AT First day in Athens
CT Athens to Trikala via Corinth
TT The Trek from Trikala to Dhiakofto
IS On the islands
Walk Photos
Welcome to our Peloponnese page. Here we give details of our 2000 Summer Holiday organised by Explore Worldwide.
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OH Our holiday
AT First day in Athens CT Athens to Trikala via Corinth TT The Trek from Trikala to Dhiakofto IS On the islands |
Walk Photos |
If you have any questions or suggestions to improve information given, please contact us via our D and J e-mail.
This trek was part of our summer holiday in 2000. It was an organised holiday which took in Athens and the Ionian island resort of Ithaca as well as the trek. The trek was for 6 days, and was in the area of the Northern Peloponnese.
The holiday was organised by Explore. A guide from a Greek Company called Hellas Trekking accompanied us on the trek.
The trek was from the small mountain village of Trikala in the Corinth region, to the coastal town of Dhiakofto in the Achaea region. Accomodation was in small hotels/guest houses, except for one night camping.
Greece is not as well developed for walking as other European countries, although this is changing, and areas like the Pindos and Zagoria are well serviced by UK walking companies. During this trek most of the walking was on tracks and well trodden paths, although there was a distinct lack of waymarking and walking maps were not available.
| Our first day included a walking tour of Athens. From our hotel in Omonia Square we visited Syntagma (Constitution) Square and walked through the National Gardens on the way to the famous Panathinaikon Olympic Stadium. This was the setting for the first Olympic Games of the Modern Era held in 1896. Fittingly this stadium was where the marathon finished at the 2004 Olympics. We then walked past the Temple of Zeus, before entering the Plaka district and walking up to the most famous symbol of Athens the Parthenon built on top of the Acropolis. We were then left to our devices, We visited the various buildings and museum on the Acropolis. We then had a pleasant lunch at the Eden Vegetarian Restaurant in the Plaka before strolling back to our hotel. | |
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| Guard duty outside the Parliament Building. | Parthenon. |
| The Athens to Trikala journey was by coach, visiting Corinth on the way. We stayed at the Hotel Ta Trikala, which had lovely views from the rooms. | |
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| View from hotel. | Temple of Appolo with Acrocorinth in the background. |
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W1 Trikala to Steno
W2 Steno to Zarouchla W3 Zarouchla to Peristera |
W4 Styx Gorge
W5 Peristera to Zaklorou W6 Zaklorou to Dhiakofto |
| Leaving Trikala (1100m) we walked through pine forest and along a ridge (1560m) to the top of a crag named "Nuns Leap". Descending from the crag we walked down a valley to the small village of Steno. We enjoyed a few drinks at the local taverna before returning later for the evening meal. There was no accomodation in the village so tents had been set up, and sleeping bags provided for us. | |
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| The top of Nuns Leap. | Nuns Leap from below. |
| After breakfast at the campsite, we were taken by jeeps up the valley to Steno reservoir. Leaving the reservoir (920m) we walked up the track to the monstery of Ayios Yiorgos. Unfortunately it was closed to visitors.The way continued on via forest paths and tracks (max height 1450m) to a church, then down through a very pleasant forest path with some good views. We reached a road which we walked along to the village of Zarouchla. We stayed in rooms in a private house, and took our meals in the taverna next door. | |
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| Overnight accomodation. | Steno reservoir - the start of the walk. |
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| A second reservoir view. | The house we were staying at, and the taverna next door. |
| Leaving the village we walked up forest roads, and then paths leading to a small peak (1530m). Descending on forest paths and roads we reached a taverna at Solos for a welcome drink. From the Solos we crossed the river to the small village of Peristera. There were some good views of Mount Helmos (2440m) which is one of the highest mountains in the Peloponnese. Mount Helmos is a popular skiing area in winter. It was on this walk that we saw two Regal eagles pass very close to where we lunched on a col. Our accomodation in Peristera for the next two nights was in a private house run by a lady nicknamed "Poppy" by the leaders. This was a very pleasant place to stay, with a pleasant garden area where you could sit around a walnut tree drinking and chatting. Poppy's cooking was excellent and we ate our meals around a large communal table. | |
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| Mount Helmos mountains. | Jackie at small peak. |
| The Gorge of the River Styx is a popular walk in this area of Greece and is well waymarked. Unfortunately part of the path had been destroyed by a landslide, and so we could only do less than half the intended walk. This was disappointing as this would have been one of the highlights of the holiday. After a typical leisurely lunch we retraced our steps to the trail start, and walked down to the road to Poppy's. | |
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| Typical lunch time spread - we each carried part of the lunch. | Tuck in - we had each been give a plastic spoon at the start of the trek, with instructions that most complete spoon at the end of the trek would win a prize. |
| Today we left Poppy's and were driven to the start of the day's walk. From the dropping off point in a village we walked up to a church and then climbed up to the top of a small peak (1395m). Descending into a valley, we followed a path alongside a dried up river bed, before crossing a wooded col and descending to the monastery of Mega Spelion. Mega Spelion is in a dramatic location as it is built into a rock face, and it is one of the better known monasteries of the Peloponnese. | |
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| Relaxing under Poppy's tree. | Church in the rock. |
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| Mega Spelion monestary. | Zakkloron station. |
| It was a very early start today - we had to walk down to Dhiakofto to catch
a morning train to Patras. We were up at 5.15 am, had breakfast and were out walking
by 6.30 am. The path, which is part of the European Long Distance Path E4
follows the
Kalavryta to Dhiakofto rack and pinion railway line.
This is a popular line with tourists as it passes through the Vouraikos gorge. It was dark when we started, but with the dawn there were good views of the surrounding scenery. after about 2.5 hours walking we reached the railway station at Dhiakofto, the end of our enjoyable six days trek. |
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| Following the railway line. | One of the trains. |
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| Approaching Vathi. | Our hotel - first two nights - the balconies were soon decorated with clothes lines. |
| After the trek we moved onto the island of Ithaca, for a few days of strolling and chill out. | |
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| The Caique that took us to our next hotel at Frikes. | A chapel en route. |
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| Rioni. | Frikes. |
This page was last updated on 20th October 2007.