Greece is often trumped by Mediterranean rivals when it comes to cycling sojourns, but could – and should – that be about to change? We ventured to the roads of the Peloponnese to find out
WordsMatt Baird
Nudging Where the Wild Things Are into second place, The Rough Guide to Greece (2008 edition) is likely my most read book, its pages either falling out, dense in highlighter pen or soiled with tzatziki-stained fingerprints. I could quote passages verbatim as a party trick (so far unrequested).
Despite this minor obsession, until now, I’ve never actually ventured to Greece, much less cycled here, possibly put off by this quote from the slender cycling section: ‘Many Greek drivers consider cyclists a lower form of life, on a par with the snakes regularly found run over’.
Having stalked Greece from 2,000 miles away in the UK, an email from Chris Ward, the founder of Breakaway Greece cycling holidays in the Peloponnese, arrived in my inbox early in 2023 highlighting the historic lack of the Mediterranean nation in our Big Ride and event pages, with an offer to stay at his Villa Rosa soon following.
A £70, four-hour flight from Bristol later and I’m driving with resident snapper Joe at 2am under a moonless sky to the Peloponnese from Athens International airport, having broken the BBC adventurer Simon Reeve’s rule of never arriving at a new destination in the darkness.
A sharp left at the Corinth Canal takes us into the Argolis region and, not that we can see beyond our headlights, coastal hills and hairpins become the focus of the drive. We eventually locate Villa Rosa in the foothills above Epidavros, the final stretch a short 21% driveway where the smell of our hire car’s crispy clutch lingers for days.
Come together
Chris is waiting for us with pack of cold Mythos beers and bowls of superior sesame seed-coated breadsticks and fresh tzatziki. We soon discover Chris is one of life’s great doers, although he wears it lightly. He’s worked behind the scenes on (deep breath) Comic Relief, Children in Need, Nelson Mandela Day and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa; has managed rock bands; penned three books and had four kids. He’s deep in production on a documentary about jazz music’s influence on rock for BBC Radio when we arrive for our Greek initiation. He’s also a West Ham United fanatic who’s just welcomed two Tottenham supporters into his abode, but you can’t have everything...
As for cycling? Chris has previously represen
