2014 Greece

This was a very special trip for me as my travel companion has Greek ancestry and had never been to the country before and we even timed it so that her birthday would occur during the trip.  We had signed up for a hiking trip with Wilderness Travel and decided to go over to Greece a few days earlier to make sure that we had plenty of time to see Athens and to explore Meteora in northern Greece.

Meteora

Got off the plane in Athens, hoped on a local train to downtown Athens, and then another couple of trains to take us up to Meteora, it was about a 5 hour ride.  We arrived in the evening and made our way to this very nice little hotel on the edge of the hills.  It would have been nice if we could have spent more than one night there.

Meteora is known for all the monasteries on the high rocks with no easy way to approach them.  We had signed up with a local company to have a car and guide for the day but they were a no-show so we took a local bus up which was not a problem, but it meant that we only had time to explore one monastery, but it was the Grand Monastery and I have no regrets as it was beautiful with great views.

Athens

We grabbed the direct train back from Meteora mid afternoon and got the hotel in downtown Athens.  We had tomorrow to explore Athens on our own before we would meet with the rest of the group for the organized tour.  This turned out to be good planning as Acropolis was pretty quiet the day we visited and we had plenty of time to explore and take pictures without many people getting in the way.  The next day with the group we only had an hour and it was very crowded.

The itinerary for the group trip was to visit a number of the islands, staying for a few days and get in as much hiking as possible.  We had a small group of 16 with three guides.  Actually a family of guides, the father and his two daughters.   We all met for breakfast in Athens and had a very fast tour of the town, so I am really glad we came early to spend a day to explore on our own.  Our travel between the islands was done by scheduled ferries which seem to have changing schedules so there were little adjustments at times to what we had planned to do but everything worked out.

Travelling in late May was great for this trip as it was not too hot yet and many of the places here not overrun with tourists yet (I’m a traveller, not a tourist  🙂 ).

The basic plan for most, non-travel, days was to start hiking shortly after breakfast, stop in a village for lunch, then hike a little more.  In most cases we would take a local bus or the hotel would have a mini-bus waiting to pick us up and take us back to the hotel for … refreshment.

The hotels we stayed were often very small and our group would either fill the place or be the only people staying there.  Very quaint and nice, family run businesses, the type of places where you get a feeling that you know the owners by the time you leave.

Tinos

Our first island was Tinos and we stayed in the port town for a couple of days and got to finally stretch our legs after all the traveling. I was surprised just how clean everything was and all the buildings look like they had all just received a fresh paint job.  I quickly learned that at meal time the food will just keep coming and that eggplant is always part of every meal.

Hike #1

On this island of beautiful beaches and traditional whitewashed hamlets, we hike a kalderimia, or cobbled mule path, to picturesque whitewashed villages including Ktikado. The huge dovecotes (white stone towers built for nesting doves) decorating these old villages are considered architectural masterpieces. We continue our hike on the old Roman road up to Exombourgo, the great Venetian fortress of Santa Elena, which offers us superb views over the neighbouring islands. Within the fortress walls are ruined medieval houses and three churches. We descend by way of the pretty village of Falatados, where we have our lunch, then head back to Hora, with an opportunity for a refreshing afternoon swim.

Wilderness Travel itinerary

Distance 7.51km (4.67 miles)

Elevation Change 480m (1,575 feet)

Hike #2

Distance 2.47km (1.54 miles)

Elevation Change 14m (48 feet)

Hike #3

We start our hike at Falatados, a picturesque town with a traditional main square, following the kalderimia to the beach at Livada, with a swim stop to enjoy its green rock formations and inviting crystal-clear waters.

Wilderness Travel itinerary

Distance 6.20km (3.85 miles)

Elevation Change 64m (210 feet)

Delos

Unfortunately, this is the place where the ferry schedule changes only allowed us a few hours.  The ruins and history on the island definitely called for more than the brief time we had.

Mykanos

The time we lost out of Delos allowed for a bit of extra time on Mykanos, even then I think we only had three hours here.  Enough time for a quick walking tour of the town and a chance to pick up some souvenirs or some shopping or … yup, food for me.

Naxos

We spent a few days on the island of Naxos which was nice as there were so many interesting places to hike. Walking through valleys until you came out at the sea, which was a great way to end a full day hike.  Then taking a day to hike to some of the highest spots on the island to get wonderful views and talk philosophy with the local goats.

My new-found love of gyros got me in trouble here as I would always be looking for them and we would leave dinner in search of a late night gyros stand.

Hike #4

At the Chapel of Aghia Marina, at an altitude of 1,800 feet, we begin our hike on a path up Mount Zas (for Zeus), at 3,000 feet the highest peak on Naxos and the highest point in the Cyclades Islands. At the top of the peak, we enjoy an unbelievable view across the entire island of Naxos and out to its neighbouring islands. We have the option to hike back down the same way or make a further descent to visit the sacred Zeus cave, where according to Greek mythology, the baby Zeus was once sheltered.

Wilderness Travel itinerary

Distance 7.36km (4.57 miles)

Elevation Change 444m (1,457 feet)

Amorgos

This was one of my favourite islands on this trip.  A very relaxed pace and very accepting of outsiders.  I remember going in one small shop to buy some razor blades and then later that night we went into the main church to observe their services and the shop keeper from earlier in the day made sure to wave and say γεια σας (hello).

We encountered lots of animals on this island and a couple of very nice beaches.  Twice we ended our hike going for a swim in the crystal clear waters of the Aegean Sea.

Hikes #5 & #6

This morning, we follow a stone path to the monastery of Panagia Panohoriani, then further up past the frescoed church at Stavros to the Agios Theologos monastery, built in the 8th century and recently restored. We continue our hike along spectacular cliffs above the Aegean for fantastic views, then descend through a lovely village of Langada and to the beautiful beach at Egiali for an optional swim.

Wilderness Travel itinerary

Hike #5

Distance 8.87km (5.51 miles)

Elevation Change 472m (1,549 feet)

Hike #6

Distance 3.19km (1.98 miles)

Elevation Change 47m (154 feet)

Hike #7

From Langada, we hike up to the area of Mt. Krikelos (2,200’), where we find the ruins of one of the oldest windmills in the Cyclades. We descend to Langada for coffee in the village, then continue to the beautiful beach of Levrossos, where we have lunch in a small restaurant and a chance to swim in the sea.

Wilderness Travel itinerary

Distance 6.95km (4.32 miles)

Elevation Change 382m (1,253 feet)

Hike #8

From Kapsala, we begin our hike by following a lovely footpath to the monastery of Chosoviotissa. This great 11th century monastery is a gleaming white fortress in a spectacular location, clinging to a towering red cliff 300 feet above the sea. One of the finest ancient monasteries in Greece, Chozoviotissas was built around 1017 and renovated in 1088 by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus. We continue to Chora for lunch.

Wilderness Travel itinerary

Distance 5.16km (3.21 miles)

Elevation Change 504m (1,653 feet)

Santorini

The famous island of Santorini is everything you have probably heard about it.  Very popular with the cruise ships so the main towns would get crowded during the day but the once you see the views you understand the attraction.

We spent one morning at the Akrotiri Archaeological site which dates back to 3,000 B.C. and despite popular belief, I was not around then.  🙂  It is an amazingly well-preserved site and well worth the visit and you really do get a good understand of what it might have been like to live back then.

The rest of the island was not as expensive as I was expecting but perhaps that is because it was not the tourist season.  We did have one scary evening on the island when a very windy storm came in. It was blowing sand and small rocks everywhere, luckily I had stocked up on (liquid) supplies and we were able to make it through the storm.  However, the storm did cause enough damage (mostly dirt damage) that many restaurants had to close for the night.  This was supposed to be our farewell dinner night but our guides were able to find us a nice place on the leeward side of town.

We had a late night flight out of Santorini to take us back to Athens, where we spent the night before a mid day flight back home.

Logistics

The first few days of this trip we organized ourselves. Getting from the Athens airport to the central train station was pretty simple and enough people knew English when we needed help.  In Meteora we stayed at the Dellas Boutique Hotel and I would really recommend this hotel.  The homemade breakfast buffet was well more than I was expecting from this remote area.

The main part of the trip was a packaged tour trip organized by Wilderness Travel and it was the first time I have used them and I have no reservations about using them again.  The local guides were very knowledgeable and helpful.  It was a 14 day itinerary that they called Hiking in the Greek Isles. The only real negative I have was due to the ferry schedules.  Often we spent time waiting for a ferry or running through a port to change from one ferry to the next. I realize that’s part of travelling between islands but I just felt that there must be a better way, especially when we had to go back to Naxos when going from Amorgos to Santorini.

Overall, a good trip with much better hiking than I was expecting.  The beer was all good and the food, well, it took me a while to burn off the extra pounds I put on during this vacation.  🙂

Cheers, Nigel