Cycling holiday Cyclades & Saronic Islands

Included

• 8-day-trip on a comfort motor yacht with crew
• 7 nights on board
• 2 x full board and 5 x half board on board
• Bottled water on board and during all activities ashore
• Guided bicycle tours and sightseeing as described in the itinerary
• Overview-maps for the daily bike tours (on board)
• Bed linen & towels
• Entrance fee to museums and archaeological sites (group visit only)
• English speaking tour guide

Not Included

• Reservation costs
• Contribution Dutch Guarantee Funds (Insolvency Protection)
• Bicycle rent, optional
• Bicycle insurance (against theft and damage): € 25,- per bicycle (not insured: deliberate damages), optional
• Journey to Greece
• Beverages on board (tally sheet; to be paid to the captain)
• Meals and beverages ashore
• Entrance fee for sights not included in the tour price
• Beach towel for ashore use (if needed)
• Personal insurance

Special details

• Please take good notice of our Terms & Conditions.
• If you have special meal requirements we ask you to mention this when booking, but at the latest until 14 days before arrival. Diets which need a special preparation or special ingredients can only be offered in limited form. We will do our best  to meet your needs, but we also ask for your understanding as due to limited logistic possibilities on a barge we are not able to prepare complete specialized menus. In case of Celiac; gluten free diet; we request that you bring along your own basic foodstuffs such as bread and cereals for the duration of your tour with us, as it is extremely difficult to attain  these products from Greek vendors.
• Minimum of 14 passengers 
• Bringing private e-bikes is not permitted
• The program is subject to change without notice.

How to get to Athens

A flight is the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to get to Greece. Piraeus, your port of embarkation is only 15 mi./25 km away from Athens Airport (named El. Venizelos Airport).

Please choose an outbound flight departing in the afternoon to ensure a stress-free journey home.

Transfers between Athens Airport and the Boat or an Hotel at Athens and the Boat

Fee-based collective transfers (only available on embarkation/disembarkation days):

– between Athens airport and the boat: 25 euro per person/way
– between a hotel at Athens city and the boat: 15 euro per person/way

Customized transfers are offered too: availability and prices on request.

How to make a transfer reservation

For all airport transfers a reservation is required. Please indicate your exact flight details. If there are belated changes of your flight times you are kindly requested to inform our office immediately.

You are kindly requested to send us the following details:

– arrival & departure date
– flight route
– airline
– flight number
– estimated arrival or departure time

For hotel transfers please indicate:

– exact hotel address
– preferred transfer time

The port of embarkation/disembarkation is the yacht harbour of Marina Zeas, which is part of Piraeus harbour. In general the Thalassa docks at the ”Pasa Limani” part of the marina. You are welcome to check in on board from 2pm onwards on the embarkation day.

On this tour the following barge is scheduled

For the duration of the tour we supply you with a waterproof pannier by Ortlieb, a practical way of carrying drinks, bathing gear, camera etc

By this tours you can rent the following bikes:
 

Catering

The on-board chef is a member of the crew and prepares the breakfast and one or two warm meals a day. The catering starts with the dinner on the arrival day and ends with the breakfast on the departure day. 
If you wish to eat vegetarian food or have distinctly different eating habits please inform us in time before your arrival. Please keep in mind that special food requirements cannot always be met in all details. If you have extensive food allergies we ask you to give us a list of the food that you can eat. This should be done before your arrival so that the cook can be instructed to plan and shop accordingly.
In the case of a glutenfree diet, we request that you bring along your own basic foodstuffs such as bread and cereals for the duration of your tour with us, as it is extremely difficult to attain these products from Greek vendors.
Please note that due to the small size of the kitchen and the available equipment on board, we cannot guarantee that your food will not come into contact with kitchen utensils in which gluten-containing foods have already been processed.
So if you have a serious celiac disease, where the food must not come into contact with utensils in which food containing gluten was prepared, then we would recommend not to participate in the trip as the risk of an allergic shock would be too high. If it is a (mild) gluten intolerance it is not a problem.

Language aboard

Due to our international audience all Islandhopping tours are conducted bilingually, in English and German.

Time zone

Please note that Greece is on Eastern European (Summer) time, i.e. GM(S)T + 2 hours.

Itinerary changes

The Cyclades are relatively susceptible to wind. Normally this results in only a minor modification of the tour route. However by strong wind conditions the travel route may markedly differ from the planned route. Our substitute tour leads you for the entire week into the Saronic Gulf, one of the most historic regions of Greece: We cross between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnesian and discover the islands of Aegina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses and the Methana peninsula. A highlight of this journey is a visit to the ancient Epidauros with the best preserved theatre in Greece.

Level 2 - 3
The bike routes vary in length between 23 - 35 km/14 - 22 mi. and 350 - 700 elevation meters per day and lead through hilly or mountainous terrain. There are some longer climbs; however, you are welcome to take breaks or push your bike if necessary. The roads are mostly asphalted. Your tour guide will inform you each day about the tour details. This tour is primarily a guided group tour however, upon consultation with your tour guides, it may be possible to cycle on your own along recommended, suitable routes. You are free to set aside a half or full day to swim or spend on board the boat, instead of taking a planned cycle tour.

Group riding pace 
On this cycling tour the cyclists on regular bicycles determine the pace. We ask guests who have reserved an e-bike to be mindful of this and to acknowledge that the regular cyclists need time to rest and take longer to climb the hills. We thank you for your understanding.

Internet availability
A free WiFi connection is available on your ship. On the open sea, reception cannot be guaranteed at all times. If you need stable Internet access during your voyage, we recommend that you take your laptop or tablet to a café or bar at the port. Free WiFi is offered almost everywhere. If you order something there, you can use the WiFi without restriction.

Bringing Children

We believe that only children with a good physical condition and previous bicycle tour experience and a minimum age of 10 are able to master the cycle tours with their own strength. Please note that the minimum height for a rental bike is 1.30 m (4.3 ft.) for hybrid bikes and 1.50 m (5 ft.) for e-bikes.

Our Ships

Please do not forget that the ship is your hotel as well as a machine, which has to be maintained and operated – day and night. A certain level of noise is therefore inevitable.