Patitiri (Alonissos Greece) Circular Walks and a Walk at Kastanarema Gorge.

Our Greek Island of Alonissos Patitiri Hiking Guides including visits to Chora, Plakes and a stop off at a lighthouse - these are both circular walks.

Patitiri-Chora-Meghalos Mouritas-Vithisma-Plakes-Faro-Patitiri  With your back to the sea there are two main roads which go inland from the harbour  - the road on the right is where the taxis and buses congregate and the one on the left (near the town beach) goes up passing the tavernas and shops - take the road on the left. The road climbs a little and passes a garage on the right and just after this look out for the start of the moni-path on the left - this is very clearly marked with a notice board and map - the path is marked 4. Follow the path as it starts climbing - stay on the main path ignoring side paths until you reach a concrete road and house directly in front of you, turn right in front of the house to continue along the moni-path - do not take any side paths and eventually you arrive on a dirt road.

Cross over the road and regain the moni-path - to arrive after a while on the main road - turn left and then after a short distance take a smaller road on the left. Continue down this road (there are paths which cut the corners on this road but they all were heavily overgrown with thorn and scrub and not worth the effort) to reach the beach at Meghalos Mouritas - there are tavernas on the beach here.

At the opposite end of the beach take the steps steeply up to climb out of the beach and quite soon join a track which starts here - continue on the track and keep a lookout for a small car-turning circle on the left. Just by this on the right a fairly wide path goes quite steeply down to Vithisma beach - follow the path down, then it levels off and then goes downwards again - just before a "double" tree on the right a very narrow path goes off on the right switching back sharply.
This path is very narrow, quite crumbly and nearer the beach has several parts where you need to be very careful to avoid falling/sliding onto the beach below.

The path comes out above a ruined small drinks kiosk - just here find and climb down a "ladder" to get onto the really nice, quiet nudist beach: there are no tavernas or beach umbrellas or anything much here - maybe just you and one or two other people. (The reason for not continuing on the main path to the beach is that its ends up still fairly high above the beach and the only way down the final 4 or 5 metres is on your bottom via near vertical scree - not a good idea - we did it once).

Return back up to the track, turn right and continue on this really lovely track through the pine forests. On reaching the tarmac road turn left (a right would take you to Cape Marpunta - a VERY organised and noisy beach area with people marching about/tannoys blaring etc... we stayed only long enough to take a quick photo and then ran for our lives/sanity). The tarmac road is also very pleasant to walk along as it heads back towards Patitiri and has quite good shade from trees during the later part of the afternoon which is quite welcome. After passing Rocks camp site on your right look out for a brown/red coloured gate by a fence - a narrow stony path leads from here down to Plakes beach - this beach is mostly flat rocks and has just a small shingle beach area too.

Return back to the road and turn right and keep going until you see the track on the right signposted Faro - follow this track down towards the coast to reach a crossing track. If you go left a small track leads to a hotel and to the left of the gates there is track down to the beach. If you however go across this cross-track you come to a gate - go through the gate and then continue on a narrow path to reach the rocks/headland.
Return back to the road and turn right to now follow this back towards Patitiri - when the road eventually turns sharp left continue straight on via a concrete road - this brings you down to the harbour.

 

Patitiri-Chora (Old Town)-Kalovoulos-Lighthouse-Mikros Mouritas-Patitiri  With your back to the sea there are two main roads which go inland from Patitiri harbour - the road on the right is where the taxis and buses congregate and the one on the left (near the town beach) goes up passing the tavernas and shops - take the road on the left. The road climbs a little and passes a garage on the right and just after this look out for the start of the moni-path on the left - this is very clearly marked with a notice board and map - the path is marked 4. Follow the path as it starts climbing - stay on the main path ignoring side paths until you reach a concrete road and house directly in front of you, turn right in front of the house to continue along the moni-path - do not take any side paths and eventually you arrive on a dirt road. Continue straight ahead on the moni path until you come to the main road, turn left and head up into Chora - on your way up lookout on the right for the threshing circles.
Stay on the main road and continue past the square in Chora then on reaching the cemetery take the track on the left, then when the track splits keep right - stay on this scenic track as it winds round the hill going past a track to the goat station below and eventually ends on a flat concrete structure - we think probably used once as military lookout or similar. Here you get great views of the coastline both ways, the small islets of Agii Georgii as well as of Skopelos in the background.

Return all the way back to the track junction but now turn right and lookout on the right for the paved start of the path going up to Kalovoulos - this is path 2 but only has yellow markers. This delightful but narrow path immediately starts climbing up through low shrubs but soon enters fir trees where it comes as a surprise to find a picnic bench - the path continues fairly flat through open ground and then climbs again to reach a fairly flat rocky area - turn right and pick your way up via very rocky and sometimes thorny goat paths to the actual top at Kalovoulos at 333 metres.

Retrace your steps down the path to the start of the moni-path on the dirt track - turn right and follow this track as it winds down through the hills - ignore a track on your right which goes to a house - eventually the dirt road comes to a dead end. A few metres before the end take a fairly hidden path on the left which goes down with several bends through the olive groves heading towards the sea - this is quite an overgrown path which sometimes almost disappears but does have the occasional red blob marker. When the path splits by a wall keep to the right and continue zig-zagging down towards the sea.

 As you finally come out of the olive groves you will see a lone pine tree and lots of old stone walls - keep to the right of the tree on the walled area until you pick up the coastal path. Turn right and follow this wandering path as it more or less follows the coast (don't forget to close the gate some way along) to eventually arrive just above the lighthouse at Cape Kokino - note this path is heavily overgrown and rocky so making walking it quite difficult in places.

Return back along the coastal path but this time continue straight on at the original entry point - in fact just stay on this path until it arrives above and then goes down to the beach at Mikros Mouritas - again this is a very narrow and heavily overgrown path most of the time. The beach is not that special, has no facilities and also enjoys a large but wrecked concrete building which enhances it's beauty somewhat - also when going into the sea the seabed is quite muddy with silt - however once into the water the sea was as usual lovely and clear.
From here walk out of the beach to immediately pick up a narrow potholed path in front of you - this path zig zags up to reach a dirt track on the right of the valley. You can now turn left and follow the track back up into Chora but really don't do that - instead go across the track to pick up a really great path (yellow one) which takes you up the side of the hill

This is a path not to be missed but if you are walking mid-late afternoon bear in mind it can be very hot walking up it since it is fully exposed to the sun. The path comes out just beneath Chora - it goes along a quite grassy area and then via steps which take you up into the narrow streets. Make you way back to the main road by the square and turn right and follow the road down to the start of the moni-path to walk back into Patitiri

Gorge, Track and Path Walking on Alonissos Greece -Visiting Churches and Kastanarema Gorge.

Kastanarema Gorge The only realistic way to walk this gorge is to either take an organised walk or otherwise you need transport to get you to the start/finish. The walk is not complicated to follow, only involves one climb of any note, but it is very hard work walking through the gorge because of the boulders and rocks. You do really need something decent on your feet for this walk and also definitely need plenty of drinks - it gets very hot in that gorge. Also there are several more significant bends etc. on the path through the gorge itself than that indicated by the Topo map so the walk is a little longer than it looks.

Take the road from Steni Vala to Aghios Dhmitrios and just as the tarmac road ends park just ahead on the dirt track. Start walking along the track -- it bends left and then sharply right and just when it comes off the bend look for a very faint track going up the bank on the left - there is a yellow path-mark post a little way up (path 11). The path starts off quite overgrown in places and quite steep too (no vertigo problems) and then changes to a more stony surface as it winds and climbs up to the top of the hill.

At the top the path levels off and passes through olive trees and bee hives - to reach a track - cross over the track (another path marker here) and continue on the path as it now winds back down to eventually reach another dirt road. The onward track to go into the gorge is a few metres along on your right [N39°14'03" E023°56'22"] but first walk on over to the well on the left and maybe use the bucket to get at the nice cool water.
This area has lots of lizards and there are butterflies flying around everywhere - none of them wanted to pose for photos though... 
Below are a series of pictures of the fantastic rocks you can see from the gorge area - we took loads whilst walking through the gorge.

Having refreshed yourself at the well go across to the gorge track - it is not an obvious path to start with and is not way-marked - it basically follows the dry river bed - although it starts off going via a more grassy area into olive trees with the river bed on your left. At a fence go left and over the river bed and take a gate on the right - a narrow path lets you now walk back onto the river bed itself. This is now simply a question of following the river bed with it's very heavy rocks and quite difficult walking surface at times - until it eventually widens out as it gets closer to the sea at Strovili.
From the beach the path continues a little way above the sea shore but it is a little difficult to find - it is there though so just keep looking. The aim is to reach a path above a hut which is actually visible from the beach but not once you start walking towards it since the area is quite heavily overgrown. When you reach the top fence above the hut (there is a nice tree to sit under with some very welcome shade) go through the fence/gap and walk half right on a path now clearly going across the field - this then brings you onto a much more defined path which is far easier to walk on - and then this path turns into a dirt track. Follow this track back to the start point.

 

Melaghakia - Aghios Konstantinos - Aghios Georgios - Melaghakia  We had to use a car to do this circular walk since no public transport goes this way, although it should be possible to get a taxi to the start and arrange with the driver to pick you up again at a nominated time - the taxi drivers are happy to do this. The walk is not strenuous and only has one steep descent (to Aghios Konstantinos) and climb - is mostly on rocky paths and has open areas as well as lots of trees and foliage - and plenty of lizards etc.
Park at Meleghakia[N39°13'46" E023°55'11"] right on the hairpin - there is a large parking area here and a notice board and map (path yellow 13) clearly indicates the start of the path (and the path has frequent path markers all along it).

The path goes alongside a dry river bed and is actually more or a track than a path to start with - once the dry river bed ends the "track" changes into a proper path and makes its away down the island towards the church at Aghios Konstantinos. As you walk along you from time to time come into more open field areas (called Lakka) and glades - don't miss the old threshing circles just before Xouna.

From Xouna the path goes through more wooded areas and goes into and out of several deep cuts at the bottom of which are old river and stream beds - it really is very pleasant walking through here. The path comes out on top of the cliffs above Aghios Konstantinos - you then have to wind your way steeply down to the church - there is a fireman's seat/roof here which is a good spot for eating lunch or of course you can sit outside the church along with the lizards etc.   From the church continue along a dirt track to reach a track junction [N39°12'49" E023°53'33"] - turn left and after a few metres look out for the cobbled path on the left which is the start of path 12 to Aghios Georgios. The path starts off on a quite rocky surface - at a junction go right (path marked 12) via a more grassy area - keep on this grassy path and continue along soon going through woods and then more open areas.

When you eventually get to an open area with a building in front of you the path goes to the right - the path is lined with high foliage and is pleasure to walk along. The path comes out by a seat and parking area and down on the left is the church of Aghios Georgios. From the car park turn left on the main road and follow it back (fortunately downhill most of the way) to the original starting point. (look out on the right for a very large pond ? which had loads of birds on it).

 

Remata - Meghalo Chorafi - Aghalou Laka - Remata  You either need to have a car for this Alonissos Walk or you can get a taxi to drop you and pre-arrange a pick up time. Take the main road out of Patitiri heading up island and just before the junction to Steni Vala where the road bends a track goes off on the left to Meghalo Chorafi - there is a small parking area and also a path marker board - this area is called Remata and is where the walk starts.

Follow the tree-lined dirt road to reach a junction after around 0.6km, turn left and continue on the main track as it climbs up to eventually reach a 3 way track junction - here take the track to the right. Keep going until you get to an open area which is Meghalo Chorafi - there are quite a few tracks and paths marked here - it's sort of like a path-spaghetti junction. Take the furthest path away on the left marked Yellow 7 - take this stony path and follow it as it descends through Toufoto Pournari with views of the coast and the Islet of Stavros. Wind your way on down through the olive groves to reach a main dirt road - turn right here and follow this road as it winds round the coast.

As the track heads inland you can see Aghalou Laka beach down below you. Look out for a map board with path 14 marked on a bend - this will be your return route - but first continue on the track passing a house and immediately take a small track on the left which goes down through olive trees to reach the beach at Aghalou Laka. This small stony beach was really clean - the water crystal clear and ideal for snorkelling - there are no facilities here - little shade on the beach but plenty under the olive trees.
Return to the main track, turn right and go back to the previously noted path 14 board and take this path via a gate and olive trees to another gate. (This becomes quite a hard climb out from the beach - don't believe the 45 minutes mentioned on the path board - what with the sometimes very stony path surface coupled with the heat and then the sometimes very steep path this was quite a difficult climb out back to Meghalo Chorafi). The path is in fact a dry river bed and winds through olive groves and stone walls which you have to zig-zag to pass - when the path comes to the end of the stone walls continue in the same direction climbing out on the now quite narrow path on the left side of the gorge.

As the path nears the top it makes a sharp turn to the right - at last the path is marked again - and although still a very stony surface does start to level out a bit - eventually reaching a water cistern and a track, turn right and very soon you are back at spaghetti junction. Turn left and follow the original inbound track mostly downhill - ignore the two tracks on the right and at the next junction go right to return to the start point.

Please visit our Alonissos Main Page for more Alonissos Topics

There are lots more Greek Island Holiday Guides on our site - please see our Home Page.
Please visit our Resources topic if you wish to Email Us - where there are also links to more of our holiday and travel guides about Cyprus, topics about touring and holidays in India, Egypt - Cairo, Aswan, Luxor and Sharm, several Canary Islands, New Zealand North and South Islands, The Algarve and several Far East destinations including Singapore, Hong Kong and Bali - also lots about England - churches, walks, canals and wildflowers.

Our website and privacy policy information can be found here

www.foxysislandwalks.com