3 seas, 8 hotels, 1700 kilometers
I do not pretend to be new, therefore - dotted line. If there is interest, I will supplement, expand and deepen. I can share MapsMe waypoints along the route.
Short course by day
22.09. 201.14:00 Athens. Arrival - car collection - Adams Hotel
09/23/2019 Athena's day. Excursions
24.09. 201.11:00 am Athens. Departure
14:00 Aegean Sea em> strong> (stop, beach) p>
16:00 Delphs: Temples Athens, Apollo, Theater, Stadium P>
*
09/25/201.10:00 am Delphi. Departure
Evening Pelion – Agios Ioannis (2 nights – Hotel Sofoklis)
26.09. 2019 Beach day (Aegean sea)
09/27/201.10:00 am Agios Ioannis. Departure
13:00 Litochoro (Olympus) - Monastery - cave of St. Dionysius of Olympus
Evening Kastraki (Meteora) (2 nights – Bloutsos Rooms)
28.09. 2019 day trip to monasteries (4 visits + 2 reviews from outside):
09/29/201.10:00 am Kastraki. departure - Kipi (Zagoria)
13:00 Kipi – Monodendrion – Monastery of St. Paraskeva - observation point No. 1
Evening Monodendrion (night - Hotel Monodendri)
09/30/201.10:00 am Monodendrion. departure - Oxya Viewpoint, observation point №2
Evening Mitikas (2 nights - Hotel strong> dionisos strong>) p>
01.10. 2019 Beach day (Ionian Sea)
02.10. 201.10:00 Mytikas. departure
Evening Peloponnese - Melissi (2 nights - Hotel Lido)
03.10. 2019 Beach day (Ionian Sea, Corinthian Gulf)
October 4.2019 12:00 pm Melissy. departure
14:00 Megara – Myrtoan Sea (night – Hotel Cokkinis)
05.10. 201.18:00 Megara. departure - Athens "Centauro"
19:30 Athens. Car return (. . . - 21:30)
06.10. 201.00:30 Athens. Departure
Hotel rating
1. Adam's Hotel (Athens)
(+) Good breakfasts. Cleanliness, great service. At our request, they provided a kettle for evening tea in the room. Location in the very historical center, within walking distance to the main attractions.
(-) Lack of parking near the hotel: it turns out that there is a pedestrian zone around (although there are no signs and cars are parked). On the second morning we received a fine, which we had to pay at the other end of the city : (
2. Fedriades Delphi Hotel (Delphi)
A wonderful comfortable hotel with an excellent level of service. Comfortable room with modern fixtures. Standard breakfast. We were given a free upgrade to a room with a great panoramic view.
3. Hotel Sofoklis, aka Kenta Beach Hotel (Agios Ioannis, Pelion)
Good breakfasts. Cleanliness, excellent service, modern equipment of the rooms. Location right at the entrance to the beach. There are several taverns around. Parking behind the hotel.
Pelion. Agios Ioannis, beach
4. Bloutsos Rooms (Kastraki, Meteora)
(+) In general, a rather modest guest house would have completely satisfied our needs, if not for one BUT. Breakfast is quite up to European standards.
(-) The owner greeted us very unfriendly from the doorway. With great displeasure, he showed the parking lot, the location of which in the dark (we arrived at 10 o'clock in the evening) behind the gardens was not obvious. On the request to somehow fix the shower equipment in the room (although modern, but pretty broken down and overgrown with scale), he just rudely yelled, in the sense that everything is fine and live as it is.
Although in general a 1-2 night stay is acceptable, I would not recommend this place to anyone.
5. Hotel Monodendri (Monodendrion, Zagoria)
The hotel is in the full sense of the "central" in the city. Externally and internally (according to the interior of the rooms) it resembles a medieval castle, but with modern equipment and the highest level of comfort. The room is spacious and comfortable. Stacked ceiling, beautiful lamps and furniture. The view from the window to the mountains is magnificent. Breakfast matches. The hospitality, care and courtesy of the owner of the hotel is an example of attitude towards guests! In general, perhaps the best of the 8 hotels on our route.
6. Dionisos Hotel (Mitikas)
Small, cozy, modern family hotel. The best breakfasts from all 8 hotels along the route: the freshest, most delicious products. It was only here that I realized what Greek yogurt should be. Four types of gourmet cheese not served in any other hotel, including camembert, brie and dor blue (connoisseurs will appreciate). Excellent location on the edge of the village by the sea. Private private secluded sandy beach with sunbeds and umbrellas. In the village, despite the end of the season, there were several taverns with a varied menu for every taste, which is called “for their own”.
7. Hotel Lido (Melissi, Peloponnese)
A small hotel on the very shore with its own small beach, a restaurant with 3 meals a day, a very decent menu and wonderful local vintage (! ) Wine, which we even took with us. Private parking in the basement.
8. Hotel Cokkinis (Kineta)
A secluded hotel on a high cliff above the sea. Rooms with a beautiful view from the window, clean but cramped. Meals are also 3 times a day, because there is nothing around but mountains and the highway. Terrace restaurant open to all winds. Nicely decorated patio. Worst beach I've ever been to: large boulders, constantly whipped by waves, steeply dropping into the water. It is comfortable to enter the sea only for a paratrooper in berets.
Some route details
Athens
Climbing the Acropolis along the narrow streets of the Anafiotika district, we were overtaken several times, then walked towards groups of guys of 2-3 people each. The streets are so narrow that in some places we had to literally squeeze through in close contact with them. Tourists usually carry backpacks with valuables behind their backs, which these "passers-by" try to discreetly unfasten and lighten your burden. Be careful!!!
Of the little-known monuments in the city center is the church of Panagia Kapnikarei (XI century), a small Byzantine gem surrounded by modern buildings.
Nearby is the Cathedral of the Annunciation - strict in architecture from the outside and very beautiful inside.
And next to it is the miniature Agios Eleftherios Church, almost rooted into the ground, with a wonderful ancient carving on the facade.
By the way, whoever is unlucky with traffic rules in the capital (hardly anywhere else) in the MapsMe tags marked the same cop where to carry the money. In my opinion, it is central.
Bournontas
Before a long road across the continent, we decided to stop by the nearest quiet coast, take a dip and refresh ourselves from the bustle of the capital. The place is wild, like summer cottages, the road along the coast and small beaches, just to stop by, swim and go further... In general, for an amateur (everything is clearly visible in 3D on Google maps).
Delphi
No special features, everything is described before me.
Pelion
Next stop for a beach holiday. On the way, passing by, there are famous picturesque places: Makrinitsa and Portaria.
We didn't walk along the centaur trail in the mountain forest, it requires a stop for a day or two.
Olympus
If you do not climb the mountain, which also requires a minimum two-day stop in Litochoro, the monastery and the cave of St. Dionysius of Olympus are of interest (there is still a lot of things around, but also not passing through). All the details are on the Internet.
I will give only a view of the cave, which I did not see in the reports in its entirety.
Meteors
Enough has been filmed and written about this holy place, I will add only technical details.
It is better to stay in the village of Kastraki. At the same time, the route through the monasteries is shorter than from Kalambaka.
For a full visit to all the monasteries, one (whole) day may not be enough. Here is our timeline:
11:00 - 11:45 - St. Nicholas Anapavsas,
12:05 - 12:45 - St. Barbara (Rusanu),
12:50 - 13:10 - Transfiguration (Megalo Meteora) - view from the outside,
13:15 - 14:45 - All Saints (Varlaam),
14:55 - 16:35 - St. Stephen's (break 13:00 - 15:30 only this one),
16:45 - 16:50 - Holy Trinity - view from the outside,
As you can see, each requires from 30 minutes. up to 1 hour. We were in Meteora 8 years ago, so we didn’t go to Megalo to save time, but for him even an hour could be. not enough, because from the road up the stairs and in the crowd you only need to go at least 15-30 minutes. Getting to Trinity is even more difficult (farther and steeper on foot), and it closes an hour earlier than the others - at 17:00.
Zagoria
A separate mountainous country of remarkable original beauty.
Vikos Canyon is a world star that you must see when walking along the edge of a kilometer-long abyss.
End
The second half of the route was devoted to a beach holiday.
Basic information is in the hotel descriptions.