GPS led French cyclist to Roma camp in Menidi, where he was robbed

22-year-old French cyclistwho traveled around Europe for seven months, following the guidance of GPS found himself in the territory of a gypsy camp in Menidi. There a group of people surrounded him and took away his bag with his phone.

As a young Frenchman named Andre told the Star, he did not know the area and simply followed the route of the navigator. However, instead of the usual road, the system took him inside a gypsy camp in the Menidi area.

GPS led French cyclist to Roma camp in Menidi, where he was robbed pic.twitter.com/ZxCuyOsZio

— Athens News (@russianathens) July 7, 2026

Star video with a cyclist’s story

According to him, at first five or six people gathered around him, then three more came up from behind. In the confusion, the cyclist’s fanny pack, which contained a mobile phone, was taken away.

After the attack, Andre tried to find help and ended up receiving directions from a passerby who directed him to the Acharnes police station. There the Frenchman spoke about what had happened and described the alleged attackers.

According to Greek media, police officers then escorted him back to the camp area to try to find the people involved in the robbery.

Passed Europe, but couldn’t pass Menidi

The story looks almost like a black tourist advertisement: a young man travels around Europe on a bicycle, covers hundreds and thousands of kilometers, and in Greece the navigator sends him through an area where local residents try not to go unless absolutely necessary.

The problem, of course, is not GPS per se. The navigator is not able to assess criminal risks, social tension and the reputation of individual areas. It only sees a line on the map and calculates the shortest route. And then the person has to explain to the police why he decided to drive along this road.

The very fact that foreign tourist After the robbery, the police are forced to escort him back to the camp, says a lot. For the average traveler, this is no longer just a bad turn, but a collision with territory where safety depends not on the law, but on who exactly happened to be around you at a particular moment.

This is not about labeling all Roma or all residents of an area as criminals. But if security problems regularly arise in a certain area, the authorities are obliged to recognize this and respond, and not pretend that the tourist was simply unlucky with the route.

Andre, according to media reports, decided to continue the journey. But he will probably take the impression of Athens with him for a long time: after seven months of travel, his memorable Greek stage was not at the Acropolis, but between the GPS route, the camp and the Acharnes police station.

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