Island of Crete Tour Reviews — 1 to 3 of 3

Crete is a fabulous place - breathtaking beaches, a rich and ancient history, wonderful food, warm, welcoming people. However, the island is rugged and mountainous, and presents some serious challenges for the cyclist. While we were dropped off each morning high in the mountains, there were still many steep sections that were challenging to navigate, and at times the winds at the summits were quite serious. The trip is listed as "easy to moderate", but our experience suggests that it should be in the moderate to difficult category, and - certainly for less experienced cyclists - we would highly recommend renting an electric bike to help with the steeper slopes. In any case, the tour was a great experience - the cycling was rigorous and exhilarating. We enjoyed the chance to ride through remote mountain areas, stopping in small villages, visiting historic sites along the way, breaking for lunch at small taverns with stunning views to the coast. The beaches on the south coast were stunningly beautiful, with crystal clear water and long, sandy stretches of coastline. And the food - indescribably delicious!

This was a great trip. We had a group of 6 people, all recently retired (to give you an age perspective). We did the van assisted, electric bike version of the trip. Probably could have done any one day on a non-e-bike, but could not have done the week since we are not hard core cyclists. with the e-bikes and the assistance of our guide the trip was great, and stress free. We got to see the majority of the middle of the island, starting in a different direction everyday, with varied landscapes and things to see.
We did do the upgraded hotels, which was not a big added expense, and the hotels were nice, but can't tell you if the normal accommodations would have been an issue. The two towns that we stayed in were different, one a small beach town, the other a bigger city. This also added to the experience. Breakfasts at the hotels were huge, and meals on our own along the way were more of the wonderful Greek food, and not expensive. Would highly recommend this trip.

We just finished this tour of Crete, and for context I should say we are both in our 70's and ride quite a bit. So, Crete: The scenery, mountains and beaches are beautiful, the people are friendly, warm and accepting, the food is out of this world, and the biking was great for us. Some thoughts about the bike tour itself:
We were provided with new Ideal eBikes that were exceptional.
The routes were varied and generally perfect for us.
Routes were described adequately, but GPS directions were great.
Total elevation gains were substantial, but ok with eBikes.
We were driven to each daily tour starting point, generally at high elevation.
Our driver driver was excellent and extremely helpful.
The price of the tour was very reasonable.
We should have upgraded the hotels - some were minimally adequate.
Overall we give the tour a thumbs-up and are very glad we went. The operator is very competent and provided a wonderful experience.