Cycling the coast road
The ring road round Spetses, roughly 25 km of tarmac with the sea on one side and pine on the other. On a bicycle it is a proper morning out. On a moped it is simply how the island gets about.
One road goes round Spetses. It leaves town, follows the coast clockwise or anticlockwise depending on your mood, passes every beach on the island, and comes back to where it started. Call it twenty-five kilometres for the full loop, give or take the detours down to the bays.
Because private visitor cars are not permitted and the town centre is closed to general traffic, this road carries an unusual mix: mopeds, scooters, quads, bicycles, the occasional taxi, service and delivery vehicles, and the seasonal beach bus. That is the whole traffic picture. It makes for a far better cycling road than you would get on most Greek islands, and it is the reason two wheels is the default here.
Bicycle or moped
Bicycle. Hire shops cluster near the harbour at Dapia and there are usually town bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes and increasingly electric bikes. The full circuit on a normal bike is a two to three hour ride with stops, and it is not flat. The road climbs away from the coast in several places, particularly on the western and northern sections, with gradients that are short but genuinely steep. An electric bike removes the problem entirely and if you are not a regular cyclist, hire one.
Moped or scooter. The full loop takes something like forty-five minutes of actual riding. This is what most visitors do and what a lot of residents do. You need the appropriate licence, and the hire shop should ask to see it. Helmets are a legal requirement and you should wear one regardless of what you see other people doing.
On foot the full ring is a long, hot and largely shadeless day and we would not recommend it. Walk sections instead.
The route
Anticlockwise from town takes you along the south coast first, past Agioi Anargyroi and on to Agia Paraskevi, which are the two beaches worth building a stop around. That side is the sunnier one and it gets the swimming.
Carry on round the western end and the road turns north, quieter, more pine, with the Peloponnese appearing across the water and the track down to Zogeria branching off. This is the prettiest stretch and the least trafficked.
Then back east along the north side towards town, ending near Dapia, or you can carry on past Kaiki to the Old Harbour and stop for something to eat.
Pain points
Shade. There is very little of it. Long stretches of this road are open, and in July and August the middle of the day on a bicycle is a bad idea. Go out early, be back by noon, or go late in the afternoon. Carry more water than you think you need, because there is no shop between the beach clusters.
The hills. Nobody warns people about this and they should. The road is not a flat coastal ribbon. There are climbs on the western and northern sections that will stop a casual cyclist dead on a hot day, and the descent back down towards Zogeria and the north coast is fast with loose grit at the edges.
Road surface and edges. Reasonable tarmac in most places, but with broken edges, gravel on the bends and no marked cycle provision. There is no verge to escape onto.
Traffic is light but not absent. Delivery lorries and the beach bus use this road and it is narrow in places with blind corners. Ride predictably and assume you have not been seen.
Moped injuries are the commonest thing that goes wrong on Greek islands. Wear the helmet, wear shoes rather than flip-flops, do not ride after dinner and wine, and check your travel insurance actually covers you on a moped with your licence class. Many policies do not.
Night. Most of the ring road is unlit. If you are out at dusk, have lights on a bicycle and take the direct route home.
Out of season hire shop opening thins right out, and the wind on the exposed northern side in spring and autumn is stronger than the temperature suggests.
The plan we recommend
Hire an electric bike, set off from Dapia at eight in the morning anticlockwise, swim at Agia Paraskevi before the sunbeds fill, carry on round the quiet northern side, and be back in town by lunchtime with the whole coastline of Spetses behind you and the afternoon still free.