Greece: Ride of the Gods

Ten nights in a loop from Athens, taking in the Peloponnese, the old national road and Mount Olympus. Bikes are rented in Athens.

Athens starts it with the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and Hadrian’s Library below them, then the route runs west and crosses the Corinth Canal, which is cut eighty metres deep through six kilometres of solid rock to join the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf, and is narrow enough that ships have to be towed through it. There is an optional bungee jump from the bridge for anyone so inclined.

Nafplion follows, then the mountains to the Gulf of Corinth, and the theatre at Epidavros, built more than two thousand years ago and seating close to twelve thousand, where the acoustics are precise enough that a whisper on stage carries to the back row.

The Old National Road comes next, which was the main route through Greece before the motorways and is now a quiet, technical and consistently rewarding alternative favoured by local riders. The route then runs east through central Greece past Olympus, the highest mountain in the country at around three thousand metres and the mythical home of the twelve gods, with the coastal city of Volos beyond it, before the return to Athens on the old road. The price is quoted per rider. Greek roads are better than their reputation and almost empty outside the holiday weeks, and ten nights covers the mainland without a ferry in sight. Spring and autumn are the seasons for it, since July and August in the Peloponnese make a full day in riding gear a test of character rather than a pleasure.