Estimated time: The hike all the way back to Chóra takes more than three hours of actual hiking time – some pauses and stops to swim on one of the beaches will turn this hike into a full day of about 6-7 hours. Therefore, you should definitely take the bus from Chóra at about 10am. On the way back you can decide to return by bus from the road above Angáli – this shortens the hike by 50 minutes, but you should not forget to write down the bus schedule before departing.

Route description: You can take the bus at the southern side of Chóra. After a 20-minutes-ride you get off the bus at the last stop in Ano Meriá – this is Merovígli (the café over there is called To Iliovasílema = the sunset). You follow the asphalt road straight ahead for another 5 minutes and you then take a left (there is a signpost to Livadáki).
At this point you find the beginning of one of those wonderful monopátia: at first the path runs horizontally, thereafter it is tiled and you descend in the direction of the Anárgiri-chapel.

The monopati to the chapel of Agi Anargiri.

After about 7 minutes, at the foot of a small hill, you can get to the chapel via a concrete staircase. From this chapel you have a beautiful view on the beach and the lighthouse. After this short detour you return to the main trail and you continue past the hill top. The trail curves further to the left, in the right direction, with a view on the lighthouse. On the right you also get a nice view on Mílos and Kímolos. Another 5 minutes later the trail gets vaguer, while you descend on a rocky slope. You keep more to the right, you walk in between some cairns and underneath the slope you go left sharply – the trail is clearer again. After another 2 minutes you get to a stony slope which leads to a trail; you follow this trail to the right sharply (there are some worn away green arrows).

The  monopati that descends to Livadaki.

The monopáti now clearly runs in between walls; after 5 minutes you walk on the left-hand side of ruins and further down you go left. The following descent runs beautifully in between walls, straight towards your aim Livadáki. After a couple of minutes the trail gets narrower again and it continues on some rocky terrain in between – at least for Folégandros – a lot of green. The lighthouse appears again in front of you and you descend on the rocky trail – the sea is still deep down on your right-hand side. After descending for 5 minutes you are down, on the marvellous little beach with sand and white pebbles. At the end of the valley you can distinguish the chapel of Agi Anárgiri high up – on the spot where you were standing a couple of minutes ago.  

The little bay of  Livadaki.

You can go for a swim before continuing your trip: some 20-30 metres away from the water you have to go up a steep slope to follow the opposite side of the bay. You climb up an obvious trail until you see the lighthouse in front of you again, after some 10 minutes. Guided by cairns you go down again. However, as soon as you get to a low wall, where you cannot continue, you should stop going down – in contrast with what Marc Dubin seems to suggest. With some difficulties it is still possible to reach the lighthouse in about 5 minutes, but from there onwards the trail is almost impossible to find – or you should return to this point.

A couple of minutes further you get to a rocky plateau and from there you descend towards the left, on a beautiful trail in between walls and in the direction of some ruins. At the end of the trail, near some olive trees, you arrive at a stony three-forked-junction, with the ruins on the right. The trail on the left leads to Stavrós (see the hike Chora - Ano Meriá). You take a right, in the direction of the bay.

In this way you reach the valley of Agios Nikólaos, some 20 minutes past the junction and about 45 minutes away from the lighthouse.

[At this point you could descend to the right, towards the beach; thereafter you follow the trail along the sea till the beach of Angáli.]

You go straight ahead on the rocky monopáti in between walls; at first you walk on a stony slope and then on a beautiful flat stretch. At the end you get to a low barred gate and you just have to step over it. On the left there is another low barred gate and thereafter you just continue. The beautiful trail curves to the left gradually and after about 7 minutes you can see a ruin and the “famous” palm tree in front of you – “famous” because Marc Rubin uses it as a beacon. A little further there is a path coming from the left – it comes from Agios Pandeleimon in Ano Meriá (see the route no. 3 with Marc Rubin). You go all the way to the ruin and the palm tree. From here it only takes about 10 minutes to descend to the valley, which leads to Angáli – the trail is sometimes steep and sometimes it descends gradually.  On the way you pass some olive trees, which is rather unusual on Folégandros.

You thus get to the concrete road, on the left-hand side of a large cistern.

[At this point you can shorten the hike by taking the concrete road going up on the left; on the large asphalt road you can then wait for the bus.
You can also take the gravel road on the opposite side of the road; this gravel road brings you to the asphalt road Ano Meriá - Chóra in about 15 minutes. You then have to follow this road for more than a kilometer, before you can take the path to Chora off the left – see the second part of the hike Chóra - Angáli - Chóra.]

The bay of Angali.

After some rest on the beach you walk to the other side and over there you take the concrete slope past the first house starting from the beach. In this way you walk in eastern direction towards the beach of Firá. An obvious path zigzags up and down between the rocks; after some 7 minutes, past a small rocky beach, you have to watch out and keep to the left – you should not start to climb on the overhanging rocks. About 10 minutes later you arrive on the beach of Firá.

On the left-hand side of the small house at the far end of the beach you find the beginning of a rocky trail – there is even a red dot. Almost immediately you can distinguish your next aim, high up, and not too far away in front of you: the chapel of Christós. After some 2 minutes you get to a law wall; on the opposite side of the field in front of you there is a small building. You should climb over the low wall and walk along the edge of the terrace to the right-hand side of the little house. Behind the house there is another wall with a barred gate on top of it and a red dot. You should climb over the fence and meander up the slope – you go in the direction of the highest green spot halfway the chapel (there are a couple of red dots to show you which way to go). Behind the bushes you then even find a trail: at first the trail is a rocky trench, later on it becomes a gravel path or a rocky trail – until you finally reach the chapel. This is a wonderful spot, with a great view on the north-west, with the bays of Firá and Angáli and the rest of the coast.

The monopati just after the chapel of Christos.

The sometimes beautifully tiled trail continues; after 2 minutes, with the three mills far away in front of you, there is a sharp bend to the right. The following stretch is a marvellous kalderími, unique on the island of Folégandros! Some 5 minutes past the chapel the trail gets rockier, then there is a gravel path, and then again a nicely tiled stretch. After 15 minutes, this beautiful monopáti gets to the asphalt road, on the right-hand side of the three windmills and immediately before the little modern church with a kind of protruding balcony. 

You follow the road for about 350 metres, you describe a bend to the left and thereafter (at a traffic sign) you take a left on the gravel road that goes down. 

After some minutes, at a bend to the left, you go straight ahead on the monopáti. At a three-forked-junction before the last climb you go straight ahead. About 15 minutes later you arrive high up in the town of Chóra, on the first square at the side of the town hall.