Pelion:Trek over the Peninsula

Arrival in Portaria from Volos, Thessaloniki or Athens airport.

Today you make a round walk from Portaria. You walk to the traditional mountain village Makrinitsa  with its characteristic stone houses with slated roofs. You walk through maquis vegetation where you smell thyme and oregano to an idyllic church. Through forests you ascend and then via a dirt road you descend towards Portaria, whilst enjoying views on Volos city. Before reaching Portaria you come through a small green gorge.

Challenge: 4,5 hours, 13 km / 8 mi, 550m ascent, 550m descent

You depart from Portaria and follow a beautiful path among conifer trees under ‘Aidonaki’, the west peak of Pelion. After a while the scenery changes and you walk through a deep beech tree forest. Just before reaching the highest hamlet of Pelion, Hania, you pass by the ruins of an old sanatorium lost in the forest. Here starts Hania at an altitude of 1250 meters where it is usually fresh and cool. You stay overnight at a spa hotel.

Challenge: 3 hours, 7 km / 4,5 mi, 560m ascent, 35m descent

Today starts with a transfer with the hotels’ minibus to the start of the kalderimi (paved stone path). You descend via this great path through beech forest. The first section is via a kalderimi, later on sections on tarmac road and kalderimi alternate until you reach the picturesque village of Kissos. After a (lunch) break you continue on a beautiful track to Mouresi village and from Mouresi you descend to Agios Ioannis.

Challenge: 4 / 3 hours, 11 - 7 km / 7 - 4,5 mi, 300 m ascent, 1100 / 650 m descent

You walk along the coast and via a walk on a very pleasant cobbled path you reach the hamlet Damouchari, a tiny fishing village in a bay. Though tiny it was of strategic importance in earlier times, when it was the only natural harbor on the entire coast between Volos and Katerini. Today the bay provides a natural swimming pool with a pleasant pebble beach. From Damouchari you can make an optional loop back and forth along the coast to Fakistra beach where there is a possibility to visit the ‘Hidden School’ in a cave. Back above Damouchari bay, you walk uphill on a path to Tsangarada, a wide stretched village with numerous churches and squares. Your hotel is in the section Agia Paraskevi. From the terrace of this characteristic accommodation you see the village square with a 1000 year old plane tree with an incredible diameter.

Challenge: 4 hours, 8 km / 5 mi, 700m ascent, 300m descent

Today you will cross the mountain range at 700m elevation towards the south. First you walk through the lush village of Tsangarada along old churches and squares. Then you will ascend through forest and across the ridge. You walk via old mule tracks that were mainly built to facilitate the transportation of products from one place to the other. You walk through lime stone landscape covered with chestnut- and beech trees. You descend to the picturesque mountain village Milies whilst enjoying great views over the Pagasitic Gulf. Around Milies you find many old olive groves. Your hotel today has a lovely pool for relaxation moment.

Challenge: 4,5 hours, 12 km / 7,5 mi, 350m ascent, 400m descent

You descend via old cobbled paths from Milies towards the coast whilst enjoying great views. Last section before reaching the coastal village of Koropi is via dirt roads through olive groves. From Koropi you walk to the nearby touristic village Kala Nera, where you might have lunch in the shadow of the big plane tree on the village square. Then you ascend via cobbled paths via a hamlet until the narrow gauge railway tracks, that you follow until Milies. The tracks are 200-300m above sea level. It is great to follow the tracks that ascend gradually. Wherever mule tracks cross the tracks, stone road bridges have been built: interesting civil engineering features from the past. You will also walk past the cave where, according mythology, the centaur Cheiron taught Asklepios about medical plants and herbs. During the summer months the steam train operates once per day only on Saturday and Sunday.

Challenge: 4 hours, 12 km / 7,5 mi, 475m ascent, 475m descent

After breakfast end of arrangement. Travel to Thessaloniki-, Volos- or Athens airport.