I thought it worth explaining some of the process of Greek island travel to those who haven’t been. For fairly obvious reasons it involves ferries, especially if you’re taking a bike with you. You can rent decent bikes on the bigger islands, including Crete, Naxos, Andros etc. I won’t put up links to rental companies because they, and the bikes, change a lot. Links would expire for too many. Just search and you’ll find.
One issue with a rented bike is that they don’t, generally, like you taking it to other islands so if you want to island hop, your own bike really is best.
You can ride all the way there or, you can get your bike transported, various companies do it, I used https://www.overlanders.ie/
And they are excellent.
If your ideal bike trip involves 500 miles a day and mileage is your sole criteria of trip quality then I’d forget an island trip, mileages tend to be low, time is taken up on ferries and roads and tracks on islands are often small and quite slow.
Athens is the normal starting point for a lot of islands and it has two main ports: Piraeus and Rafina. Piraeus is big, busy, congested and I wouldn’t leave my bike for long in the street, certainly not over night. Rafina is a much nicer place and a lot safer so bike friendly accommodation is easier to find. Which port you use is also dependent on where you’re heading, not all ferries go from both ports. A good site for planning a trip and ferry options is https://www.ferryhopper.com/
Worth checking the detail because the schedules don’t always follow logic and you probably don’t want to head down a one way street, no return ferry for a week when you only wanted two days. Schedules also change in the spring, normally mid May and the May timetables can be released quite late. You can, though, assume that the new timetable will have more trips than the winter one.
For the Small Cyclades there is a ferry called the Skopelitis that runs round them all, other companies occasionally visit but it provides the main lifeline http://www.smallcycladeslines.gr/en/routes-times/
It is very small and if you want to book a vehicle you have to go via one of their agents, eg the Naxos one https://zasferries.com/
Links are on their own website.
In ports, generally arrive an hour before your ferry, longer for Piraeus due to the volume of ferries and traffic. You will find, eg at Rafina or Naxos that there aren’t nicely set out queues with names on them. Generally you ride into the port, look for a ferry with the right company name, check your ticket for the vessel name then approach and there should be a sign on the stern showing the route. Then hang around near the ramp until someone whistles you on. It can all seem a bit random but it works. If you head where you’re not supposed to, you’ll hear a whistle.
The ferry staff will tie your bike down, the scale of it depends on the sea state. I’ve not had any problems.
I also leave my helmet on the bike, I do the chin strap round a strap on the seat then loop a wire with padlock through the jaw piece. Saves carrying it around on the ferry. Greeks just hook them over the mirror and leave them.
I think it’s a great area to travel around and having a bike let’s you explore corners of islands you might not otherwise find, you can go down every little track you fancy just to see what’s down there. Given that some of the roads on the smaller islands are quite basic I personally think a smaller bike is easier but anything will work if you’re determined. The ferry crew are generally friendly and helpful to bikers, especially foreigners.
One issue with a rented bike is that they don’t, generally, like you taking it to other islands so if you want to island hop, your own bike really is best.
You can ride all the way there or, you can get your bike transported, various companies do it, I used https://www.overlanders.ie/
And they are excellent.
If your ideal bike trip involves 500 miles a day and mileage is your sole criteria of trip quality then I’d forget an island trip, mileages tend to be low, time is taken up on ferries and roads and tracks on islands are often small and quite slow.
Athens is the normal starting point for a lot of islands and it has two main ports: Piraeus and Rafina. Piraeus is big, busy, congested and I wouldn’t leave my bike for long in the street, certainly not over night. Rafina is a much nicer place and a lot safer so bike friendly accommodation is easier to find. Which port you use is also dependent on where you’re heading, not all ferries go from both ports. A good site for planning a trip and ferry options is https://www.ferryhopper.com/
Worth checking the detail because the schedules don’t always follow logic and you probably don’t want to head down a one way street, no return ferry for a week when you only wanted two days. Schedules also change in the spring, normally mid May and the May timetables can be released quite late. You can, though, assume that the new timetable will have more trips than the winter one.
For the Small Cyclades there is a ferry called the Skopelitis that runs round them all, other companies occasionally visit but it provides the main lifeline http://www.smallcycladeslines.gr/en/routes-times/
It is very small and if you want to book a vehicle you have to go via one of their agents, eg the Naxos one https://zasferries.com/
Links are on their own website.
In ports, generally arrive an hour before your ferry, longer for Piraeus due to the volume of ferries and traffic. You will find, eg at Rafina or Naxos that there aren’t nicely set out queues with names on them. Generally you ride into the port, look for a ferry with the right company name, check your ticket for the vessel name then approach and there should be a sign on the stern showing the route. Then hang around near the ramp until someone whistles you on. It can all seem a bit random but it works. If you head where you’re not supposed to, you’ll hear a whistle.
The ferry staff will tie your bike down, the scale of it depends on the sea state. I’ve not had any problems.
I also leave my helmet on the bike, I do the chin strap round a strap on the seat then loop a wire with padlock through the jaw piece. Saves carrying it around on the ferry. Greeks just hook them over the mirror and leave them.
I think it’s a great area to travel around and having a bike let’s you explore corners of islands you might not otherwise find, you can go down every little track you fancy just to see what’s down there. Given that some of the roads on the smaller islands are quite basic I personally think a smaller bike is easier but anything will work if you’re determined. The ferry crew are generally friendly and helpful to bikers, especially foreigners.
