The cycling tour around Sithonia takes place every year in mid-October and is organized by the Bela Extreme club from Petrich, Bulgaria. This was my first time cycling around the peninsula, and I can definitely say it was worth it.
And why is it worth it? Sithonia has an incredibly rugged coastline, with beautiful bays and beaches that you pass along the cycling route. Turquoise waters and small islands make the scenery even more spectacular. On the second day, the impressive peak of Mount Athos dominates the horizon for much of the ride.
A few of us from Blagoevgrad set off by car on Friday around noon, heading towards Nikiti. We planned to spend the night there, as it would also be the starting point of our cycling adventure. We stayed in a lovely apartment at Azure Bliss, which turned out to be a great place at a very reasonable price.
On Saturday morning, we rode our bikes to the Lidl parking lot in Nikiti, where we were meeting the rest of the group arriving from Petrich. People started gathering around 9:30 a.m., and before long, we had quite an impressive group of around 40 cyclists. Shortly before 10 a.m., we set off towards Neos Marmaras.
Our plan for the first day was to follow the western coast of Sithonia and spend the night in Kalamitsi. Most of the route took us along the coastline, mainly on quieter secondary roads. Eventually, we reached Panos Fish Tavern, a great place to grab something to eat and one of the few restaurants still open in the area outside the tourist season.
After the tavern, the paved road turned into a dirt track, which we followed for several kilometers before returning to asphalt. Along the way, we passed some beautiful and interesting beaches. We even spotted people wild camping in large tents. Apparently, there isn't much enforcement of camping restrictions during the off-season.
We continued along the coast until we reached Porto Koufo. That's where the easy part of the ride came to an end. A tough climb awaited us as we made our way up into the hills above Kalamitsi. The effort was rewarded with stunning views of the southeastern part of the peninsula, and we could finally see Mount Athos in the distance.
From there, we descended into Kalamitsi and checked into our accommodation. The rooms were considerably smaller than the apartment in Nikiti, but they were perfectly fine for a single night. Later in the afternoon, just before sunset, we took a short walk up to a headland above Kalamitsi, where we enjoyed another beautiful view of Mount Athos.
In the evening, the group split up. Some of us stayed at the hotel and enjoyed a relaxed outdoor dinner under the covered terrace, while others headed to a local restaurant. We didn't stay up too late, though, as we still had the second half of our cycling tour to complete the following day.
On Sunday morning, we got up and set off towards Sarti at around 9 a.m. Before reaching the town, however, we made a detour to explore the beaches near Sykia – Scala Sykia and Paraliya Sykia.
Unlike the previous day, Sunday's route was almost entirely on paved roads. The only exception was a short stretch of dirt road after leaving Paraliya Sykia, which eventually brought us back onto the main road.
We arrived in Sarti at around 11 a.m., a little early for lunch. However, we knew there wouldn't be any open restaurants or shops along the rest of the route to Nikiti. There were also no opportunities to refill our water bottles, so we made sure to stock up at a shop that was open on Sunday.
After Sarti came the most demanding part of the ride – four long climbs, three of which had gradients reaching 10%. On one of these climbs, we stopped at a memorial dedicated to three pilots who had lost their lives. It was a good opportunity to take a break, rest our legs, and have a snack before continuing.
From that point on, there wasn't much else to see along the route to Nikiti. We simply followed the main road, which fortunately wasn't very busy. We arrived back in Nikiti shortly after 4 p.m.
Here's how the two days of cycling were divided:
- Day 1: Nikiti – Neos Marmaras – Kalamitsi – 61 km with 900 m of elevation gain.
- Day 2: Kalamitsi – Sarti – Nikiti – 66 km with 1,060 m of elevation gain.
Total: 127 km with 1,960 m of elevation gain.
By the time we loaded the bikes onto the cars and said goodbye to the rest of the group, it was around 5 p.m. when we finally set off for Bulgaria.
I was back home in Blagoevgrad at around 9 p.m., bringing an end to a memorable two-day cycling adventure around Sithonia.
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