Estimated time: The actual hiking time to Kástro is 75 minutes. In this little town you have to devote some time to a peaceful visit and you should have some rest on one of the terraces – either the new terrace of To Konáki or the very quiet terrace of To Astéri. To hike from Kástro to the Panagía Pouláti takes 25 minutes – if you are lucky, so if the sea is not too rough, you can go for a swim underneath Panagía Pouláti. Climbing to Artemónas then takes another 30 minutes and you can easily spend the rest of the afternoon in Artemónas and Apollonía – this hike definitely offers enough for a full day.

Route description: To hike from Apollonía to Kástro you can take different routes: via Artemónas and Panagía Pouláti (the opposite route of the second part of this hike) and via Káto Petáli and Agii Anárgyri (see the hike Apollonía - Káto Petáli - Kástro). You can also continue on the hike from Apollonía via Chryssopigí to Fáros by walking from Fáros to Kástro (see the hike Fáros - Kástro)... -  as you can see, there are plenty of possibilities. 

Today, though, we take the variant via Káto Petáli and the valley of Erkíes, which is probably the most beautiful way to hike to Kástro. 

From the bus square of Apollonía, you take the main street to Katavatí (in between the Plaza bar and a pay phone) for a short while, but almost immediately - when the main street curves to the right - , you take the little street and the stairs down to the left when you get to the Christós church. In this way you walk underneath the main road. Shortly afterwards you will find a path going up on the left, but you continue straight, in south eastern direction. By doing so you gradually descend, following the nicely paved path in the direction of the big church of  Káto Petáli, which can be recognized by two towers and a blue dome. The beautifully paved path - sometimes it is a flight of stairs - zigzags between fields with olive trees, bee hives and some pigeon towers – high up on the left you see the big church of Artemónas.

After some five minutes you arrive in a valley and you take a left, until you have crossed a bridge some 30 metres further. Then you go right again, in the direction of Káto Petáli. At a small church you pass a street off the right and a little further there is another path off the left. Now, you walk on a concrete trail, still in the direction of Káto Petáli. Another nicely paved staircase brings you to the right of the village, at a little square with benches - higher up you see a school and the large church Zoödóchou Pigís. You have now been hiking for about ten minutes.

You go down for a little while, you pass along the shortest side of a parking lot, you go straight on a concrete path and you walk in between walls and houses, straight towards the south. On the left hand side of these houses there is a small street which goes to the beautiful church of Agios Antónios: inside this church you can admire a nice rood loft with a staircase, and on the ground there is a coat of arms in stone with a double eagle and the date 1896.

The little church of Agios Antónios.

The trail turns into some paved steps, but after a couple of minutes you get again to a concrete path. From this point you have a marvellous view on the terraces and on the beautiful church of Panagia tou Koukiá. 

The little church of Panagia tou Koukiá.

 [If you want to visit the little church of Panagía tou Koukiá, you can take a right here for a short while: this path crosses the valley and goes up steeply till the church. Immediately before the church there is a rocky trail and a staircase leading in the direction of Exámbela – after about 5 minutes you already reach the beginning of the village. By keeping to the right you could thus continue and zigzagingly you would get to the large church of Exámbela.

At the church of the Panagía tou Koúkia you have a really nice view on Artemónas and on Káto Petáli; this is a remarkably peaceful and isolated spot… After your visit you have to return to the trail underneath Káto Petáli.]

A detail of Panagia tou Koúkia.   

You then continue on the trail towards the left. Very soon the trail becomes dusty and you pass a pigeon tower on the right. The path continues like a staircase, which leads to a beautiful rock-trail. Some five minutes further down there is a junction: the little road to the left leads up to the Anárgiri-church and then also continues to Kástro (see the hike Apollonía - Káto Petáli - Kástro). You have to take a right, though, towards the bridge.

When you get to the other side of the bridge you reach a rocky three-forked-junction, where you keep to the left (there is also a blue dot). You continue for about 5 minutes – sometimes you walk on a sandy path and sometimes on a rocky staircase. When you reach another junction you go left again (note the blue dot). Immediately thereafter, though, you take a right.  

The trail continues more or less horizontally and after a couple of minutes the marvellously white village of Kástro appears on the left-hand side.

Panoramic view on Kástro.

You gradually curve to the right and at the next junction you keep to the right (there is a blue dot). Remarkably enough, quite a lot of walls next to the trail have collapsed, due to the intense rains in the Winter and Spring of 2003.

After about 8 minutes you pass a small church; a little later on you pass an overgrown trail off the left and off the right there is a trail leading to Exámbela (see the hike Kástro - Exámbela - Apollonía). Another 2 minutes further down you get to a rocky three-forked-junction: straight ahead you could go to the monastery of Vrísis. Instead, you have to go down and to the left - there is a hiking sign "Footpath Káto Petáli - Kástro".

The next descent is fairly steep; sometimes the trail is blocked by bushes or by collapses, but you should not hesitate – you are on the right track! After some 8 minutes you cross the bed of a river – on May 17th 2003 we had to walk over quite a lot of water, and also on September 25th 2003 there was a lot of water... 

Gerry Elston and his wife came across this Macrovipera Schweizeri in the bed of the river, right at the waters edge, on  30th September 2004...

You climb up for a couple of minutes and you then continue on a very beautiful trail in the direction of Kástro. This path continues almost flatly for about fifteen minutes: underneath to the left you see two small houses and then a chapel with a double arch passing along. Then there is a chapel with a circular roof, a chapel with a flat roof and a pigeon tower. Closer to Kástro you descend for about 5 minutes until you get to another trail off the right which comes also down steeply: you have perhaps followed this trail on the hike from Fáros to Kástro. You continue going down for the next two minutes until you reach the valley.  Below, in front of you and a little to the left you see the staircase to Kástro – unless you want to follow the valley to the right in order to go for a swim on the beach of Serália.

The staircase crosses the asphalt road to Seralia after a couple of minutes and after 80 steps. Straight ahead you take the staircase painted in white and in this way you reach the square next to the bus stop, after another 140 steps. You are now at the gates of Kástro, near the new entrance to the fortified village. This hike has taken a little under two hours.

Nearby you find the beautiful terrace of To Konáki; in the bakery of the same name, a little further down, you can buy delicious amigdalótes, which is the local speciality. It is also great to take some rest on the terrace of the restaurant To astéri, a little further to the left – over there you should go and try a 'pikilía' (little snacks) with the tirokeftédes (cheese balls), the saganáki (fried cheese) and the melitzanosaláta (a salad of eggplant)...  

From the northwestern part of Kástro you can then descend again through the ancient entrance towards the two windmills. On the right of these mills there goes a little asphalt road to the right (there is a sign to Panagía Pouláti), but after some 100 metres you leave this road – which leads towards a water purification station. You now follow a very nice trail off the left. Some 100 metres further on, there has been a caving in, so you have to continue on the gravel road until the trail begins again on the left and above the water purification station. The next 25 minutes the trail continues above the beautiful rocky coastline like a balcony. About 20 minutes later you get to a chapel – with a marvellous view on both Kástro and Panagía Pouláti – and 5 minutes afterwards you reach the monastery of Panagía Pouláti itself. Just before you get to the monastery there goes a path down off the right. Taking this path brings you after about 160 steps to the water. When the sea is calm you can swim and snorkel here towards the rocks of Dialiskari. Also at the monastery itself you have to take some time to enjoy the peace and serenity.

The monastery of Panagia Poulati.

Leaving Panagía Pouláti, there is a beautiful staircase, which begins on the right of the parking lot above the monastery and which goes all the way up to Artemónas. The staircase, however, is criss-crossed a couple of times by an ugly gravel road, but each time it is fairly easy to find the steps again. After having crossed this gravel road for the first time, though, you have to go up on the right hand side of the wall in front of you, straight towards the windmills all the way up in Artemónas. But after you have crossed the road for a second time, the staircase gets really beautiful again. Halfway the third part of the climb you pass a path coming from the right and you continue towards the left and up. Your trail will then reach a couple of houses and the smallest, restored windmill. After another 80 steps you will get to a – sometimes paved - path in between walls, which continues upwards. This path eventually leads to a kind of plateau, at an altitude of 200 metres already! On the left there are some ruins of another mill and in front of you, towards the west and south west, Artemónas is located; in the north west you can distinguish another two mills. You continue the path towards the left, on the right of the mill in ruins, and you walk on a small concrete road in the direction of the church with a white dome. By means of a staircase going down to the right you cross a little valley, you continue then towards the left, and you get to the square Alexandros Vernakos, on the right of the church. You take a right immediately and in this way you get to the road from Apollonía to Artemónas, close to Radio Sífnos. On the right you see hotel Artemónas and, some 200 metres further on, there is the bus stop. Again a little further on is the beautiful square, the Platia Artemónas, with some really pleasant terraces. At this point you can either take the bus to Apollonía and Kamáres, or you can walk (through the pedestrian street) to Apollonía. The hike from Kástro to Artemónas has taken us about one hour (without too many stops).