Estimated time: It takes about 40 minutes to hike to the top of the Fanári-mountain and then another 80 minutes to Moní. This makes for two hours of actual hiking time, which means, in reality, that you should devote about four hours to this hike. From Chóra you can catch the bus at 9.30am; you will then arrive in Apíranthos at 10.45am. Taking a fairly long break on top of the mountain and having a picnic somewhere on the way down, means that you can easily make it back to Moní at 3 or 3.30 pm. Usually, there are no buses over there. You can eventually continue to Chalkí, where you can take the bus (in summer) or a taxi.

Route description: Do not get off at the first bus stops in Apíranthos, but wait until the bus reaches the furthest part of the village, after having described a large bend. On the left you will see the church Kímissis tis Theotókou and on your right-hand side there is a large war monument. From this bus stop you enter the village, where you can first wander around for about one hour.

You first get to a rectangular square with the shop of "The Aperinthian women’s association" (where they sell all kinds of different textile), with some fancy bars and with the workshop "Apiranthos Art". The square leads to a beautiful street, paved with marble tiles: to the left there is the café Samarádiko with a great outdoor terrace; you also pass the tiny little church of Agios Sardónis. A little further down you get to the archaeological museum that was established by Michaïl Bardáni: to be seen in this museum are a lot of small Cycladic statues, a clay vase from the 3^rd millennium BC, a geometric tripodos from the 8^th century, some prehistoric stone tools, bronze arrowheads, etc.

The platía of Apíranthos.

You then reach a small platía with beautiful houses from 1846 and 1897. Above these houses you find the folk museum, consisting of three rooms of a not too old house: in the living room, the kitchen and the bedroom you can see all kinds of traditional objects and tools. If you want to, you can then continue to walk up the road for a little while, whereupon you should return to your point of departure. If you follow the asphalt road further to the left for a short while, you can also pop into the museums of natural sciences and geology

For the start of the actual hike, you should leave from this beautiful little square and take the marble staircase going up, opposite the church Kimíssis tis Theotókou (so on the right hand side of the square when coming from the asphalt road). You thus walk all the way through the village, meandering to the left and to the right, until you get to the highest north western border of Apíranthos, on the right hand side of the, at first invisible, church of Agia Paraskeví, with the white dome. Red dots already show you which way to go.

Above Apíranthos, the little church of Agia Paraskeví.

On the right of the church you take a small concrete road, which runs underneath the remains of a mill. Towards the left it then goes up in north western direction, until you pass a large cistern after some 200 metres. At this point the path bends to the left sharply and it goes up (note the red arrow and dot). A little further you go through an iron gate, whereupon the really beautiful trail zigzags further upwards. The retaining walls of the monopáti are still clearly visible, but also the red dots are convenient. The path goes up fairly steeply and behind you, you can see that Apíranthos is quite extensive – it also appears to consist of two parts. Beyond the village, towards the south east, you have a great view on the island of Donoússa (on the far left), the island of Amorgós and behind the hill the other small islands or “eremonisiá” (the little islands between Náxos and Amorgós). After climbing up steeply for about six minutes you go through another iron gate; the trail then continues in between walls.

You now walk again on a marvellous stone monopáti and a little later on you imagine yourself on a green slope in the Alps. A little under ten minutes after the gate, you get to a clear junction: a red arrow directs you to the right sharply, at an altitude of 750 metres. Further on you arrive at a gravel road, which you follow to the right. Two minutes later though, you go up towards the left, straight in the direction of the wall and the chapel on top of the Fanári – this pass is really windy!

Some minutes later you get to a wonderful descent, on a meandering rocky trail and amidst an impressive landscape. On the right you see the steep cliff of the Fanári, in front of you there is the marvellous valley with the villages of Moní and Chalkí (invisible on the left). At first the landscape is very rocky, later on you get to fields with olive trees. This might be a good spot to have a picnic: if you are lucky you can even see eagles circling high up in the air. You can also try to figure out the details of the landscape in front of you: on the left-hand side of Moní you can distinguish Drosianí; on the right of Rachídi you can discern the basilica of Agios Isidóros; and deep underneath you can see the trail in between the walls you will follow later on. 

The monopáti that meanders downhill from the Fanári-mountain.

Next, you get to another great descent on a meandering trail; you go down steeply in this grand landscape! After going down for about fifteen minutes, guided by red dots and arrows, you get against a wall. You take a right for a short while and you then go left in between the walls. You walk over a large, rocky stretch, where water might be flowing sometimes. After some four minutes you keep to the right again and you thus get to a real bed of a river, in between oleanders.

You continue to follow this bed, strewn with large rocks, for about 200 metres; you stay on the right hand side of some fields with lots of “machaires”-flowers (machairi = knife). At the point where the bed narrows, you go up towards the right on a fairly rocky terrain (there is also a red arrow). A little further down you take a left again in between walls (another red arrow) – this is the rocky terrain you saw from high up, some minutes ago.

You now get to a pleasant earth trail, which runs between stables and flocks of goat; above the valley with olive trees this trail describes a large bend to the left. Some seven minutes later you reach a couple of small fields, but the red dots (even on trees) do a good job in showing you the right way. After ten minutes all together you get to a cart track or a road, which you follow towards the right. Almost immediately you go right on a field and then up towards the right (note the red arrows); you now walk on the right hand side of a low wall, with an iron fence on top of it.

Panoramic view on Moní.

During the next ten minutes you follow a narrow and meandering trail over fields and walls; in this way you walk around the valley. Finally, you climb down into the rocky bed of a small stream (on the 25^th of May 2004). For about one minute you walk in the water of the bed, until you can leave the bed on the right. You thus get to a nice trail in between a high and a low wall. Some large collapses of the walls make this stretch somewhat difficult; the trail stays very obvious however, and it turns directly towards Moní. You then have to cross a small valley, you open a gate and you walk over a concrete bridge. For another five minutes you follow an earth path, you pass through a very final valley and you get to an outdoor wash place. In this way you get to a street at the beginning of the village.

You continue by zigzaging through a deserted part of Moní (there are still red dots!); you pass a couple of small chapels and you thus get to a square with a tree and a telephone booth. 

[On the left/straight ahead you find the Odós 28 Oktovríou. At the house with number 55 you can descend steeply to the left and in this way you can walk to Chalki via Kalóksilos (see the second part of the hike Chalkí - Moní – Chalkí, clockwise).]

From this square there is a small street towards the right, which brings you to the centre of Moní. After 50 metres, at the end of the street, you can have another beautiful view on the valley towards the left – all the way to the left you can even see the Fanári, with Filóti and Damariónas. Further down the street you get to O Parádisos on the right and To Panórama on the left, the latter being a typical Greek café-restaurant, where you have a beautiful view from the balcony.