BA - The Club - Epic Greek drives

The monastic drive

Starting point: Thessaloniki
From Greece’s second city, rev up for a half-day drive through the waterfall-filled foothills of Mount Olympus and the Pindus range to Meteora, a UNESCO World Heritage site. After a day on the road, hiking up to these lofty Byzantine monasteries (teetering on rocks as high as 600 feet) can be a challenge, but driving up to their car parks isn’t. Pick your route around the monasteries carefully, so you can discover all the gold-dipped chapels, dark ossuaries, ingenious old pulley systems and panoramas over the Pineios valley this part of the world is famous for.
Must see: Bond fans will want to stop off at the Holy Trinity Monastery, the setting of the villain’s lair in For Your Eyes Only.

The riviera drive

Starting point: Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre
Getting through Athens traffic is much easier when you can pull off Poseidonos Avenue – the main artery of the Athens Riviera – and park yourself at one of a limitless choice of beach bars within a few minutes. Once you clear the glass houses and glitzy boutiques of the Athens Riviera, it’s a 45-minute cruise to Poseidon’s picturesque temple at Sounio. You’ll hug the covey coastline, stopping at whatever cool, crystal-clear swimming spot that takes your fancy. Stay long enough, and you’ll arrive at the Lord Byron-graffitied 440BC ruin in time for sunset.
Top tip: Soak in the thermal waters of Lake Vouliagmeni, a natural spa said to heal all kinds of skin ailment (though possibly not sunburn).

The mountainous drive

Starting point: Rethymno
Fill up on souvlaki – and fuel – at Crete's cosmopolitan city of Chania, before hitting the highway eastward, where whitewashed houses are secreted away behind bougainvillaea. Turn inland at the lively resort of Malia, and climb into the clouds. From here, your descent into the mists of the Lasithi Plateau begins. On this fertile plain, old windmills with cloth sails remind you of mother nature’s power, but another famous force is said to operate here – stroll among the stalagmites and stalactites of Psychro Cave, which (legend has it) is the birthplace of Greece’s top god, Zeus.
Must see: Knock Knossos off your bucket list to see Bronze Age mural-clad palaces in what’s been called Europe’s oldest city.

The mythical drive

Starting point: Patras
As soon as the barrier lifts at the Rio-Antirrio bridge – a feat of engineering that opened just in time for the 2004 Olympics – you’ll feel the wind in your hair blowing in from the Gulf of Corinth. From here, it’s a sashay through the country’s sleepiest seaside resorts, where there’s barely another soul on the sand. Things get a bit weird and wonderful towards the Gulf of Itea, which has been mining bauxite since prehistoric times but, as you ascend the mountains towards Delphi, you’ll soon land in the familiar territory of ruins all around.
Top tip: Stop for an ice cream at Venetian-fortified Nafpaktos and rent a boat for a break from driving.

The island drive(s)

Starting point: Kassiopi
Chicanes, one-track villages and sheer cliffs are all par for the course on this cliffs-meet-coast road. Thankfully, this will give you plenty of time to admire the stellar views across the waters to Albania. From the castle town of Kassiopi, you can choose the hard way, or the harder way, to Corfu Town. Fans of first gear should ascend Mount Pantokrator for a taverna at 906 metres and herds of high-altitude cats. The easier road journeys through endless cypress and olive groves whilst hanging precariously over the Ionian, but it’s worth it for the kumquat-picking opportunities en route.
Top tip: Pull off in the petite resort of Kalami to wine and dine at the former home of Lawrence Durrell.

Langada Pass

Says who? Susan Gellatley, destination manager for Greece
The most impressive drive I have taken in Greece is the Langada Pass, a high mountain road that sits 1.524m above sea level, way up in the Taÿgetus Mountains, in the Peloponnese region of Greece. The road to the summit is one of the most scenic routes in the region (maybe even the whole country), with overhanging cliffs and sea views along the way as you turn each hair-pin bend. It’s called Route 82 and links Sparta and Kalamata before heading on to Pylos.
Top tip: Pylos is where you will find the new W Costa Navarino in Navarino Bay – a perfect post-drive dwelling.