3 months may sound like a long time, but in reality, it just flies by. We have been on the road for about two months already, six weeks in Greece. But we always have to keep the Schengen clock in the back of our minds.
So this week sees us travel from the Peloponnese up through central and western Greece, covering more miles than we have been as we head towards the border with Bulgaria.
We see traditional mountain villages, a cliffside monastery, get defeated by the roads twice, and find the most idyllic little spot under the eucalyptus trees right on the beach.
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The Detail:
Distance Covered: 602 miles
Financial: Fuel £142; LPG £22; Groceries £51; Household £7; Zeus £3; Vehicle £7; Total £232
Stopovers: Lagkadia; Lofos; Corinth; Aliartos; Agios Polykarpos; Arta; Pyli
Central Peloponnese
The Central Peloponnese, known as Arcadia, is a mountainous area with forests clinging to steep slopes and lush green valleys in every direction.
It is an area of outstanding natural beauty with traditional mountain villages perched high on the mountainsides. Each one is unique, often with a village square which is the centre of the community. With traditional tavernas and restaurants serving regional fare, it’s where the friendly locals meet for a coffee and a chat.
Moni Timiou Prodromou / Monastery of St John the Baptist
A few kilometres from Stemnitsa can be found Moni Timiou Prodromou, the Monastery of St John the Baptist.
It is located in the spectacular Lousios Gorge, literally built into the rock face of the sheer cliffs on the East bank of the river.
Access is challenging. The road from Stemnitsa direction isn’t too tricky, but there was evidence of rockfalls all along the road. Approaching from the other direction, however, takes you up a narrow winding, very poorly maintained mountain road with great holes in the surface. Not potholes, more like craters. Guess which way we came in?
Once you arrive safely at the parking area you still have about an 800m walk down to the monastery. The path is well-defined but very steep in places, with an uneven surface. Nevertheless, it is manageable with care.
Once you arrive at the monastery you are greeted by the monks who show you around and offer local sweets and coffee whilst answering your questions. It is a unique and lovely place, a place of prayer and meditation, peace and harmony, in a setting of immense beauty.
Stemnitsa
The traditional mountain village of Stemnitsa is just a short drive from the Monastery. Located by the Lousios Gorge, amongst the fir forests of Mainalo.
A wander around the village with it’s traditional stone buildings, pretty square surrounded by restaurants and tavernas, hidden paths and friendly locals was definitely time well spent.
We finished the day at a rather surreal location. Built as a small stadium it is no longer used except once a year for a singing competition. It was just odd, a concrete structure with raised tiers on 3 sides and tarmac in the middle. In the middle of nowhere, with just farmland around.
Vytina and Kalavryta
Tic Tok, Toc Tok, the Schengen clock keeps ticking. According to our calculations, we have 34 days left in Schengen countries. Allowing ourselves 2 weeks to get back to the UK, plus at least a week to spend some time in the Black Forest en route, means that we have about 2 weeks left in Greece.
It’s such a shame. We have been enjoying our time here and really don’t want to have to rush through the parts we haven’t visited yet. But we find ourselves in the situation of having to prioritise the things we really want to see and do, whilst making sure we are heading in the general direction of the border with Bulgaria.
So we spent today hopping from village to village, in an attempt to see as much of the area as we could. At the same time heading in the general direction of the Corinth Canal.
Vytina
As we drove into this village we were wondering what was so special about it? It was bigger than we expected and quite “touristy”. Then we turned into the main square and it was yup, we can see why people come here. The traditional buildings, and bustling square were just gorgeous. Pair that with the fir clad mountains and stunning scenery and you can see its attraction.
Kalavryta
This is another mountain village which attracts a great many tourists. Mainly because of its proximity to the ski centre on Mount Chelmos.
Kalavryta is also famous for the rack railway which runs between Kalavryta and Diakopto, around the Vouraikos Gorge, offering some stunning scenic views on the way.
Lofos
We stopped for the night in a cleared area by the side of a very narrow minor road above Lofos. The spot itself is nothing special, but the views are amazing.
Two things happened today which stuck in my mind:
Firecrackers – late afternoon a couple of young men arrived, one in a car (his daughter in the passenger seat) and one on a motorcycle. They parked up and went to the little chapel just down the hill from us.
Shortly after we could hear some “popping” noises. When they came back up the hill they were letting off firecrackers. This definitely wasn’t aimed at us. We didn’t feel uncomfortable or unwelcome at all. So what were they doing? Scaring wild animals away? Warding off evil spirits? Honestly, I don’t know, and I haven’t been able to find anything about the custom either, so if anyone has any information I would be interested to know.
Secondly the wind. It was calm when we arrived, very windy at sunset, calm overnight, and very windy again at sunrise.
I am aware of the phenomenon, being caused by air warming up at the top of the mountain at sunrise before the air lower down, and vice versa at sundown.
I am also aware of a similar thing happening on the coast because of the difference in temperature between the land and the sea.
In both cases it causes a wind at sunrise and sunset, but not especially strong.
What I hadn’t appreciated was that put the two effects together and they compound each other. Thus making these winds much stronger at mountainous coastal areas.
Every day is a learning day.
Lofos to Corinth
If we drove straight to the border with Bulgaria it would be over 700 kilometres from here. That’s the direct route. We are planning to travel up western Greece then through the north of the country before crossing the border. Factor in sightseeing and detours and it will be a great deal further than that.
In practical terms what that means is that we are going to have to put in more miles each day than we have been. It also means we will have less time at the places we want to see, and less time for exploring too.
So we started the day heading for Diakopto, with the intention of maybe going into the Vouraikos Gorge. However, Mother Nature put paid to that idea by sending a thunderstorm our way. Apparently it doesn’t do things in half measures at this time of year, when it rains, it really means it.
Normally we would probably have just hunkered down somewhere and ridden out the storm. But in the back of our minds now is the need to keep moving. So we continued heading for Corinth and the crossing back onto the mainland.
We drove along the northern coast of the Peloponnese peninsula. Along the way there are some lovely seaside towns and beautiful scenery.
However, possibly because of the relatively short drive from Athens, this part of the Peleponnese is much more geared up for tourism. And that, for us, means it wasn’t our favourite part of the peninsula. We would much rather seek out the hidden gems than frequent the developed areas.
We stopped for lunch at Vrachati. I got the feeling it was something of a sleeping giant. Deserted at the moment, but in a couple of months time will be heaving with people.But I guess that could be said for all the popular tourist destinations.
After a very wet drive along the coast we ended up at the western end of the Corinth Canal. Parked literally adjacent to the entrance to the canal.
The canal is currently closed for restoration work but is due to reopen for the summer. It is not used much now by larger ships because of the narrow passage, but some 11,000 ships, mainly tourist’s vessels, still pass through each year.
Just up from where we stayed is a somewhat unusual bridge. The West Submersible Bridge of Corinth’s Isthmus. Rather than swinging up to allow ships to pass, it submerges to a depth of 8 m to allow passage. There is a similar one at the other end of the canal too.
Corinth to Aliartos
The plan today was to have a leisurely drive around the Perachora Peninsula, taking in Vouliagmeni Lake and the Archeological Site of Heraion at Perachora before heading up through central Greece for a short way.
Well, the best laid plans of mice and men…..
Things started off well. We crossed over the Corinth Canal into mainland Greece, having to go up to the main bridge as the submersible bridge has a weight limit of 3 tons, then negotiated our way through the busy town of Loutraki, and onto the peninsula.
Best known for the Archaeological Site, the peninsula is still relatively unspoiled by tourism. Small villages, winding mountain roads, beautiful views across the sea to both the Peloponnese and Mainland Greece, the gorgeous Vouliagmeni Lake, and an unhurried way of life. Oh, and as I found out later, the epicentre of a big earthquake as recently as 2020…..
The Archaeological Site is relatively small. Dedicated to the Goddess Hera, the sanctuary was an important religious site for the Corinthians around the 7th century BC. It’s a lovely site to walk around, partly because of the stunning location, and also because of the well-presented remains and information boards.
From there we were going to take the coast road along the north of the peninsula. According to both satnavs, there was a decent road linking with a village called Sotira. So we started off, following the road for about 10 kilometres. Local hazards such as herds of goats on the road slowed our progress but added charm to the area.
Then the roads became narrower and narrower. Eventually, we climbed a steep hill to a sharp left turn, and the road became a dirt track for the next 20 kilometres. What to do? The track didn’t look too bad, but being so long there’s no guarantee that it would stay like that. Plus we had a lot of rain the day before.
No choice really, we had to turn back. This added 30 kilometres and an hour to our journey, but hey, these things happen when you are in a foreign country in the middle of nowhere.
We followed the coast road round the Gulf of Corinth before cutting inland at
Psatha. From there it was the main roads to our final stop at Aliartos.
Memorable moments from this drive? Collapsing seaside roads, rockfalls, the danger of landslides and evidence of massive forest fires. Oh, and more stunning scenery along the way, with many tourist villages dotted along the coast.
The place we stopped was actually somewhere we had briefly popped into on the way down through Greece, although we didn’t realise it until we pulled into the parking.
Chaeronea to Agios Polykarpos
As yesterday, today was all about the driving.
We continued our journey through central Greece. Following the same route for a short while (Thiva to Chaeronea) that we had used when we were travelling south. We the turned west to follow the coast of the Gulf of Corinth.
At Chaeronea our old friend the engine management light made a reappearance. Knowing what the problem was I set about removing the injector cap and trying to clean it up. However I didn’t have and contact cleaner so improvised with aftershave. It worked for a short while, but not for long.
So we found a garage and tried to get some contact cleaner, but they didn’t stock it. They were really helpful, however, and directed us to a Shell garage just down the road, where we managed to buy some. 5 minutes later and all good again. At least for now.
Whilst at Chaeronea we had a closer look at The Lion Of Chaeronea. This is a monument to an elite unit of Theban soldiers known as the Sacred Band of Thebes, who were all killed here during a battle in 338 BC.
From there we cut across country to pick up the coast road. The route we choose passed through a little trodden area, or at least I assume so because of the state of the roads. The scenery, however, was gorgeous, and the villages were definitely the real Greece and not something revamped to fit the tourist image.
Eventually we joined a main road. The one linking Athens with Delphi. We stopped briefly at Arachova. A modern tourist town on Mount Parnassus, it is a popular skiing destination.
Then on to Delphi. Oh my goodness. We didn’t stop because Carol didn’t want to wander around the site without Zeus and I. But the people. Bearing in mind it is the middle of March, well out of season, it was so busy. Literally dozens of coaches and hundreds of cars.
Passage through the village wasn’t too bad, we only met one coach, but I can only imagine what it is like in the summer with even more vehicles looking for parking and trying to get through the narrow streets.
Having said that, it is apparently a lovely site, well presented with good information and well worth a visit. Just be prepared for the crowds.
The drive westward along the northern coast of the Gulf of Corinth was a little surprising. I was expecting a very touristy area. However, it was almost the opposite. The road was variable, good in parts and awful in others. There were several gorgeous little seaside villages with quaint harbours and manicured beaches. Some lovely scenic views. But none of the ugly high rise tourist towns.
We finished the day at a tiny hamlet, Agios Polykarpos, population 19. A little slice of paradise. Parked under eucalyptus trees right on the beach. Achingly pretty and we were even blessed with a gorgeous sunset.
Agios Polykarpos to Arta
We all have this ideological picture of travelling to be a perfect day every day with new discoveries around every corner. In reality however, just occasionally, it is simply a day of driving with nothing much else going on.
Today was one of those days. I was very much looking forward to seeing what western Greece has to offer. And, indeed, there are many places we want to see before we move forward. But today wasn’t one of those days.
Today’s drive, to be perfectly honest, was somewhat underwhelming. The areas we passed through had the feel of places that were once thriving but are now, sadly, in decline.
This may in part be because we were travelling on the old road through the region. There is a new motorway now, which I guess has taken all the passing trade away.
That’s not to say that the region doesn’t have anything to offer. It does. There are many places of interest such as the lagoons. It is still a unique and lovely part of Greece. It just needs to be reinvented a little, to breathe some fresh life into it.
Arta to Pyli
We are still continuing our slow but inexorable journey to the border with Bulgaria. We shall linger in Western Greece for a day or two as there are a number of things we want to see in this area before we go. Learning our lesson about visiting popular places at weekends, today was mostly about positioning ourselves so that we can visit the meteors tomorrow.
So today was a leisurely drive through part of the National Park of Tzoumerka. This is another area of Greece of tremendous natural beauty. Fir-clad slopes, snow-capped peaks, burbling streams. It is definitely a place where you can be at peace with nature.
The area is located in the central part of the Pindos mountains. Within the region are 5 traditional villages, Syrrako, Kalarrytes, Raftanaioi, Chaliki, and Anthousa. There are also two areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Arachthos Gorge and the Chroussias river gorge.
What an awesome drive it was too. The roads were very quiet so we didn’t rush. The scenery was stunning, traditional mountain villages, stone bridges. It has it all. We stopped often to soak in the views and take a few snapshots, but usually not for long in each place.
The Stone bridge and waterfall of Palaiokarya was a particular highlight, with the arched bridge backed by a cascading waterfall.
We finished the day parked up near another stone bridge just outside the village of Pyli, right on the banks of the rushing Portaikos river.
Some menu highlights from this week
Click on the picture for further information. If you would like recipes or further information let me know in the comments
As before, There is so much more we saw and did that I haven’t included here – you’ll just have to go see it for yourself!
I haven’t gone into great detail about anything in particular in this post, so if you would like me to expand on anything please leave a comment and I will endeavor to write another separate post on the topic.
Happy Motorhoming.
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