p The Pelion peninsula is a winning mix of green mountains and dreamy beaches, clear water, springs, waterfalls, picturesque, magical villages and excellent food. After a bar mitzvah trip was canceled twice, we felt we couldn't give up on opening our hearts and horizons, and we found this amazing peninsula, and how good that we didn't give up!
p There's East Pelion and West Pelion.
p The east is wilder, with extremely winding roads and breathtaking beaches, while the west is calmer and less winding (but still winding!).
p East: sunrises | West: sunsets.
p So here's the series of posts that was the most fun for "Why Enjoy Alone" to write! Including highlights on Instagram.
p Maps: a map of all our important places in Athens, Meteora and Olympus. A map of all our important places in Pelion.
p More important, detailed, relevant posts if you're planning a trip like this:
p The post summing up our trip to Greece: click here.
p The post on Thessaloniki, Olympus and Meteora: click here.
p The post on the COVID testing rules for flying to Greece: click here.
p The post with the most beautiful beaches in Pelion: click here.
h2 Stop everything: there's something you must read before you consider this destination, to make sure it's right for you:
q “We have nothing to lose and a world to see” Someone
p Pelion is a stunning place. The kind of place you'll go back to again and again and still not get enough of. A place that opens your heart and soul.
p The downside? The roads there are not simple at all. You can't manage there without a car, and the car must be automatic, unless you're used to driving a manual in places like this.
p There are steep roads everywhere, and in many cases there's no room for two cars, so one car has to reverse so the oncoming one can pass.
p We had 2 very scary moments there:
p One when we took a turn that shortens the route, but also your life 😆 (solution: don't take the shortest route; use your judgment), and a second scary moment when there was suddenly an insanely steep climb and the (automatic!) car kept rolling backward! (Solutions: 1. Spot roads like that from below. 2. Zigzag the car, while the wife and kids get out to save the head of the family, who has no life insurance 😆)
p But! And it's a big but. The Greeks drive very carefully and very slowly there; you'll drive slowly too and everything will be fine. The views are worth it, and it's almost always them who reverse in the tricky spots. We got used to these roads pretty quickly, and we'll definitely go back, so that's a good sign for you!
p This was our plan:
p East Pelion: 3 nights
p South and West Pelion: 4 nights
p All the information about the COVID tests you need to do is in this post.
p East Pelion:
p What to do?
p Day 1: We arrived at the Adis Oniro hotel, got settled, and drove straight to Damouchari, the beach from the movie "Mamma Mia". We ate at the beach.
p The hotel was dreamy. The owner, Yola, is lovely; she comes here from the city of Volos for a few months a year. She makes the amazing breakfasts herself, always with a smile. The place is very clean and high-end. The view is gorgeous, and the quiet... how I'd waited for quiet like that. It cost us 220 euros for two rooms (5 people) including breakfast. A teeny boutique hotel with just 5 rooms! We took 2 rooms, which meant a whole building to ourselves.
p After a lovely walk down from the hotel, you reach alleys that lead all the way down to the famous Damouchari beach. A beach with big stones, but mesmerizing. The beach got 5 stars in our ranking of the most beautiful beaches in Pelion.
p We ate at the restaurant on the beach: Palia Damouchari.
p The Adis Oniro hotel
h3 Damouchari ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
p Day 2: Mylopotamos beach and Papa Nero beach. Mylopotamos also got 5 stars in our ranking of the most beautiful beaches in Pelion. There are rocks of every size for kids to jump off, passages between the rocks from one beach to another, a restaurant with waiters on the beach, and a restaurant at the entrance to the beach, one of the best: Aggelika Fish Taverna.
h3 Mylopotamos ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
p Papa Nero beach is very cute; we wanted to see another recommended beach. A great beach.
p Day 3: Canyoning in Zagora, rappelling, and the perfect Agioi Saranta beach
p We booked the canyoning (rappelling) through hellascanyon or pelionscout (they work together). Cost: 65 euros per adult, 60 per teen, 55 per child. An experience not to be missed! Did we fly to make memories? This is one heck of a memory! It's not for everyone; you need a little coordination and arm strength, but it's relatively easy, and the guides were simply lovely. We had a guide called Ofreas, who was walking magic. Gentle, smiling, and his whole heart was with us, calming and guiding us.
p My arm has been stiff ever since, but we don't talk about that!
p The perfect Agioi Saranta beach: we spent hours here! A perfect beach with a good restaurant and calm music. The waves were high that day, so we were really careful.
p There was a little girl crying on the beach; Yael and I went over and calmed her down. Her name is Sofia, she's from England, with Albanian parents. She and Yael didn't leave each other's side until the evening, and even though they don't speak the same language, they didn't stop playing and laughing.
p Day 4, the last in the east: Kayaks at Horefto, Horefto beach, lunch at Niki's, and the drive to South Pelion.
p We booked the kayaks through pelionscout. Excellent service! George was gorgeous. His WhatsApp:
p +30 698 697 4815
p So we started the day kayaking. George took us paddling in pairs to a public beach you can only reach from the sea. That means people hardly ever get there, and it was all ours! Above the beach there's a private villa belonging to a lucky American doctor who comes to the house for two months a year. Just throwing it out there! We heard houses in Pelion cost 65K euros...
p So who's buying and inviting us over?
p When we got back we stayed at Horefto beach, had smoothies, rested and went up to Niki's Taverna in Zagora. An amazing restaurant with a tiny balcony and an amazing view of vineyards and the sea. The chef is an older woman who came over to make sure everything was tasty and fine for us. The waiter was a 14-year-old boy, the chef's nephew. Don't miss the beef meatballs.
p I really loved the Agapitos hotel. There are loads of options, on the mountain or on the beach, apartments or hotels, but what's lovely is that they're all small, boutique and personal. I adore that. 5-10 rooms, everyone gets to know you pretty fast, relaxed and chic. And close to the beach too.
h3 Agapitos
p Another recommendation, beaches we didn't get to in the east: Fakistra and Agios Ioannis, and further southeast, Potistika and Mourtias.
p South and West Pelion: 4 nights.
p What to do? We arrived at the Karavia Lux Inn, a luxurious hotel with a gorgeous pool and a perfect sunset view. We didn't get to do anything else that day. A gorgeous hotel, a perfect sunset. A gourmet dinner at the hotel. Breakfast with a gorgeous view, but the food was a little cold. In the showers the pressure was sometimes weak when two showers were running at once, but they fixed it when we called reception. Apart from that it was perfect. Cost: about 150 euros per room per night.
p Day 1: A real mountain train: we booked tickets for the 10:00 am train through this link, from Ano Lechonia station to the town of Milies. A little walk around Milies, buying the famous olive bread, and a taxi back to the car.
p We searched and searched and couldn't find this famous bread, and we'd built up a serious craving for it, so when we took a taxi back to our car at Ano Lechonia station, we asked the driver, and the sweetheart stopped on the way so we could buy some to nibble at the great bakery: Korbas Bakery, Facebook | location. Deliiicious.
p We spent the rest of the day at the pool and had dinner at the hotel restaurant.
p Day 2: Kala Nera beach, Afissos beach and the hotel pool.
p Day 3: The pool, then a drive to the Centaur's Path, a little walk around the town of Makrinitsa, a meal at a restaurant with tasty food and a perfect view called Apolafsi: location. And ice cream for dessert in Agria (plus a COVID test in Volos on the way, ten minutes from Agria).
p Another recommendation: if you're not visiting the east, you can drive over in the morning and take a boat trip that takes you to all the beautiful beaches of the east in 4 hours. Don't forget the road there isn't easy, so leave early so you don't come back in the dark.
p A summary of attractions in Pelion:
p Canyoning (rappelling): Zagora
p Kayaks: Horefto
p A sea cave boat trip: Horefto
p A real mountain train from Ano Lechonia
p A little preparation before you fly:
p A contract with the kids: a must. You plan a trip for a year. You book the hotel, the flights, the route. But what did we forget? Aligning expectations. Help your kid understand what's expected of them on the trip, that this trip is for us too, and that the sweetheart came to work and not just to vacation (dream on).
p COVID tests and forms: everything you need to know, neatly organized!
p Book an automatic car. Don't settle for a manual! The roads in Pelion are t-e-r-r-i-f-y-i-n-g. But it's all fine, you manage, you learn to drive slowly and carefully, just don't settle for anything but an automatic. We came with 2 big suitcases, 2 small ones and a backpack for each of us (with their own water, a snack or fruit, hand sanitizer and whatever suits you).
p Book hotels: in Pelion I recommend booking two hotels, one in the east and one in the south, because driving around the peninsula is hard.
p Book attractions and restaurants (in the end there was no need, because there were hardly any tourists, but book to be safe): a tour of Athens, canyoning, kayaks, the train, restaurants.
p Thank you! See you in the next posts!
p Maps: a map of all our important places in Athens, Meteora and Olympus. A map of all our important places in Pelion.
p More important, detailed, relevant posts if you're planning a trip like this:
p The post summing up our trip to Greece: click here.
p The post on Thessaloniki, Olympus and Meteora: click here.
p The post on the COVID testing rules for flying to Greece: click here.
p The post with the most beautiful beaches in Pelion: click here.
p I know how busy you are, so I've made you a really organized version by day and accommodation, with attraction costs and links to all the detailed posts, because I want to serve you the fun on a platter! Link.
p Credit to the gorgeous Lili Sharetzky, who edited some of the videos for me, and to my daughter, gorgeous too, Yaeli Garfunkel, who's my right hand at "Why Enjoy Alone?", appearing in and editing videos.
p And come visit my new Instagram and my Facebook group, where you can share your own good times too, because why should you enjoy alone?
