here is another link that lists a lot of options.

http://www.infohub.com/travel_packag...reece_197.html

Please let us know what you decide. I'm very interested. I love cycling and hiking.

I cycle but have not done a tour. However, in Croatia I had a long chat with a couple who were doing a Vermont Bike Tour, which despite the name operates tours worldwide. It was not their first trip with the company, and they were a well off couple who could spend the money any way (it appeared to me). Anyway, they do not offer a Greece tour (probably for the terrain reasons mentioned above), but you might check out their other options at http://www.vbt.com/.
and congrats!

There are all sorts of way to get around Greece. I prefer the ferry, but there is even a company that offers swims between the Cyclades Islands: http://www.swimtrek.com/Home/Package...ls?pkcode=Gree. For you, I think the best solution would be to base yourself on one or two islands that have gentle terrain (Paros and Antiparos would be good choices) and take day trips from your hotel.

I meant, of course, cycling trips from your hotel. There are places on the islands where you can rent mountain bikes, but you may have to look around to find ones that have been well maintained.

As a small aside, I hope no one is actually cycling up a 45 degree slope. In cycling, a 15 degree slope is considered extremely difficult. Sorry for the interuption.

Kathysa--I was just looking at the Backroads tours for Greece! I was SO excited they added it this year. That location is on my "list". I want to go in late April or early May (heat) but my available dates don't match.

Yet.

I don't know if you've done Backroads before. If you haven't, you should know two things: they'll find a way to give a short/medium/hard version of every day, and they'll figure out how to maximized the view and minimize traffic.

They're really good at accomodating just about everyone. We did a Provence trip this past summer in 95+ heat plus mistral that was about the same trip rating/daily elevation gain as this Greece trip (yep, this is a pretty hilly trip). On the Provence one, lots of individuals just could not do every day of biking on full tilt while others looked for more, so the guides know how to tweak the trip so that one spouse can shop, do pool time, wine/beer time while the other powers up hills happily.

I tend to do some days short, some days medium, some days long. And I have been injured on two trips and have just had to take a day off. No matter what, good time had by all.

That's enough info for now. Let me know if you have any questions about the group trips. We've done VBT, Bike Vermont (similar name, different company), DuVine, Backroads and a few that are out of business now We've also done quite a few under our own steam, too.

Thanks for all the great advice. The Experience Plus biking/cruising sounds perfect so I'm gathering more info on that. Good to know the extra details about the Backroads rides. They have a good reputation but we've never done one. I also completely forgot about Vermont Bike Tour. I'll get online and do some research. Thanks.

Check out the journals on crazyguuyonabike.com and see if anyone has toured Greece. Probably not any organized tours described, but you will get other relevant info.

colduphere,
A 15º slope is about 27% grade, ie 27 feet climb for every 100 feet forward !!
I suspect you meant a "15% grade".
Tough enough.
A typical recreational cyclist could not go 100 meters up a 15% grade.

Hi tom_h,

Thanks for your explanation of the difference between degrees slope and percentage grade. It all makes perfect sense when you think about it, but I'll have to confess it didn't occur to me either. I just did a quick Google on the <i>Tour de France</i>, and saw that the max gradient of the steepest mountain stages was around 10%.

There was a grade of 15% - 18% in one part of the tour two or three years ago. They were dropping like flies.

Of course you're right Tom. I must have been exhausted from climbing the steepest grade around here - 11%. And it gets steeper every year.

What about <i>Muur van Geraardsbergen</i> in Belgium -- max gradient 19.8%, and cobblestones too!

Thanks Heimdall, I'll make sure to miss that one.

I wish I could find the hill I am talking about. Short stretch just after a French town in the last week of the tour. Seems to me it was the year Landis won (2006). Guys were standing up and barely moving. Can't find it on the Tour websites. It may have been too short to mention.

We're narrowing it down and are now looking at the Vermont Bike Tour Tuscany by the Sea. We pretty much have to take a trip like this in July or August due to getting our kids to grandparents house while school is out for the summer. I'd like to stay coastal. AlessandraZoe, what did you think of VBT? Anyone else have advice on this company or specifically this tour?
Thanks.

Kathysa, that trip sounds awesome!

We did VBT "Tucscany by the Sea" in March 2006. At that time, their last trip of the season ended in June or earlier because of the heat. So that would be my reservation--you might have a problem with the temperature. However, these trips are fully van supported, and if you need to poop out, FINE! There are pools at both places.

I think the itinerary is much the same as when we did it--I looked at everything again. They say "Easy to Moderate" and there's a few days of "Climb miles up to hilltown" that can grab you. But you'll be OK.

As with all bike companies, the rooms you can get vary--You are staying at small places with rooms that are palaces down to rooms that are cells. Same with all companies. The companies try to balance out the rooms throughout the trip.

At Tenuta La Parrina, our rooms were rather dark. No terrace. Across the hall, all was lovely. Everyone's electricity kept going out there, but I'm sure it was the fact that in March, the heat demand while having hot water and hair dryer demand put everything on tilt. I'm pretty sure the place has made some changes in a few years too!

Our food at this place was GREAT. Endless wine, I swear. Sheep yogurt at breakfast--really great!

The next agritourissmo on this trip was a bit bare bones in accomodation but was also NEWER. The food was fancier but in a way, not as much fun. The guides took us to a local pizza place on that segment where we all had fun, and our last meal of the trip in some hill town was to die for.

I would say that the pattern on this trip, though, was one that we later laughed at. If you are good bikers, you would arrive climbing a steep hill at some time where EVERYTHING was closed. Either it would be too early for lunch or too much after lunch for any cafe. I was always behind so it wasn't a problem for me

I'm being very frank in my critique, but I hope it comes across that we had a good time here. I think VBT is a TREMENDOUS value. We've done two trips with them and would do them again. We have been Backroads enthusiasts forever, but there is a $$$ factor with Backroads that doesn't pay off all the time, and the crossover of their accomodations with Butterfield and Robbins (even more $$$$)tells us that's about as high maintenance as we're willing to go.

The clients who really get the deal with VBT are those who take the air packages (although quite often that means multi legs), and some of the offered extensions practically pay for themselves. We have done neither because we usually must shop bike trips by DATES because our family members are coming from and going to multi directions.

Feel free to ask more questions.