BOG2501 BEST OF GREECE (05.05.25 - 18.05.25)

Today was the day of arrival at the hotel for most guests. A bit of sightseeing or relaxation after a long flight, everyone spent the day individually. At 5 p.m., the tour guides asked us to attend the welcome briefing and then hand over the motorcycles. After everything was set up and all functions checked, it was time for the welcome dinner. The first impression of the Greek cuisine was very good and we are ready for the tour. Tomorrow we will leave Athens and immerse ourselves in history.

Today we finally got started. The first day of driving! Everyone was super excited and could hardly wait to leave the capital. We took the highway for the first few kilometers to get away from the morning rush hour traffic as quickly as possible. But soon we were almost alone on winding mountain roads and made ourself familiar with the new bikes. Wonderful landscapes, where magnificent views alternated with winding mountain roads. You could stop behind every bend to take a photo. Just unbelievable! The view of the Gulf of Corinth was just one of the highlights of the morning. After a lunch break in a small but fine restaurant, we drove up to Delphi, perhaps Greece's most famous ancient place after the Acropolis. We consulted the oracle and it prophesied an unforgettable journey for the following days. I'm sure the oracle doesn't lie...

Let´s Do It – It is time for a breathtaking rollercoaster riding day!!! What does it mean? When we Tour Guides say: we will have a riding day, it means, that this will be a day where dreams come true in terms of: Stunning Roads with no traffic at all in a landscape which blows you away. That is our day 3. We started in Arachova and right after the hotel our fun run began. As a warmup we served our customers some switchback followed by several twisty roads around the well-known Mt.Parnasuss. And if you think about skiing and that in Greece – I guess, you will say no way. But this morning shows once more that Greece will surprises you in so many ways. After this kick off, we stopped for a coffee on the other side of the Mt.Parnasuss and the smile in the faces of off our group off Greece explorer let us know that they enjoyed the morning quite a bit. After some nice chats our fearless rider hoped back on motorcycles to find out what els we had planned for them. And so, we went on towards the next highlight of the day: the Pindus Mountain range which kept us busy for almost the rest of the day. This stunning ride of today is a combination of riding through the beautiful alps or the beauty of Montenegro. To the end of the day we followed the Lake Plastira to tour hotel for tonight and a perfect riding day with perfect weather came to an end. So, what else could you hope or ask for!!!! This day is for sure one what nobody of our group will ever forget!!! And the best thing we will have some more of these on this tour – so stay tuned and enjoy the pictures Tom and Axel

Todays route should take us to one of the most important tourist highlights in Greece. The famous monasteries in Meteora. Everything was prepared for a nice and relaxed tour to the monasteries. But.... As often, everything turned out differently than planned. After discussing the route with the “locals” yesterday evening and being assured that the bridge, which was torn away by a flood last year, was passable again, we drove there. Unfortunately, we realized that the only way to cross the bridge was on foot. By motorcycle? No way! So we had to go back and find a new route. So far so good. Then, after the famous stone bridge of Pyli, a popular photo motif from the 16th century, the next challenge. Roads that used to be paved are suddenly just gravel and sand. Well, I'm sure it will get better soon..... Forget it! Over a distance of around 15 to 20 km, pure off-road experience. But luckily all of our guests are experienced motorcyclists and so we also mastered this challenge with flying colors. Finally, we made it to the monasteries in Meteora and visited the famous Trinity Monastery, where the James Bond movie “For your eyes only” was filmed, as well as the monastery of St. Stephen. It was very impressive, almost unbelievable, how the monks achieved such a feat in the 14th century. With all these impressions, we spent the evening reviewing the day in a local restaurant with homemade pizza and pasta and are now looking forward to a well-earned rest day tomorrow.

Hello from Metsovo/ our first ‘rest day’ Today our group can choose what they want to do: on the one hand they can take it easy and start their own adventure here in the town and discover this cosy little village with all the small and big highlights such as wine tasting, museum of modern art and much more, on the other hand they can go on a rest day tour with me, which makes every motorcyclist's heart beat faster. In the end we had both, the group with me took a rollercoaster ride to the Vikos Gorge, which is the deepest gorge in the world in terms of width and depth. The ride to the gorge was a motorbike rider's paradise!!! Why? We had a total of 4 cars that we encountered on the way and the rest of the route was all ours. The Pindus Mountains, which were already a highlight of the last few days, raised the bar even higher. We felt like explorers. The drive through the cork oak forest with all the hidden old stone bridges was such a pleasure, it's simply hard to describe, you just have to drive it yourself to understand how winding it is here. Always on tarmac, by the way, and especially on winding, narrow roads that challenged us and kept us smiling all day long! It was perfect and it was like riding home with your friends at the weekend. Thank you so much for this brilliant trip today. Back at the hotel, we met up with the others and talked about our impressions of the day, because we want to know what they did too.They both had a great day and after our last dinner here in Metsovo we will say goodbye to the northern part of Greece & will leave for Lefkáda tomorrow.Stay tuned for tomorrow - it will also be a day to remember Thomas and Axel

After a rainy night (the first drops we saw or only heard on our tour), today was initially all uphill - and really uphill :-). Through a forest and narrow roads we went higher and higher. Bend after bend and many places where the road was either washed out or littered with stones, big stones. Extreme caution was required here. There were always breathtaking views in between, but the closer we got to the highest point of the route, the Paros Pass at 1905m, the thicker the fog became. Unfortunately, the pass was completely shrouded in clouds at the very top. On the subsequent descent, it cleared up after a few curves, the view stretched endlessly down into the valley and the sun showed itself from its most beautiful side. Temperatures quickly rose and it was time for the first coffee break. After the break, we continued our journey along the road that leads below the rock-carved monastery of Kipinas. Uphill to the left and right, downhill again and again, a seemingly never-ending succession of the finest bends. The only thing that kept our group from setting new records on this stretch were the cows and dogs that kept crossing the road, automatically keeping our concentration high. The closer we got to the Ionian Sea, the warmer it got and once we reached the lowlands, we headed towards the island of Lefkada. To get to the island, we first had to drive through an underwater tunnel and then over a floating bridge. Not an everyday occurrence either. Once we arrived at the hotel, we spent the time until dinner in the pool. Well deserved dear friends, a brilliant day's driving is behind us.

Along the coastline to the Rio-Antirio-Bridge and right into the heart of the heart of the Peloponnese/ Vyntina high up in the Mountain range That would be the shortest description of another breathtaking riding day and that’ would be not fair at all to this day. And so, the story begins: Waking up in the resort after one of the best dinners what we had so far was great. The sun was shining and there was no doubt that this day will be great. After our daily business (Breakfast & Morning Briefing) we started our steel horses and went up the half island of Lefkáda to get back to the mainland and the first playground of the day: The coastline towards Astakos. We had from small little backyard road over roads clos by the sea almost everything until our first coffee break. On top we used the chance to do a little photo session. All in on the kickoff of this riding day was almost unbeatable. On top drove with the bikes directly in the harbor where relaxed for a while and had homemade lemonade. From there it was time to keep on going towards the famous Rio- Antirio Bridge which is quite impressive besides the coast of 800 million euros. The bridge himself has been as well our way to the Peloponnese where we will stay for the rest of the tour. Arrived on the other side we had lunch and guess what – with the stunning view at the bridge. And if you think that is already everything that we have seen today!? Well, there is a big NO because it was only halftime. Our journey went on from Rio towards the Mountains of the Peloponnese and along the way we stopped at the famous Nekrotafeio Plataniotissas what is better known as the tree church which is huge that almost 20 people fit into the tree. A coffee later on side of the church we went back into environment where we belong – rollercoaster mountain roads!!!! And all the way to Vyntina we had to enjoy this kind of roads – I know quite a hard live what we have down here. Bu we accepted this challenge an finished this stunning riding day with a big smile on our faces. That has been our day 7 on tour and tomorrow is rest day but we will take the motorcycles, and we will ride down to Olympia to explore the place where the Olympic games began. See you tomorrow Thomas und Axel

Yesterday we were told that today would be a rest day, but why should we rest? We'd rather drive to one of the main attractions on this tour. A must for every sportsman: OLYMPIA. Where it all began in ancient Greece. The place where the first games were held in 776 BC. Of course, the way to this place leads along scenic routes and so we set off, a little later than usual because after all it is a rest day, on the way to our very own Edelweiss Olympics. Our route took us along small mountain roads and through quaint villages, and the plan was to arrive in Olympia around midday. What our riderrs didn't know yet, because we didn't tell them at the morning briefing, was the surprise of the day: tour guide Axel, also known as “Le grand Chef”, conjured up the finest picnic in an Olympic setting and so we were able to start the games feeling refreshed and well prepared. After visiting the ancient site, we headed back to Vytina, a pretty mountain village on the edge of the Arcadian wilderness, at an altitude of just over 3280 ft. Tonight we will immerse ourselves in the nightlife of Vytina before it's time to "clutch out" or "kick stand-up" again tomorrow ;-)

Goodbye green heart of the the south part of Greece and welcome to the coastline part of this tour Today we enjoyed for the last time on this tour the green mountain range out of Vytina and our rout was guiding us on very curvy roads towards Megalopoli. What a stunning start into the day!! The sun was shining and it could not be much better. One curve after the other brought us closer to the first coffee stop. From there we took the highway towards Sparti, which is very well known in the history of Greece. But for us, it was just the start of another stunning section of this riding day. It has been time to ride over the Langada Pass. A combination of challenging roads and breathtaking landscape let our heart beat faster and down on the other side was the beach front of Kalamata waiting for us. Where we had a great lunch break directly on the beach. After recharging our batteries we went on towards south along the coastline. The sea on the right and a wonderful road in front of us made our day perfect. And on top we have tonight a hotel directly on the coast, where the sound of the sea will guide us into sleep. Another great day comes to an end. And tomorrow? There a some highlights what you don't like to miss. so stay tuned Tom and Axel

We are still traveling on the Peloponnese, and today we are heading south from Areopoli Firrst around the middle finger of the peninsula and then east to the municipality of Monemvasia, where our next hotel is located. The first highlight is right at the start of today's route: the stalactite caves of Dinos, an underground wonderland that we want to discover by boat. Almost like in a gondola in Venice, we glide through the water of the caves and admire the magical colors and shapes. This must be the gateway to the underworld. We then drive back into the Taygetes mountains on the smallest of roads and then along the wild west coast of the Middle Finger on narrow, winding roads. Shortly before midday, another highlight. The wreck of the Dimitrios. A rusty cargo ship shrouded in mystery that has been lying on the beach at Valtaki since 1981. Countless stories and tales surround this relic and probably nobody knows exactly why it is lying here and how it got there. Not far from the freighter there is a fine Greek restaurant where we take our lunch break. Of course they serve fresh fish and all kinds of Greek specialties. A few bends later, we arrive at the index finger of the Peloponnese and continue along the coast with breathtaking views, to the east. One last coffee break in a picturesque village right by the sea and then we are already at our tour hotel, where we will stay for the next two days. Tomorrow is another rest day, on which we have a lot planned for our guests. Of course, we won't reveal anything at this point. Stay tuned and find out tomorrow what happens next. See you then, your tour guides.