First, I backpacked in Italy and Malta, then I picked up my bicycle in Wroclaw, Poland, and biked to Athens, Greece. I took trains, ferries, and a bus to get to my destination because I was tired at the end. Due to the heat dome in Europe, I had to cycle early in the morning. I only averaged about 25 miles per cycling day. In Athens, I sold my bicycle and touring gears to Rodrigo and my camping gears to Sarah.

2026 Europe bike tour map

The highlight of the bike tour was the people I met.

I was very happy to meet Henryk in Bratislava, Slovakia. He was such an interesting person and is living a life that I hope to live one day. He works whenever he wants to and goes on bike tours and hiking trips according to his own will. Henryk also gave me the advice of becoming a project manager if I want to return to a corporate life.

Additionally, I met Chuck and Susan. I consider them as the Godfather and Godmother of Warmshowers hosts. Together, they have hosted close to 1600 cyclists by the time I stayed with them in Shkoder, Albania. They also allowed me to stay for nine days, which was a very long time.

There were many other people I met on my bike tour. All of them have changed me in one way or another. I’m very grateful for this experience.

The total cost of this trip was $8745 for four months. This comes out to an average of $2186 per month, or $72.88 per day. Since I stayed in hotels, guesthouses, and hostels during the majority of my bike tour, the expenses were higher than a typical bicycle tourist. For a comparison, in 2018 I spent about $50 per day for my bike tour across the US.

I will not be bike touring for a while now that I sold my bicycle and all my camping gears in Athens. I will do a backpacking trip in Latin America as my next trip in 2027.

First there was Rodrigo, who bought my bicycle. I spent the most time with him hanging out at the hostel because the weather has been so hot during the day. He’s friends with a bunch of female travelers, Alba, Rosio, and Jenna. Together, we celebrated Rodrigo’s 38th birthday. I bought him a cake because I had told him that if I sell my bicycle before his birthday I would buy him a cake. It turned out that I sold my bike to him. Lol!

I sold my camping gears to an American girl named Sarah. She was also interested in my bike, but Rodrigo was at the hostel before her. I felt bad that I didn’t sell my bike to her and offered to treat her to lunch, but our schedule didn’t align. I hope she bought a bicycle somewhere else.

I also met up with Dale at a cafe. We had met last year in Nicosia, Cyprus. It was great catching up with her in Athens. She’s been traveling for five years and I need to learn from her on how to travel slowly.

At the Athens Hawks hostel, I had to switch to a different room. There I met Daniel, a young Brazilian guy who will try to get a job in Germany. I also met Max, a student studying business law. The three of us grabbed dinner at a gyro restaurant where the waiter didn’t think Max could finish his meal due to its large portion. After Max proved him wrong, the waiter, whose name is Dimitry, gave him a free can of Pepsi. I thought the whole thing was so funny because Max owed me a can of soda after losing a bet on the time of sunset over the mountains.

At night on the hostel rooftop bar, we caught up with our other roommates, Kacey and Catia. They are 18 and 19 years old Australian girls. I learned that Kacey’s mother is an opera singer who might have performed on the stage when my parents were living in New York City in the 90s. In fact, there was a good chance that my parents saw Kacey’s mom perform Madam Butterfly. What a small world!

I played three games of pool with two other roommates, Raf and Zoey. Raf is looking at perspective graduate schools and Zoey is almost done finishing a data science master degree from Columbia University.

Yesterday, after staying at Athens Hawks hostel for nine nights, I finally checked out and met up with Paweł, my Couchers host, near Nea Ionia district. Paweł is such an interesting person. He completed his data science master degree not too long ago and is really interested in data privacy. He’s the first person I met who has GrapheneOS installed on his phone. He showed me a bunch of resources online so I can learn more about privacy tools. Inspired by him, I made changes to my website where I removed Disqus commenting system since they were placing ads on my posts, and deleted Google Analytics in the html header so Google can’t track visitors to my website. Even though I won’t be able to see visitor information, I feel it’s a minor inconvenience for me.

Today, I met Marena and Eduardo. They are a couple who arrived at Paweł’s place and will also be staying with him for two nights. Marena is a singer and Eduardo is a saxophone player. They plan on busking at the Acropolis this afternoon to earn some money before going camping at one of the islands nearby.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time in Athens even though I didn’t go to any islands near Athens. Max and I did spent a morning hiking up to Lycabettus Hill to get a good view of the city and visiting Athens National Garden.

Athens, as a city, reminded me a lot of Philadelphia. It’s gritty in certain areas, such as the neighborhood where the hostel is located. Yet other parts of the city are cleaner and geared toward tourists. I hope to be back in Athens again so I can use it as a base to explore the Greek islands. I just didn’t feel like doing any more exploring now that my bike tour has ended.

Overall, my backpacking trip to Italy and Malta has been great and my bike tour from Wrocław, Poland, to Athens, Greece, has been amazing despite the heat. Tomorrow, I will take the 1 PM flight from Athens to Philadelphia. There are so many things I want to do at home, and I will write up a trip summary when I get back.

Celebrating Rodrigo’s birthday. From left to right: Alba, me, Rodrigo, Rosio, and Jenna

Met up with Dale in Athens

A traditional Greek dish with tomatoes, eggs, and meat

Walking around in a tourist area

The Greek gyro with fries inside

Cool mural

I just love this building for some reason.

Another sunset from the hostel rooftop bar

From left to right: me, Dimitry, Max, and Daniel

The moon and Acropolis from the hostel rooftop bar

Statue next to the Academy of Athens

Academy of Athens

Hiking up Lycabettus Hill

At the top

View of the city

The church at the top

Another view from the top

Turtles at the Athens National Garden

The pond at the garden

Someone famous at the garden

The common area inside the Athens Hawks hostel

Had to try the Greek orange cake from my friend’s recommendation

From left to right: me, Marena, Eduardo, and Paweł

I listed my bike on Buycycle.com and Facebook Marketplace. There was a buyer from each platform, but I ended up selling my bike, along with the panniers, repair tools and parts, some bike clothing, etc, to Rodrigo, the traveler I had met during the first day of my stay at the hostel. He decided to start his first bicycle tour and ride around Europe and maybe go to Türkiye. It’s his 38th birthday today and he sees a new adventure coming.

I was glad to have sold my bike, but I felt bad because there was a girl from Florida who had contacted on Facebook Marketplace and wanted to buy the bike, too. She was disappointed after I sold it to Rodrigo. But she might buy my camping gears and I will try to help her find another bicycle to purchase in Athens.

As for the city of Athens, I walked to Areopagus Hill to get a good view of the Acropolis, then paid €30 as the entrance fee to go inside the grounds of the Acropolis. I also saw the Parthenon and some ancient temples there.

Yesterday after selling my bike, I took a walking tour with Rodrigo and his friends, Bradley and Lucre, to Philopappos Hill to get another good view of the city. We also went to Anafiotika, a neighborhood in Athens that’s full of buildings painted white. There was also a great view from there.

For lunch, we ended up at a vegan restaurant called Mama Tierra Acropolis. The food was excellent. No wonder it has a 4.9 rating with over 1000 reviews.

At the Athens Hawks hostel, I extended my stay until the 24th. After that I will stay with a Couchers host named Paweł for two nights before getting on my flight to Philadelphia.

I’m glad I sold the bike so I don’t have to find a bike box anymore and flying will be so much easier without a bike.

Total distance from King of Prussia to Athens on my bike: 5485 miles

A large mural by my hostel

The gritty part of the city

One of the nicer neighborhoods

Cool graffiti

Hadrian’s Library

On top of Areopagus Hill

Looking at the Acropolis

Odeon of Herodes Atticus

So many people at the Acropolis

Tourists!

The Parthenon

Another view of the Parthenon

View of another hill in the distance from Acropolis

Erechtheion

Cool column figures

The Porch of the Caryatids

Plateia Syntagmatos

Interesting sculpture

I almost saw the sunset, but fell asleep right before it.

My bicycle is now passed on to Rodrigo

On top of Philopappos Hill

View of Acropolis from Philopappos Hill

The prison where Socrates was held, supposedly

A better view of the prison

Philopappos Monument

Left to right: me, Lucre, Rodrigo, and Bradley

Arch of Hadrian

View from the Anafiotika neighborhood

More hills in the distance

More graffiti

Horologion of Andronikos Cyrrhestes

A shopping district

Panagía Kapnikaréa Church

Inside the church

A more modern street

So many pigeons!

Finally saw the sunset from the hostel rooftop

I purchased this bicycle from Priority Bicycles in September 2022 for a retail value of $1999, but it was $2225 in total, including shipping to a local bike shop, have it assembled professionally, and paid sales tax.

2022 Priority Apollo webpage

I used this bicycle for two bike tours. One is from King of Prussia, PA, to Gainesville, FL, in 2023 (1968 miles). The other is from King of Prussia, PA, to Athens, Greece, in 2025-26 (5485 miles). The total odometer mileage is about 7500 miles, or ~12000 km.

I gave this bike the name: Serendipity.

Maintenance

This bicycle has been great and lives up to the low maintenance reputation that Priority advertises. Once I installed Schwalbe Marathon Almotion tubeless tires, I had no flats during my Europe bike tour.

The bike is very quiet when ridden, the gears can be changed when the bike is stopped, and the ride is very smooth. Moreover, during rainy days, the bike doesn’t need its chain to be lubed because it doesn’t have a chain, but a belt. You basically get a free bike wash when it rains.

Here’s some more detailed information about the various components and maintenance videos:

Conclusion

I hope the next owner can take good care of this bicycle. I enjoyed riding this bike a lot. It’s been a great bike!

Contact

For any questions regarding this bike, you can contact me via the About page. You can also email Priority Bicycles directly. Their customer service is top notch!

Cycling Resources

For more cycling resources and tips, I wrote up this resource guide on my old blog.

I stayed at Hotel Astoria in Igoumenitsa, which is very close to the ferry terminal. I didn’t do much in town except for getting some meals. Igoumenitsa seems to be just a place for the ferry with nothing special about it.

The next morning, I went to the bus station and spent €68.20 for a bus ticket to Athens. The price included a €15 fee for the bicycle.

The bus ride was from 8:30 AM to about 4 PM. It was a long ride, but I enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery while listened to some music.

Once I reached the bus station in Athens, I rode about two miles to Athens Hawks hostel. I was glad that I could store my bicycle in the basement of the hostel.

This hostel is a nice hostel. The rooms are clean and there’s a social area. I met another traveler named Rodrigo in the afternoon. He’s from Uruguay. We went to a Pakistani restaurant near the hostel for dinner then walked around the neighborhood for a little while. It seems I’m in a neighborhood full of immigrants.

I only booked for two nights at the hostel, most likely I will extend a few more nights at least. I need to acquire a cardboard bicycle box, but right now there’s a holiday in Greece. From the WhatsApp Europe Cycling group, I read that most bike shops in Athens are closed due to the holiday. I will have to wait a few days then contact the shops. Meanwhile, I plan to do laundry one last time and explore Athens.

Taking this ferry from Corfu

Leaving Corfu

On the ferry

Feeding seagulls

Bikes loaded onto the bus

Leaving Igoumenitsa bus station

On the bus to Athens

Beautiful mountains

More mountains in the distance

Omonoia Square

Cool graffiti

Another one

At 9 AM, I rode my bike from Mega Hostel to the Sarandë ferry terminal nearby. I had to park my bike, go through passport control, then come back to the other side of the fence to get my bike and wait with the cars. It was a weird process.

The ferry ride from Sarandë to Corfu, Greece, was only about 1:15 hours. There’s a +1 hour time change in Greece so I arrived at 12:15 PM.

At the port in Corfu, I had to take my bike through passport control, which was very awkward since there were so many people waiting in line. Anyway, I was glad I got through that.

I checked into Casa Mia Studio apartment with the help of the owner, Constantinos. He recommended Ninos, a popular restaurant that serves the local cuisine. After relaxing for a bit, I walked to the ferry terminal ticket office to confirm the cost to take my bicycle onto the ferry is free. Since I had bought the Corfu to Igoumenitsa ferry ticket online I wasn’t sure if there’s a fee for bicycles. As it turns out, there isn’t a fee. Good news for me!

For the rest of the afternoon, I walked to the old town in the town of Corfu. By the way, Corfu is also the name of this Greek island.

I saw the New Venetian Fortress. It seemed like a ruin so I wasn’t impressed. I did have a late lunch at Ninos. I had a traditional veal dish called pastitsada. It was really good.

I walked by Spianada Square before paying €10 for the entrance fee to the Old Fortress of Corfu. That was the highlight of my afternoon. I spent quite some time walking inside. At the top of the fortress, I could see the town of Corfu. I also explored the rest of the fortress, including Saint George’s Church.

When I exited the Old Fortress, I walked on the north shore of Corfu to get back to the apartment. I don’t really know what to do in the apartment. I might go for a late dinner if I get hungry. Tomorrow, I’ll take the 9 AM ferry to Igoumenitsa and be on mainland Greece.

Walking toward Corfu old town

The New Venetian Fortress

Old town street

First time seeing a statue with this pose

Narrow street in old town

Pastitsada at Ninos

One of the old town plazas

Looking back

Liston building

A memorial at Spianada Square

The Old Fortress of Corfu

The moat on the outside of the fortress

Looking out to the sea from the fortress

On my way to the top

Climbed up some stairs

Lighthouse at the top

Great view!

Looking at Corfu town

Looks like a barrel of a cannon

The clock tower

Old cannons

Saint George’s Church

Inside the church

I guess I discovered myself.

Cool old building

Nice fountain

On my way back to the apartment

I spent the majority of my time in the hostel coding and vibe coding my redesigned website that you are viewing now. This website is built with Jekyll, the same framework that I used for my photography portfolio website. I added my coding portfolio and a blogging feature, along with the option to add comments easily. Now this website contains all the things I’m interested in, like a portfolio. It’s a one stop shop! Lol.

Also I think this website is much simpler, better looking, faster to load, and no database. All the blog posts have been converted to markdown files from the Blogger atom XML file. This process took me the longest since I had to vibe code some Python scripts to do the transformation. In any case, I’m very happy with the result after working on it for one and half days.

This morning, I took a stroll around the neighborhood and discovered a small beach that the locals go to. I liked the cozy atmosphere and took some photographs as the sun rose above the eastern mountain.

In the dorm room this afternoon I met a new guest named Bajram. I had bought some pasta, sausages, and marinara sauce yesterday so I will cook dinner for both of us since there is enough for two people.

Tomorrow morning, I will take the 10 AM ferry from Sarandë to Corfu, Greece. There are only a few hostels on the island and the one that’s available is about 10 miles away from the ferry port. I decided to book an apartment for a whopping $175 near the port and the old town for one night. The following day, I’ll take another ferry to Igoumenitsa on mainland Greece.

Another beautiful sunrise

The calm Ionian Sea

A secret beach

People chilling

The next morning, I rode my bike to the bus station hoping to get on the bus to Himarë. When I got there, the driver first wanted 4000 Lek, which is €40, for me and my bicycle. I was told by a fellow the day before that it was only going to be 700 Lek, so needless to say I was shocked by the price. Then the driver reduced the price to 3000 Lek, saying 1000 Lek for me and 2000 Lek for my bicycle. I knew I was getting scammed.

I asked other drivers regarding the fare, they all told me 3000 Lek to Himarë. I realized it’s now too late to start cycling to Himarë and there’s a massive hill that I have to cycle over, not to mention the distance. I decided to get scammed so I didn’t have to cycle.

This was the first time that I got scammed in Albania. I guess not all Albanians are good people. Actually, not all people are good people. There will be some bad apples.

After two hours on the bus, I arrived in Himarë. The place that I booked in Himarë is a camping site since all other options were not available on booking.com, unless I wanted to pay more for a hotel. The camping site is called Camping Himara and it’s not too far from Livadi Beach. I had to cycle about 2 miles to get there from the bus stop in Himarë.

The camping site has a bar area. I actually liked the place since it’s on a hill and has a great view.

I went down to the beach only to see that it’s not a sandy beach, but full of little rocks and pebbles. Plus, there were so many umbrellas and glamping tents that I felt a very touristy vibe. Since I’m traveling solo, I didn’t feel like renting an umbrella and chill on the beach by myself. I only stayed for about ten minutes before walking back to the campsite.

If I had known that I didn’t really like the beach I would have stayed on the bus all the way to Sarandë. No use to worry about past mistakes.

I spent the rest of the day chatting with some guests who were also staying at the campground. I also noticed my back tire was leaking air at the base of the valve. I fixed that. I also adjusted the tension on the carbon belt since it needed tightening.

I thought hard about whether to ride my bike to Sarandë the next day or get scammed again and take the bus there. I decided to ride my bike even though I have to ride 36 miles and go over two mountain passes.

Yesterday morning, I started my ride at sunrise. The first major hill was at 12 miles mark. I had to push my bike at certain points because I just didn’t have the energy to ride up the hill. By the time I reached the other side I drank all my water. Luckily, there was a small market and I bought some water for the next big hill. Usually, I don’t need a refill at all when I ride, but this day was different because of the hills.

The scenery was fantastic when I was up in the mountains. I could see a town underneath me and the sea. The Albanian riviera is fantastic!

As I came to another market, I decided to refill my water bottles again and eat a byrek, which is a Balkan pastry with stuffing inside. I chose the meat stuffing because I needed the protein. The other options were spinach or cheese.

The downhills were the dangerous part where I had to be very careful. I was squeezing my brake levers most of the time as there were hairpin turns. For the last 15 miles or so to Sarandë, the road was either slightly downhill or flat. With the mountains to my left side, I had a blissful time coming to the city limit of Sarandë.

In Sarandë, the traffic was bad since it was around 10:30 AM when I arrived. The cops were directing traffic badly as if they didn’t know anything about traffic patterns. Finally, after 36 miles, two large hills, and 4:45 hours of riding, I reached Mega Hostel, the place where I’ll be spending four nights.

I was so sweaty and tired that I didn’t do anything except eating lunch and dinner at nearby restaurants, then taking a shower at the hostel. I ended up going to sleep at around 7 PM.

This morning, since the temperature was cooler, I took a stroll to Sarandë Promenade. The beach there is also a pebble beach, which I didn’t like. At the ferry booth, I bought a ticket to Corfu, Greece, for €37, on Thursday morning at 10 AM. This price includes the €5 bicycle fare.

I don’t know what else to do in Sarandë. It’s the last Albanian town that I’m stay at. There are boat tour to other points of interest if I choose to do that. To be honest, I just want to relax and not do too much.

On the bus to Himarë

Camping Himara campsite

Glamping tents on Livadi Beach

And more umbrellas

The other side of Livadi Beach

The puppy at the campsite

Riding to Sarandë

So beautiful!

Sunrise over the mountain

Pushing my bike up the pass

The mountains on my left side as I rode to Sarandë

The beach at Sarandë Promenade

The morning sun

Looking at the main section of the town from the beach.

Sun rose over the mountain

Cool mural

Cool ship!

The distant mountain

Statue by the promenade

Marina from the promenade

Soon after I started my ride the next morning, it started to rain. My weather app didn’t even forecast rain. I pulled aside to a cafe and had a cup of Albanian coffee, which is served in a shot glass, similar to an espresso.

A local Albanian guy and I started chatting. He was very kind, like many Albanian people. We didn’t talk too much, but he was impressed by my bike tour. In the end, he ended up paying for my coffee. What a generous guy!

I only had to ride 16 miles to Vlorë from Levan and I was glad for that. As I got closer to town, the view was magnificent when I cruised down the hill. There are mountains on the sides and the town is tucked right in the valley where the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic Sea meet. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos since I was going downhill so fast.

I arrived at Nana Hostel at 7:30 AM. My clothes were damp from the rain. The owner of the hostel, who is an old lady named Nana, did my laundry. She was so bossy to the other guests and refused to keep the AC on for long so she can save money. She also didn’t provide shampoo to any guests. Not that I needed any. I found her to be the highlight of my stay in Vlorë.

I didn’t do much yesterday afternoon and only rode my bike to get dinner at an Asian restaurant called Nishiki. It’s a mom-and-pop restaurant and the food was so good.

This morning, I rode my bike to the bus station to ask about a bus to Himarë since I don’t want to ride my bike up a giant hill from Vlorë to Himarë tomorrow. The guy assured me that there’s a bus at 7 AM that can take my bike. I hope he’s right.

I did all my Vlorë sightseeing in the morning. There isn’t too much to see. I saw the Independence Monument then rode my bike to Lungomare Beach. The temperature gets hotter later in the day so I came back to the hostel around 10:30.

I spent rest of the morning and most of the afternoon coding a website that will combine my web development portfolio with my photography portfolio and adding a blogging feature. When I’m done bike touring Europe, I will start blogging my next adventure using that website since it doesn’t rely on Google services and might work in China if I decide to go there.

Right now, I feel I’m done cycling. I might even take the bus from Himarë to Sarandë, then take the ferry to Corfu, Greece. It’s just too hot and I only ride about 30 miles max per day. I just want to go back home and get some things done on my to-do list. And for some weird reason, I have a feeling that I might get stopped by ICE at the Philadelphia Airport and be detained and deported. My mind thinks too much sometimes.

The morning rain

Beautiful landscape

Cool mosaic mural

Independence Monument

Somebody important

Cool idea

On one of the main streets in Vlorë

What a view!

Lungomare Beach

Along the beach

The mountains in the distance

I was glad to be out of the Backpackers Hostel in Durrës because the place was messy and had no AC. I also didn’t have a good vibe there. It was a complete switch from the Mosaic Home hostel in Tiranë, where it was one of the best hostels I’ve stayed at.

In any case, I rode on a service road next to the main highway most of the way. The route followed the EuroVelo the entire time. I reached Olive Guesthouse (Fori Vodo) in Divjakë around 9 AM after riding 35 miles. The owners are an old couple. They were very nice and offered me coffee and some watermelon slices. I stayed in a private room and it had AC. What a wonderful delight!

I didn’t do much in Divjakë because it’s a small town. Except for going out for lunch and dinner I mainly rested in the room and took a nap.

Google somehow flagged my website as “malicious” so it was down for a day. That was a good excuse for me to not write a blog post yesterday. After I disputed it, this website is up again.

This made me think if I care enough about blogging my travels. I mainly do it to remember my adventures. Maybe I should consider moving my blog to WordPress or something other than Blogger if Google gives me any more issues.

This morning, I continued my bicycle journey by following the EuroVelo. I saw some half finished houses on the sides of the road. There were some goats and geese, too. It felt like I went back in time, seeing old bicycles and old cars on the road.

This is the typical Albania I’ve been witnessing the entire time while traveling in this country. Not to say there aren’t any rich people in the country, I did see a new Bentley in Tiranë and some modern BMWs. But the majority of the people own 20+ years old cars or ride on old bicycles that look like they are about to fall apart. My bike must look like a Cadillac to them.

To me, it’s not the material wealth that matters anyway. The Albanian people I’ve met have been very kind and generous. They are the type of people I would like to live with.

After riding 28 miles to Levan, I arrived at Kappa Guesthouse. The lady just finished cleaning and I was able to check-in right away.

Levan is even smaller than Divjakë with only a few stores and restaurants. The owner of the guesthouse had to work at the restaurant where I had my lunch.

My room doesn’t have AC, only a fan. The temperature in the afternoon is now 35C, or 95F. I plan on going out one more time to get dinner. Tomorrow I’ll ride to Vlorë and stay there for two nights since it’s a bigger town.

On the road to Divjakë

The main intersection at Divjakë

Watermelon slices given to me by the lady at Olive Guesthouse (Fori Vodo)

Seeing more half finished houses on the road.

Beautiful morning clouds!