Introduction
Planning a motorcycle trip in Greece is exciting. Now comes the bigger question: should you rent a motorcycle and plan everything yourself, or book a self-guided motorcycle tour with routes, accommodations, and support included?
After hosting hundreds of riders from around the world since 2016, we’ve seen both approaches work beautifully. The difference usually comes down to matching the right option to the right rider.
This guide breaks down everything you need to know to make an informed decision, based on real experiences from riders who’ve done both.
Understanding Your Options
What Is a Rental-Only Motorcycle Trip?
A rental-only trip means you rent a motorcycle from us and handle everything else yourself: route planning, hotel bookings, daily navigation, and logistics. You have complete control over where you go, where you stay, and how long you spend in each location.
What’s included:
- Premium motorcycle (BMW GS series, Honda NT1100, etc.)
- Basic insurance coverage
- Optional add-ons: GPS device, riding gear, helmet communication
What you handle:
- All route research and planning
- Hotel reservations
- Daily navigation
- Logistics if plans change
What Is a Self-Guided Motorcycle Tour?
A self-guided tour provides the independence of solo travel with the infrastructure of an organized tour. You ride alone (or with your own group) on pre-designed routes with GPS waypoints, pre-booked accommodations, and 24/7 support, but without a tour guide or group.
What’s included:
- Premium motorcycle
- GPS device pre-loaded with tested routes
- All hotel accommodations (pre-booked and pre-paid)
- Comprehensive tour handbook with maps, daily itineraries, fuel stops, and local recommendations
- 24/7 phone support throughout your tour
- Roadside assistance
What you handle:
- Your own pace and timing each day
- Meal choices and sightseeing stops
- Optional detours (within reason)
The Real Costs: Beyond the Price Tag
Rental-Only Pricing Structure
Rental rates typically range from €60-175/day depending on the motorcycle model and rental duration. Add gear rentals and fuel, and you’re looking at roughly €120-235/day for the motorcycle portion alone.
Hotels in Greece range dramatically, from €50/night in basic accommodations to €100-150 for quality mid-range hotels. Most riders doing their own planning budget €80-140/night.
Hidden costs to consider:
- Time investment: Most riders spend 40-50 hours researching routes, reading forums, checking hotel reviews, and building GPS tracks
- Mistakes: Wrong turns, poor hotel choices, or routes that looked great on paper but weren’t enjoyable in reality
- Opportunity cost: Hours spent planning instead of other activities
Self-Guided Tour Pricing
Self-guided tours typically run €190-360/day depending on tour length, motorcycle choice, and accommodation level (single room, shared, etc). This includes the bike, all hotels, GPS routes, handbook, and support.
What you’re actually paying for:
- 10 years of route testing and refinement
- Hotels we’ve personally stayed at and vetted through customer feedback
- Routes that balance great riding with reasonable daily distances
- Detailed local knowledge: where to fuel up, which roads to avoid, seasonal considerations
- Peace of mind and support infrastructure
The time value calculation: If you value your time at even $40/hour, and planning saves you 40 hours of research, that’s $1,600 in time savings alone, before considering the value of local expertise you can’t easily find online.
Who Thrives With Rental-Only?
The Ideal Rental-Only Rider.
Based on years of customer interactions since 2016, rental-only works brilliantly for riders who:
Have significant planning bandwidth: You genuinely enjoy the research process. You’re comfortable spending evenings reading ADVrider trip reports, cross-referencing Google Maps with satellite imagery, and building routes in apps like BaseCamp or MyRoute.
Want maximum flexibility: Your ideal trip involves spontaneous decisions: “That village looks interesting, let’s stay an extra night” or “The weather’s perfect, let’s push through to the coast today.” Pre-booked hotels feel constraining.
Are experienced international travelers: You’ve planned multi-week trips in foreign countries before. You’re comfortable navigating language barriers, adapting when things don’t go as planned, and troubleshooting logistics on the fly.
Have time for extensive research: You’re booking 6-12 months out and have the time to properly research. You enjoy reading forums, watching YouTube ride reports, and piecing together information from multiple sources.
Where Rental-Only Can Go Wrong
We’ve also seen rental-only trips that didn’t live up to expectations:
- Riders who underestimated planning time and showed up with printed Google Maps directions
- Beautiful routes on paper that turned out to be kilometers of broken pavement and gravel.
- Hotel booking mistakes (wrong dates, poor locations, non biker friendly)
- Ambitious daily distances that led to exhaustion
- Missing the “hidden gem” roads that locals actually ride
These aren’t failures, they’re learning experiences. But they’re avoidable with either more research time or local expertise.
Who Thrives With Self-Guided Tours?
The Ideal Self-Guided Tour Rider.
Self-guided tours work exceptionally well for riders who:
Value time over savings: You’d rather spend your free time doing almost anything besides route research. The price difference is worth the convenience.
Want proven routes and logistics: You’re visiting Greece for the first time and want confidence that you’re riding the best roads, staying in quality hotels, and not missing important sights.
Appreciate backup support: Whether it’s a mechanical issue, wrong turn, or unexpected road closure, knowing you have 24/7 phone support provides peace of mind—especially when riding far from major cities.
Travel with a partner/pillion: Planning becomes more complex with two people. A self-guided tour ensures hotels have proper rooms, daily distances are manageable, and you’re not spending vacation time hunched over maps.
Are experienced riders but first-time Greece visitors: You’re comfortable on a motorcycle but unfamiliar with Greek road conditions, regional variations, or cultural considerations. You want local knowledge without a guided group.
Real-World Success Story
Susan and Mike (64 and 67) from Colorado booked our 10-day Peloponnese self-guided tour. Mike has 35+ years of riding experience across the Americas and Europe. Susan rides pillion.
Their feedback: “We’ve done tours in 12 countries. Your routes were among the best we’ve experienced—the right balance of challenging roads and manageable days. The handbook was invaluable. Hotels were spot-on. We rode with confidence knowing we had backup if needed. Worth every euro.”
What Self-Guided Tours Can’t Provide
Complete spontaneity: Hotels are pre-booked for specific dates. If you fall in love with a village and want to stay extra nights, modifications require coordination and may not always be possible during peak season.
Unlimited customization: Routes are designed to work as complete itineraries. While minor detours are fine, completely rerouting defeats the purpose and loses the benefit of tested logistics.
Budget pricing: You’re paying for years of expertise and infrastructure. If budget is the primary concern, rental-only is always more economical.
The Greece-Specific Factors
Why Local Knowledge Matters More Than You Think.
Greece has approximately 117,000 kilometers of paved roads. Quality varies dramatically. Some of the most beautiful roads aren’t well-documented online. Road closures due to weather or maintenance are common in mountain regions.
Examples from our November 2025 route testing:
In November 2025, we spent five days and 1,500+ kilometers re-evaluating routes in the Tzoumerka region. We added two new mountain passes to our tours, eliminated two roads that have deteriorated significantly, and flagged two routes as “conditional” based on seasonal factors.
These updates came from physically riding every kilometer, something impossible to determine from online research.
Seasonal Considerations
September-November riding :
- Perfect temperatures (20-25°C)
- Less traffic on popular routes
- Autumn colors in mountain regions
- More availability for spontaneous changes
Spring riding (April-May):
- Wildflowers in bloom
- Some high mountain passes still closed in April
- Occasional rain in northern regions
These seasonal nuances affect route selection, hotel availability, and daily planning. Factors we build into self-guided tours but rental-only riders must research themselves.
Making Your Decision: A Practical Framework
Ask yourself these questions:
1. Time availability for planning
- Do you have 40-50+ hours available for research over the next few months?
- Does route planning sound enjoyable or like a chore?
2. Previous experience
- Have you successfully planned multi-week international motorcycle trips before?
- Are you comfortable navigating in countries where you don’t speak the language?
3. Risk tolerance
- How do you handle unexpected situations (wrong turns, hotel issues, mechanical problems)?
- Would 24/7 backup support provide meaningful peace of mind?
4. Budget priorities
- Is minimizing cost the primary consideration?
- Or is maximizing vacation quality and minimizing stress worth premium pricing?
5. Trip goals
- Do you want to discover your own hidden gems through exploration?
- Or experience the “greatest hits” of Greek riding without missing anything important?
Decision Matrix
Choose Rental-Only if: ✓ You enjoy detailed trip planning ✓ Budget is a primary constraint ✓ You want maximum flexibility ✓ You have time for extensive research ✓ You’re comfortable adapting when plans change
Choose Self-Guided if: ✓ You value time over cost savings ✓ You want proven routes and vetted hotels ✓ Peace of mind is worth premium pricing ✓ You’re visiting Greece for the first time ✓ You prefer minimizing pre-trip planning stress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch from rental-only to self-guided after arrival?
It’s complicated and most often the answer is no. Self-guided tours require advance hotel bookings, GPS preparation, and handbook printing. If we have availability and can make hotel arrangements, we can occasionally accommodate this, but it’s never guaranteed, especially during peak season.
Better approach: Contact us before your trip if you’re uncertain. We can discuss options.
Can I modify a self-guided tour route?
Minor modifications and detours are fine—that’s the beauty of self-guided. Major changes defeat the purpose of pre-tested routes and pre-arranged logistics.
If you want significant customization, consider a custom self-guided tour (we can design these with enough advance notice) or rental-only for complete freedom.
What happens if I get delayed (flight cancellation, illness, etc.) on a self-guided tour?
This is the main vulnerability of pre-booked accommodations. If you lose day one due to travel delays, you typically can’t recover that hotel cost—you’d start the tour on day two and ride directly to that evening’s destination.
Mitigation strategies:
- Travel insurance that covers trip delays
- Building a buffer day at the start (arrive a day early in Athens)
- Booking flexible flights when possible
How much riding experience do I need?
For rental-only: We recommend at least 5+ years of regular riding experience and comfort on bikes 500cc+. You’re handling navigation, unfamiliar roads, and problem-solving independently.
For self-guided tours: Similar experience level recommended, but the support infrastructure makes it more forgiving for riders with less international touring experience.
Can I try both on the same trip?
Absolutely. Some riders do a self-guided tour for their first week (hitting the major routes with support), then extend with rental-only days to explore areas that caught their interest.
This hybrid approach gives you the best of both worlds.
The Honest Answer
After 10 years and hundreds of customers, here’s what we’ve learned: both approaches work brilliantly, for the right rider.
Rental-only isn’t “settling” or the budget option. For riders who genuinely enjoy planning and want maximum flexibility, it’s often the better choice, even if budget weren’t a concern. The satisfaction of creating and executing your own adventure is meaningful.
Self-guided tours aren’t for people who can’t plan. They’re for people who’d rather spend their limited vacation time riding instead of researching, and who value the confidence of knowing they’re on tested routes with quality accommodations and backup support.
The worst outcome is choosing based on price alone and ending up with an experience that doesn’t match your travel style.
Next Steps
Still unsure which option suits you?
We’re happy to discuss your specific situation. Send us an email with details about:
- Your riding experience
- How much time you have for pre-trip planning
- Whether you’re traveling solo or with others
- Your priorities (budget, flexibility, peace of mind, etc.)
We’ll give you an honest assessment of which approach makes sense, even if that means recommending the less expensive option.
Ready to book?
For rental-only: Check our fleet and start planning your adventure.
For self-guided tours: Browse our tour itineraries or contact us about custom route design.
About the Author
This guide was written by John Kapelakis, co-founder of MotoGreece. Since 2016, we’ve hosted riders from over 40 countries and spent thousands of hours testing routes across Greece. Our self-guided tours are built from real riding experience, refined through customer feedback, and updated annually through extensive route testing.