Bikers be warned!

Are you a ‘biker boy’ or ‘biker chick’? That is not a term that I would ordinarily use about myself, but I must say that I did once hire a scooter in Greece with my children – more about this later…does that qualify me?

Jokes aside, I just wanted to mention that renting a motorcycle in Greece has become far more difficult. The government-mandated crackdown on who can rent a motorcycle or, in some cases even a moped, has Greek motorcycle rental agencies turning away customers – something that does NOT come easily to a Greek business man as you can imagine!

I have to confess that I secretly think that this is not before time: I remember taking my two children, in their very late teens then, to Sifnos. We rented two motor bikes – none of us had driven a motorbike before - ever. We were given half a minute’s cursory tuition and then off we wobbled.

Let me not bore you with the full story of our precipitous and hair-raising ride and just cut to the end. This saw one damaged and dented bike abandoned on the hillsides of Sifnos and two tearful tourists sympathetically loaded onto an already packed bus back to town, with my son chugging slowly behind. I draw a veil…

In future then tourists will be required to have a separate motorcycle license from their home countries. The reason for the crackdown? Foreign visitors have been injuring themselves at an increasing rate as alcohol and inexperience combine to take their toll – guilty as charged – the inexperienced part I mean! Already burdened with one of the highest road accident rates in the EU, this measure is meant not only to protect tourists from themselves but also to improve Greece's road safety reputation.

However, if you Google ‘riding a scooter in Greece’ you will see that lots of people still do it. If I was to give you my tuppence worth, I would suggest that the islands and the quieter parts of the country may be better than say Athens or Thessalolika , especially if you are a novice! Having said that, there really is no better way to enjoy the great outdoors – and the friendly Greek people - than by bike or scooter.

I hope you will join me next week. In the meantime, have fun – and may the wind blow your hair back!!

Carol Dunning
The Overseas Guides Company
Go to the main website at: http://www.greecebuyingguide.com