As a taxi dropped us off, helmets and baggage in hand, in entrance of the gorgeous Say Resort in Athens, the sights, sounds, and aromas of the traditional metropolis converged, and the immediacy of our expertise set in. This is able to be my first guided worldwide tour, and my spouse, Cheryl, can be my pillion companion on a 14-day group journey from Greece to Croatia led by Edelweiss Bike Journey.
As a died-in-the-wool solo rider married to a decidedly impartial girl, a number of questions loomed. How would we fare on a trip by way of 5 Balkan international locations navigating and interacting with a bunch of a dozen strangers? How would Cheryl deal with being a passenger for practically 2,000 miles? How would I deal with being, effectively, guided?
We met a pair within the lodge foyer and struck up a dialog. Because it turned out, that couple from Idaho wouldn’t solely be our using companions for the tour but in addition turn into true buddies over the course of the journey. That night, we met all of the tour individuals: 4 solo riders, three two-up {couples}, and two tour guides. All the opposite individuals had intensive prior guided tour expertise leaving Cheryl and me as the one tour rookies.
The following day, within the breaking gentle of a heat Might morning, we met within the staging space outdoors the lodge. We acquired acquainted with our chosen mount for the tour, a good looking 2025 BMW R 1300 GS Journey. Then we had been off. After a number of miles of darting, weaving, and braking on the busy streets of Athens, our group of armored riders lastly rolled into the Greek countryside. We discovered our stride behind the tour chief’s shiny yellow helmet by way of groves of olive bushes and rolling farmland.
After miles of measured however enjoyable using, we adopted the information to the primary main attraction, the Corinth Canal. The superb feat of engineering was accomplished in 1893, connecting the Ionian and Aegean seas throughout a slim isthmus. With sheer stone partitions minimize practically 300 ft all the way down to hanging blue waters, the ocean passage is actually a marvel to behold from the bridge spanning the canal.
Subsequent, we visited the primary of a number of historical Greek wonders on our itinerary: the theater at Asclepius of Epidaurus. Constructed round 340 B.C., the superb amphitheater is without doubt one of the most vital monuments of historical Greece. We shed our gear and traversed the theater’s superbly symmetrical stairways and sat the place historical Greeks loved musicians, actors, and singers. We might virtually hear the strumming of the harp and lyre as we sat on the stone steps.
After a go to to the location’s museum, Cheryl and I sat within the shade of a cypress tree earlier than being approached by an area vendor. Reasonably than give us the onerous promote, he needed to talk about American basketball, talking with pleasure and enthusiasm about his beloved Greek nationwide workforce which had superior to the semi-finals of the European Championship. Interactions like that had been widespread all through Greece.
The evening’s lodging supplied panoramic views from the mountaintop lodge and pool. After breakfast and the morning briefing, our group launched into a day that was all in regards to the journey. We rode each alongside the coast and inland by way of enticingly twisty roads to our vacation spot for the evening, Olympia. Instantly after shedding our gear, many people opted to tour the location of the primary Olympic video games in 776 B.C. As a sports activities lover, it was humbling to face the place these first Olympic athletes displayed their abilities.
There have been two vital stops on the following day’s tour route. First, we stopped on the Antirion Bridge, an architectural and engineering masterpiece that crosses the Gulf of Corinth. Later, we climbed the winding switchbacks to the historic fortress that overlooks the city of Nafpaktos.
After using again down and thru the city, we had been shocked and delighted with our first picnic lunch. As we munched on a cornucopia of meats, cheeses, fruit, and bread, one in all our solo using companions from Colorado pulled off his using gear and took a swim within the Gulf of Corinth. He was one other human spotlight of our journey and in addition grew to become a good friend. These lasting relationships are a pleasant facet good thing about an Edelweiss Bike Journey tour.
The rest of that afternoon, we rode in average visitors. The slower tempo allowed us to benefit from the views. In the end, we climbed to a different of the wonders of historical Greece, Delphi. After a brief trip by way of the bustling city, we arrived at our evening’s lodge, the place our luggage had been ready in our fifth-floor room. We had been delighted by a perpetually view off of our non-public balcony.
That afternoon, members of our group walked to the ruins of Delphi. The traditional Greeks believed the location was the situation the place heaven and earth met and the precise middle of the identified world. Rulers and warriors trekked to Delphi looking for prophecy from the oracle. The mountainside ruins made for an enchanting stroll amongst temples, pillars, and stone altars. Our prophecy? Many extra days of nice using within the stunning Balkan area.
The following morning, we packed and mounted our bikes. We launched into a route that was closely modified by a street closure on the initially outlined leg. Whereas not what was deliberate, it was nonetheless an satisfying trip. That evening, we arrived in Meteora for our first two-night keep of the tour. We checked into our room on the Grand Meteora Resort to seek out that our second-floor balcony supplied a terrific view of one of many space’s beautiful clifftop monasteries. As we discovered all through the tour, Edelweiss Bike Journey does an exquisite job of choosing distinctive motels.
There have been choices for the remainder day. Those that needed extra using might select to take a guided loop trip organized by our tour leaders. There was additionally the choice of enjoyable on the lodge’s stunning grounds. We selected a hybrid of our personal. Within the morning, we took to the streets on the BMW for a self-guided trip to a number of monasteries. With Google Maps as our information, we traced our method to the Varlaam Monastery, a construction that adheres resolutely to a tower of rock and is spectacular each from a distance and from inside. Fortunately, we arrived on the Sixteenth-century surprise earlier than a lot of the tour buses, so our go to was relaxed and wandering.
After Varlaam, we rode to extra monasteries over well-paved and winding roads. We then made our approach again to Meteora and ate a late lunch at an area gyro restaurant earlier than strolling the city’s tidy, bustling streets. As rain began dotting the streets of Meteora, we rode again to the resort for some organizing, regrouping, writing, and figuring out. It was a well-planned and completely executed relaxation day.
The following morning, we launched into our final day using in Greece. It supplied up among the greatest using of the tour over well-maintained and serpentine alpine tarmac that was delightfully devoid of visitors. Later, we dropped kickstands for a brief stroll to a viewpoint above the plummeting canyon partitions of the spectacular Vikos Gorge.
After a straightforward border crossing into Albania, we made our approach by way of open agricultural land to the small metropolis of Gjirokastra. Since we had been a bit early for the lodge check-in, our information led us up the winding cobblestones to the imposing hilltop citadel that presides over town. The citadel now serves as an expansive battle museum and gives panoramic views of the “Stone Metropolis.” That evening we checked into one other improbable lodge, the Resort Kerculla, and cleaned up for an additional luxurious multicourse meal with impeccable service.
The following day was full of pressured route adjustments, miles of development, and aggressive Albanian drivers. However actually, what would a two-week journey be and not using a measure of problem? That is motorbike touring, in any case. The large takeaway was how skilled the guides had been and the way the individuals all stepped as much as face the challenges of the day. In the end, we made one other border crossing into North Macedonia for an evening within the Resort Tino Sveti Stefan overlooking the expansive and exquisite Lake Ohrid.
What a distinction a day makes. The following leg of the tour supplied nice sweeping corners en path to a border crossing again into Albania. The day featured a improbable trip by way of the luxurious, inexperienced alpine area. A number of small cities dotted the route, and in every one, kids gave the impression to be ready for our small moto-parade. They shouted, held out fingers for prime fives, and made the common wrist-twist gesture requesting revved engines. What a deal with for them and for us. After a day of spectacular using, we made it to our lodging on the Resort Colosseo in Shkoder.
Our second two-night keep would await after a comparatively quick however extremely entertaining trip into the mountains of Montenegro. On the way in which to the Bianca Ski Resort, we handed by way of no fewer than 25 tunnels carved by way of the rugged mountain rocks. Each was spectacular as was the winding street that linked them. On our relaxation day in Kolasin, Cheryl and I once more labored out, wrote, and later explored each avenue of the picturesque resort city.
Our final day of using was a stellar roll by way of the Albanian Alps earlier than stopping for a number of mountaintop views of the visually beautiful and world-famous Bay of Kotor. Rested and prepared, our group wound its approach by way of the tight hairpins that lead all the way down to the bustling bay. After a waterside lunch, we remounted for the ultimate push of the tour. We crossed the border into Croatia and finally made our approach up a slim, winding street that supplied a chicken’s-eye view of the traditional walled city of Dubrovnik. It’s clear why it was chosen as a setting within the Sport of Thrones fantasy TV collection.
Our final evening included a communal, celebratory dinner with all our new buddies. We laughed, ate, drank, and talked about all the things we had skilled over the prior 14 days. So did we get solutions to these pre-tour questions? Briefly, any qualms we could have had about group touring had been assuaged very early within the journey. Each Cheryl and I are prepared to show round and do all of it once more. Edelweiss Bike Journey deliberate the proper Balkan journey. We’re converts!
Edelweiss’s Greece to Croatia tour begins at $7,360 per individual. It’s scheduled to run Might 16-31, 2026. The reverse route, Croatia to Greece, is scheduled to run Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2026.
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Tim Kessel is a lifelong resident of Arizona. With 50-plus years of motorcycling and 30 years of instructing English below his belt, he has melded these two passions right into a gig as a motojournalist. Perhaps that’s why there may be at all times a everlasting, glad smile below his full-face helmet.
