Think of Greece and it’s hard not to let your mind wander to blue seas, luminous skies, cuisine bursting with flavours, small white houses, and a wealth of warm hospitality. Not to mention its colourful, sometimes turbulent history and the remains of some of the most impressive feats of architectural prowess the world can offer.
Take these ingredients, add a healthy portion of adventure motorcycling and you have a near perfect recipe for an exhilarating overland experience. I deliberately say near perfect because unless you have plenty of time to invest or are a local resident with intimate knowledge of where to go to satisfy your whims, you’re confronted with a lot of planning. Destinations, off-pavement routes, regulations and restrictions, accommodation, do you want to ride to Greece or find a fly-and-ride solution, what about service if something should go wrong with the bike, and how about being able to communicate with locals in villages away from the metropoles. Putting it simply, an experienced guide can fast track you to a fulfilled experience and help you determine how much of the effort you want to invest yourself and how much you can leave up to someone else to ensure you don’t leave the country with a nagging feeling you may have missed something.
Greece is at the bottom right of Europe, making it a long and time consuming trek for a large portion of the European population. From the Cathedral in Cologne to the Acropolis in Athens, we’re talking 2,623 km. The country covers just over 19,000 square kilometres. Its length from North to South is just under 700 km and its width approximately 550 km. And then there is the unique phenomenon accounting for 6,000 small islands scattered through the Aegean and Ionian seas—only 227 are actually populated, but the sheer abundance adds to the variety of culture and spice of life this tradition-driven country can offer.
The Baltoyannis brothers, Angelo and Paris, naturally inherited a passion for architecture from their father George, who has dedicated more than 30 years to researching the relationship between ancient architecture and ancient religion. A pursuance that has led not only to five bestseller books, but, since the 90’s, has paved the way for his sons to share his intrigue for architecture and its influence on society. Angelo followed in his father’s footsteps to study architecture at the Sapienza University in Rome; and Paris graduated and became a landscape architect following his studies at the Technological Educational Institute of Epirus in Greece.
Angelo Baltoyannis 
Paris Baltoyannis
Angelo and Paris first started riding motorcycles 20 and 15 years ago respectively, with a shared passion for off-road and adventure. They are experienced international travellers, have good competition experience and, through their work with their father, have been creating tour routes with a twist: routes that are challenging, beautifully situated and provide insight into some of the world’s oldest culture and architecture—a Greek Monument Valley, if you like. So, it isn’t surprising that together they decided to turn their experience and passion into a new business in 2017, under the brand name Mythical Routes, providing a unique adventure experience package for motorcyclists.
Speaking with Angelo, he informed me there are already six different adventures to choose from. Ranging from 150 to 600 km, graded from “easy” to “intermediate”, and taking in some stunning destinations, the choice is yours. But the service they provide will also include bike rental (from the end of Spring 2018) for those who prefer to fly, GPS waypoint downloads, accommodation en route, and they even provide a recommended guide for what to pack. Another item within their expertise is off-road training and this will be included during 2018 as well.
Their intimate knowledge of all the routes they have pulled together means that they do have by-pass routes if some of the terrain should become too technical for novice riders. This way, if a husband and wife team should have different riding abilities, they will still be able to share the same views and cultural experience. Interestingly, the combination of being able to fly in, rent a bike, undertake qualified training and partake in guided tours or go off on your own amongst stunning landscapes is a great way to use available time to brush up on your riding skills before putting them into practice under real conditions.
And then there’s the traditional culinary and wine experience to enjoy as the sun sets.
This article originally appeared in the Winter 2017 issue of Overland Journal Europe.
