Bike rental in Chania, Crete

Morris Cat

Does anyone have any recommendations for bike hire in Chania... be interested in route suggestions too? Only have a couple of days during the family holiday, circa 80 miles/day with some climbs. Thanks.

borisface

Whilst I don't have any experience of hiring a bike on Crete I did come across this website before I went touring there a couple of years ago.
http://www.ecotourism-greece.com/touris ... eece/hania

It maybe of use. You may be lucky to get something nice though as cycling is really not very popular in Greece or Crete. On my 8 day tour I saw no other cyclists and not many cars. I did come across a good cycle shop in Rethymnon but sadly can't recall the name.

One word of warning Crete is seriously mountainous and can be very windy as well as hot.

Cretan Steve

Hi,
Are you staying in Chania itself or somewhere in the area ? There is bike hire available but mostly of hard tail MTBs, in fact a lot of car hire companies also rent out bikes by the day. Road bike hire is a lot more limited but there are a few places that do them. The MTBs are usually decent brands, one of our local hire places does Bianchis, I'm not sure how well they a maintained though!!.This type of bike is more popular as they do take a fair bit of abuse here both from tourists and from the 'inconsistent' road surfaces.
As mentioned above it is very hilly and hot(37 degrees yesterday), but if you're sensible with hydration and used to hills you shouldn't have to much problem.
If you're aiming for 80 miles or so a day you'll get to see a fair bit of Western Crete as in places its only about 30 miles N to S.
One word of warning, if you're coming out July/August, the locals are pretty good with cyclists, it's the tourists in hire cars that you have to watch!!

Morris Cat

Many thanks Steve. I'm looking for hire a road bike and we are staying in Almyrida but thought easier to hire in Chania? I found one place via google but would prefer a recommendation.

Have mapped a couple of routes and used to climbing so would be interested in any route suggestions, the road up to Omalos looked ok on google maps (probably 2004?!). Basically the highest road climb I can get to from Chania would be good? We are there in early Sept. Really appreciate your help.

Cretan Steve

Hi again, Almyrida is only about 7km from me(a little village called Drapanos). There is definitely some climbing to be had near here, we're at about 1000 ft. But for real hills if you head from Almyrida to Vamos then Vrisses, the road from there to the south coast climbs over the mountains, the scenery is stunning and the climbs are 'breathtaking.....', you'd probably have to do that as an out and back rather than a circular route but I think you'd find it challenging.
The road out to Omalos is another good one and there's probably more chance of being able to do a circuit round that area.

I definitely don't know of anyone that does road bikes in the Almyrida area, but I'll do some asking in the next couple of weeks to see what I can find out. Just as a matter of interest what size bike do you ride?

I hope you'll like Almyrida, it's got a great beach and swimming and loads of good places to eat.
Steve

Morris Cat

Many thanks Steve... a medium size bike would be ideal!

Conkurs

Thread resurrection time!

How did it pan out?

I'm heading to Chania on a business summit in October, but we normally get a few hours every afternoon for recreation.
Any decent road bike rental places there?

tourdriving

You can find some on this link https://tourdriving.wordpress.com/greece/ see after a photo of a bike then go dawn to Crete

Cretan Road Biker

I agree with Cretan Steve on many topics which he pointed out in this thread. Road biking in Crete can be very demanding, because of the very varied terrain. You will find flat parts in the coastal areas, getting hilly while you cycle towards the hinterland, up to serious Tour de France stuff, while riding in he middle of the island. I like about Crete that the widest part from North to South is 64 km and the narrowest is 13 km (depending on where you are staying). One does not need to bike 200 km per day in order to have a rewarding ride. Temperatures are mild up high but get hot down low. The best times to cycle are in the morning hours or the late afternoon. The best months are April, May and early June. Middle of September until end of November are nice too, but then you might have a day or 2 with rain, so watch out for slippery roads! I also rode during February and March. The weather is nice but one should bring leg and arm warmers for the cooler days and especially for cycling in the mountains. By the way I have just been biking in Crete and had a new SCOTT road bike from Olympic Bike. They deliver to any hotel or villa in Crete, thus also in the Apokoronas area of Chania - Kalyves - Almyrida.

Gehco

Thanks for sharing!

Mardux

Thanks! I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a 3 week trip to Greece in October and this information is very useful. I also looking for a taxi transfer in Chania? Has anyone used https://aktis.taxi/ before?