From Sea To Sky offers challenging riding and breathtaking scenery when we literally ride from the sea to the sky. We pass cozy coastal villages on curvy asphalt roads and over high mountain ridges on exciting, and to say the least, airy gravel roads. Most of this tour we stay in the mountains at an altitude of 700-1700 meters, which gives us a comfortable riding temperature.
You should have some gravel experience to appreciate this tour. You absolutely do not need to be fast, but you do need to be a stable and safe rider with good control of your motorcycle. Above all, good brake, throttle and clutch control is absolutely essential along the winding and sometimes rocky gravel roads high on the mountain sides. If you are not sure that you have this knowledge, it is our strongest recommendation that you complete at least our Offroad Basic Rider Training before the tour. If you have been on our tours in Portugal or Iceland and felt comfortable, then Greece is an obvious next step and an exciting challenge for you!
Be prepared for long days on motorcycle as we move to new hotels every night. We are several tourguides on motorcycle, so we have the possibility to spilt into several groups according to prior skills and wishes. As usual during our tours, we always help each other through tougher challenges and get passed as a team. Our route partially (approx. 30%) follows Adventure Country Tracks (ACT) – Greece.
Photo on this page: Ann Cathrin Erga, Joachim Cruus, David Johansson
The roads in Greece vary from curvy asphalt roads along the coast to exciting gravel roads in the mountains. On dry road conditions, most of our basic route is relatively easy to ride, but loose stones and sometimes washed-out road sections make it all more interesting. A little rain makes it even more exciting!
Many of the routes we ride wind their way up and down along wonderful, airy mountain sides with fantastic views and a long way down to the ground, or the road below. You absolutely do not need to be fast, but you do need to be a stable and safe rider with good control of your motorcycle. Above all, good brake, throttle and clutch control is absolutely necessary. When needed, we split into to groups according to prior skills and wishes. The Advanced groups rides more challenging and slightly longer distances at a faster pace.
The first and last night we stay by the fantastic Gulf of Corinth outside Loutraki. We then move to new hotels of a good standard, with shower and toilet in the room, for the entire tour. Part of a twin room is included in the price and a single room can be booked at an additional cost (the price for this is stated in the booking
Breakfast, lunch and coffee are included on all riding days. There is always a good restaurant at the hotels or nearby where those who wish can eat together in the evening. Some evenings there are several restaurants to choose from. We usually eat lunch during riding days at a cozy local restaurant.
Click on each day for more information and photos
Our start/end hotel is located outside Loutraki, about 1 hour’s drive from Athens airport. Day 1 is set aside for arrival. We recommend that you arrive at the hotel no later than 16.00 for welcome meeting, information about the motorcycles and dinner.
This day, we will round a large part of the Gulf of Corinth before we start climbing “From Sea To Sky” during the afternoon. During the day, we also pass Delphi (which the ancient Greeks considered the centre of the world). For those of us who primarily want to ride motorcycles, Delfi also offers some world-class asphalt curves. During the late afternoon, it almost feels like we travelled back in time – at least when it comes to road maintenance. Here we also must watch out for cattle, gravel and stones on the road. After today’s approx. 350 km, we arrive in Ano Chora, where we stay at a nice family-owned hotel.
A day manly spent in the forest, along narrow, curvy and sometimes very exciting roads where you must watch what you’re doing! Even though we ride mostly in the forest, the roads climb along steep mountain walls with no room for error. Remember to always ride at your own pace and plan far ahead. If you want to look at the view or get tired, slow down or take a short stop. Watch out for rockslides, sharp rocks, and slippery areas where there is risk of skidding. Always be ready with two fingers on the clutch and at least one on the brake.
As these mountain roads are rarely used even by locals, we must be prepared to change our plans as roads may have been washed out, trees may have fallen over the road – even though our team rode the route as late as a week before.
Today’s 130 km doesn’t sound much, but the roads through this mountainous landscape always offer surprises. We get up to about 1 700 meters above sea level before it’s time to head down towards Karpenisi where the hotel for the night is located.
Time to get out of the forest and up into the mountains. We start with some nice stretches of asphalt that turn into gravel and climb up into the Agrafa Mountains. We follow the river Agrafiotis along exiting gravel roads and climb again up to a height of approx. 1 700 meters. Today, if possible, it is even more important to have control of your motorcycle as it is even steeper on the side of the road. The day offers magnificent views and ends at a SPA hotel by Lake Plastiras.
Another short day if you count in distance, about 160 km – but the challenges replace each other.
From Lake Plastiras, via Lake Kremaston to Lake Trihonida. The day, which offers approx. 250 km riding, begins with a shorter, but exciting, stretch of gravel that once again climbs up to 1 700 meters above sea level. Now we are in the heart of Greece and there are no straight roads. We steer south on a mixture of airy, almost overgrown, dirt roads and asphalt roads towards the beautiful turquoise blue lake Kremasta.
The night’s hotel has one of the best views of the tour – over Lake Trihonida.
To the sky! But we start today’s approx. 200 km by rolling down to the sea and crossing the beautiful Charilaos Trikoupis bridge (also called Rio-Antirrio) to the Peloponnese peninsula. As soon as we get over the bridge we start climbing. The roads are rocky in places so remember to relax, keep your vision far ahead and plan the best route. The reward after the rocky mountain roads is a wonderful view of the coastal city of Patras.
The day offers about 250 km of mixed gravel and asphalt roads. We start at a high altitude, make our way even higher to one of the ski resorts of the Peloponnese. Then continue through forests and agricultural landscapes, over plateau mountains and farmlands to Korinthos where of course we make a stop at the Corinth Canal before rolling the last km to the hotel.
Time flies when you’re having fun and the adventure is over for this time. If you don’t have to leave early, you have the opportunity to enjoy the hotel’s SPA, or perhaps a walk in our nice mountain village before it’s time to head to the airport. Luckily, there are more tours to join, so hopefully it won’t be too long until we see each other again!
In our support vehicle, we have tools, spare parts, spare wheels, tires, water, coffee and lunch, which we set out in a nice place during the breaks. First aid equipment is available both in our support vehicle and on the tour guide motorcycles. The support vehicle also has a satellite phone and defibrillator (AED). All our tour guides are trained in first aid.
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Flight, transfer, dinners and personal riding gear
| Incl. BMW R 1300 GS | 59 500 SEK(Approximately EUR) |
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The price includes accommodation in twin room for 7 nights, 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, coffee and snacks all riding days, tour guides and all guided tours, rental of a BMW R 1300 GS for 6 days, spare motorcycle if needed, fuel for motorcycle, comprehensive insurance for motorcycle, support vehicle incl. driver, waterproof 50 litre pack roll transported by support vehicle, T-shirt.