Discover Crete on a Touring Bicycle

To get into the right mood first of all a nice picture and some greek music ...

We start in Heraklion, ride to the south coast to Mirtos, through the mountains to Ierapetra and then on to Sitia at the north-east shore. Then we ride through Palekastro to Zakros and Xerokampo on the east coast , after which it goes back to the south coast . We follow it heading westwards with a sidetrip to Matala. From here we continue to Chora Sfakia. Two ferries bring us from here to Agia Roumeli and at least to Paleochora. It follows the journey up to and through the mountains to the small mountain village Kefali and from there to Kissamos on the west coast. Finally we ride along the north coast to Chania. At the very last day before our return home we again make a trip to the mountains south of Chania, and bach trhough the gorge of Theriso.

The next day we fly home from Chania.

We have chosen our route to see most of the island within the time we had for this. Whenever possible we took small and low-traffic roads in the inland which we prefer.

This results in a really strenuous but, from our point of view, interesting and very rewarding route.

We're all getting older, and we just wanted to know if we can still make something like this. And we thought that it is always a good thing to break the usual daily grind ... even as a pensioner.

Therese intensively studied the book "Kreta per Rad", and the map 1:100 '000 (both can be found on page Facts) and then put together an itinerary. Since we had no idea how good we would be able to climb onto the numerous mountains, her planned route ended in Paleochora. With the laptop computer carried along, the program Garmin Mapsource and the excellent map of Greece that can be downloaded from kowoma it was then a breeze to create the ongoing planning based on our available time on the go.

The equipment for such a travel is no problem for us (see Equipment), and we very good touring bicycles too. At first we were a little hesitant whether we should take our tent with us - but have finally left it at home. This decision was perfect - we would never have needed it anyway (more about food and accommodation can be found on page Facts).

And anybody who wants to do something like this also: A little bit of training in advance can not hurt ...

We found cycling on Crete in spring really good and very beautiful.

Crete is way less crowded by cyclists and motorists than other, more well-known destinations. To enjoy cycling here, however, you should have a good level of fitness and stamina. Most of the small mountain roads are in very good condition, and they have very little to no traffic at all. So one can hear over long distances only the birds and the wind in the olive trees. In the spring - the best time for cyclists is from mid March to late April - you also experience an incredible view of glowing flowers. The small roads in the mountains, however, can be quite steep in sections. A decent condition, a tiny smallest gear and good brakes are a must. The Cretans drive very considerate. Unfortunately this is not always true for many tourists in rental cars.

As a training ground for racers or triathletes we find especially the southern coast of Crete ideal. One can find right from from the coast really demanding routes into and through the mountains. And some of the nearly or completely deserted beaches we found just amazing.

Our hosts for accommodation and meals were all very friendly and eager to serve all the needs of their guests. The rooms were clean, big, most of them with a balcony and all with a great view. And we really do not know a lot of countries where you can get a snack or even an entire meal at almost any time of the day. This actually applies to all the taverns, which are also available in small villages. The meals were always freshly prepared with local goods, and they were - contrary to other information in some travel guides - always served hot.

We recommend
Go there just now! In a few years it could be too late.

Crete needs tourists who want to discover the beauty of the island and are also prepared to pay the very reasonable prices in small hotels and restaurants.

As cyclist one should deny as far as any possible the very densely populated and completely blighted by mass tourism stretches at the north coast. They are not attractive, the traffic there is very tight and fast. Not all tourists look really on the road when driving on it making riding dangerous and not very funny in these areas.

There are severe concerns today by some young Greeks we've talked with. They think that that the big flat-rate tourism industry with its cheap products will occupy and destroy the really beautiful southern coast with their huge hotels and destroy it completely too in a short time future.
However, there's no benefit coming out of this for anybody, not for the population of Crete nor for Greek as a whole.