road trips to experience

Wherever you're flying from in France, Belgium or Switzerland, it will take you much less time to get to Athens by plane than it does to drive down to the south of France or the north of Italy or Spain by car or motorcycle.

Quite an advantage when you've only got one or two weeks ahead of you and don't want to sacrifice any of it driving down and back up on saturated, expensive and boring freeways.

With an afternoon or evening flight, you can dine in the Hellenic capital with a magnificent view of the Acropolis and Parthenon, or on the shores of the Saronic Gulf. 

In season, there are direct return flights from almost everywhere for a few hundred euros.

And yes! Knowing that a kilometer on a motorcycle counts double or triple, getting off with your personal motorcycle to ride in Greece is not a matter of course.

It takes at least two days on the freeway to reach Ancona, arriving exhausted and in a bad mood, as freeway driving in Italy is no picnic.

Then there's the long ferry crossing from Ancona or Venice. And if you're tempted to do it all by road via the Balkans, you won't get away without taking a number of expressways and freeways.

No, the best way to ride in Greece is to fly and rent a motorcycle there.

 At the same time, distance also means a change of scenery. It's often because it's far away that it's interesting! Greece may be in Europe, but its language and alphabet are very different from ours. 

What are you looking for when you travel by motorcycle on vacation? First and foremost, of course, beautiful roads, so that you can enjoy yourself and take in the sights! What you're looking for are sweeping curves to open up the throttle on, cornering to take the edge off, beautiful landscapes and picturesque villages, nice taverns and bars to take a break, and so on and so forth.

In Greece, you'll have it all: long ribbon roads winding along the seashore, small winding roads in the mountains, or lost lanes at the bottom of valleys.

The potential and diversity for motorcycling here is quite simply exceptional, and easily compares with France, but with much less traffic and therefore less danger.

In Greece, from May to October, the sky is always blue, or almost!

Average temperatures are ideal for motorcycling, except in July and August, when they can be uncomfortable if you're not used to riding in the heat.

Apart from July-August, you'll have between 20 and 30 degrees from April to mid-November. As for rain, apart from the odd passing shower or thunderstorm, it hardly rains in Greece between April and November.

What better way to ride a motorcycle?

In Greece, between the sky and the sea, there's the mountain!

Contrary to popular belief, mainland Greece is a hilly, mountainous country, with extensive pine and deciduous forests, olive groves, vineyards, fruit orchards and much more.

And since winter is often rainy, nature comes out green when spring arrives, and often stays that way until midsummer, when everything becomes drier (except when it burns, of course).

As a result, you never get the feeling that you're driving through a desert in Greece.

And the sea, which is never far away, always adds the marine touch that is a must for any trip to Greece.

Whether in the mountains or by the sea, Greece rarely leaves the eye indifferent.

More than two-thirds of the territory is mountainous, making Greece one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, while at the same time the sea is never more than a hundred kilometers away, often much less.

It's this combination that makes Greece a bit like the sea in the mountains...or the other way around, with superb landscapes and breathtaking panoramas everywhere.

The Greek mainland boasts some of the deepest canyons in Europe, such as the Vikos Gorge, as well as numerous geological sights such as Meteora. Our motorcycle road trip Escape to Northern Greece is dedicated to this part of Greece.

Greece is also particularly well placed when it comes to preserving natural sites and biodiversity. The country boasts almost 450 Natura 2000 areas, as well as a dozen national parks and as many marine reserves, covering around 30% of its territory.

In short, motorcycling in Greece promises a change of scenery and a daily sense of wonder that few countries can offer on this scale.

You don't choose Greece just for motorcycling, but also to discover a country that has more to offer than its roads and panoramas.

With no less than four empires (Macedonian, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman) occupying its territory between antiquity and the 19th century, Greece has inherited countless vestiges and monuments from its rich and eventful history.

With 19 Unesco World Heritage sites, and a further 14 awaiting classification, Greece is one of Europe's leading nations.

Among the most famous sites are the sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus, the archaeological sites of Olympia and Delphi, the medieval site of Mystras, the Acropolis in Athens, the monasteries of Meteora, Mount Athos and more.

While many of them draw their inspiration from ancient Greece, the cradle of European civilization, the medieval heritage is also very rich.

For those interested in heritage, whether cultural or natural, Greece is a must, and you'll be spoilt for choice as Greece has no shortage of major sites to visit or interesting places to discover!

Simple, tasty cuisine, fresh, aromatic wines, terrace dining and the conviviality of a shared gastronomy: Greece is a country where the table is worth eating at!

In addition to bread, olive oil and wine, products with which Greek gastronomy is spontaneously associated, there are over a hundred protected specialties in Greece, which ranks in the top 5 in Europe, behind France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

On the wine front, Greece has also made enormous progress since joining the European Union in 1981.

Mainly located in Macedonia, Thessaly and the Peloponnese, as well as Crete and a few islands such as Santorini, Samos and Kefalonia, Greek vineyards produce excellent wines - red, white and rosé, still or sparkling, dry or sweet. 

When you come to ride in Greece, you won't have to compromise with your plate or your glass!

With some 30 million tourists a year, Greece has developed an unrivalled accommodation offering in the Balkans, in line with European Union standards.

While the best establishments are concentrated on the islands, especially the Cyclades, comfortable and pleasant accommodation can be found just about anywhere, and it's possible to find some real nuggets in the less-visited areas of mainland Greece or the Peloponnese.

In Greece, it's possible to find accommodation and food, in excellent conditions and without depriving oneself, for a daily budget of one hundred euros per person.

For an extraordinary experience, you'll have to pay more, of course, but it's nothing like France, Italy, Spain or even Portugal.

With the exception of the Cyclades and a few Saronic islands in high season, Greece is a very affordable country where you can enjoy a quality tourist experience on a reasonable budget.

If you're looking for a change of scenery, but still want to travel in comfort and style, Greece is unrivalled in Southern Europe.

Although the Greek language and alphabet don't always make it easy to get in touch with the locals, English is now widely spoken where there's tourism, which is just about everywhere in Greece. So communicating with Greeks is far from impossible.

And so much the better, for these welcoming, smiling people love nothing more than to share and discover the country they have fought so hard to conquer, and of which they are proud.

If you don't decide to go to Greece simply for the Greeks, you don't go in spite of them either, as is sometimes the case elsewhere...

One more reason to choose Greece!

Of course, you can make your own way to Greece and organize your own trip.

But to live an extraordinary experience in Greece, you need to know some incredible addresses, to have selected accommodation unlike any other, to know exactly where to go and not by chance, to have spotted some incredible routes giving access to spectacular panoramas or mysterious sites, and to offer an exceptional human and tourist experience. That's the whole point of of working with a professional motorcycle tour operator .

At Hellenic Rides, we specialize in motorcycle road trips in Greeceand that's why we can organize a trip you won't forget...