AEGINA ISLAND
- Total Duration: About 11 hours
- Departure time: 8:00 am
- Total distance: 50 km
- Difficulty:
(3/5) - What's included: Aphaia Temple Entrance Fee, 28” trekking bike, helmet, bottle of water, tour guide/bike leader, ferry tickets, all taxes.
- Not included: Food, Drinks.
Overview
Not very far from Athens, right in the Saronic Gulf lays the beautiful island of Aegina and a great chance to get out of the city’s noise and traffic since you need only one and a half hour to get there by ferry. Aegina might be close to the city but it gives you the feeling that you ’re very very far away from the urban zone and this is what makes it an excellent choice for a day trip on a bike. One thing you might already know about Aegina is its famous “fistiki”. Large part of the population of the island works at producing and processing this local pistachio which is a Protected Designation of Origin product and currently considered to be the best in the world. Besides fistiki itself, there is a large variety of pistachio products on the island such as pralines, liquors, traditional sweets and oil.
Our bike route in Aegina is a medium-difficulty route. We’ll start on a flat by-the-sea section followed by a short uphill section that leads to the temple of Aphaea. A truly enjoyable downride will bring us to the fabulous beach of Saint Marina and right after, a some uphill will take us through the pine forest as we get on our way back to the port of Aegina.
Itinerary
We’ll meet up on our spot in Petralona, in the center of Athens and move towards the port of Piraeus and gate E8 where the ferries for Aegina depart from. This section is almost 10 km long and we will be cycling inside the urban zone. Next, we’ll be on the ferry for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Once we reach the island we will start cycling by the sea towards the archaeological Museum of Aegina (which we can visit according to your preferences) and the beautiful Temple of Apollo. After being on a flat road for a while we’re going to bike through Souvala, the second port of Aegina, and continue towards Vagia. That’s where we’re going to leave the sea behind us and move towards the center of the island until we climb the hill which leads to the temple of Aphaea, a must-see archeological site.
Cycling down towards Agia Marina comes next and it’ll take us to a wonderful beach of golden sand and green waters. If the weather allows this is where we’re going to take a small break and relax inside a beautiful natural environment. Why not swim for a while? Next, we’re going uphill through the beautiful pine forest of Aegina. We’ll reach the big Monastery of Agios Nectarios and that’s where we head back to where we started. Our ride will be over at the Port of Aegina where we can enjoy a quick bite by the sea if you want. After arriving at Piraeus, we will cycle back to Flat Tyres shop where the tour ends.
