Lesvos & Chios

Cycle self guided in the Northern Aegean.  It is a region overlooked by travelers thus making  it inviting to adventurous bikers.  In Lesvos and Chios islands you will find an authentic local culture where the plateia (town square) dominates village life, elders still ride donkeys side saddle and the menfolk sit all day at the kafeneion (caf√©) playing tavli (backgammon) and drinking dark Greek coffee (mavro) in doll-sized cups.

As Greece’s third largest island, Lesvos has almost 400 kilometers of paved road with minimal traffic outside the capital Mytilini. It is the home of ouzo, that Greek spirit with a licorice flavor. You could easily spend the entire tour cycling here. Yet, you absolutely do not want to miss Chios, an island that has a retro-1950s feels to it from the moment you get off the boat and face the old Rex Theatre. Unique in the world to Chios is mastic, a resin cultivated since medieval days and now enjoying an eco-cachet as an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory all-purpose product.