Estimated time: It is a good idea not to leave too late, definitely in summer. The hike going up gradually in the valley on the left of the Profítis Ilías to Agia Marína takes about 1h30 – we rather keep the climb to the top of the Profítis Ilías for another time. It will then take about 20 minutes to Agios Konstantínos and another 15 minutes to Flámbourno. Climbing down to Tósou Neroú is rather strenuous and it can take about 30 to 40 minutes. The climb back up is really tough and it will take you some 45 minutes. About 35 minutes later you will get to Agios Elefthérios - this is really a very beautiful part -, and finally it will take some 45 more minutes to go down to Apollonía. All together this makes for 4h50 actual hiking time, which means, in fact, that you are ahead of a full hiking day – but it is truly an awesome hike!

Route description: The bus from Kamáres stops on the Platia Iroöon (the Square of Heroes).

For the walk to Katavatí and thus in the direction of the Profítis Ilías - and the first part of our walk - you have to take the very picturesque street to Katavatí, in between the bar I Gonía and a pay phone. After some ten metres this street curves to the right and it continues past the beautiful churches of Stavrós and Taxiárchoon. About five minutes later you get to the Mitrópoli, the main church.

The little church of Stavrós, on the way to Katavatí.

You then go straight, up the long staircase, and after another five minutes you get to the gymnásio, the secondary school. You continue up this street, you walk on the right hand side of a curve in the asphalt road for a little while, going further towards Katavatí (sign post). On the right you pass the street which leads to a church with a white dome and you walk past the hotel Galíni. You continue to go up slightly (you pass another path off the right) until you have passed another little white church with a white dome, the Panagía Angeloktisti – there is a beautiful sarcophagus in front of this church. The street goes further down for a little while, but then you have to take a street off the right with a signpost to the Profítis Ilías – some fifteen minutes after your departure.

You then follow the broad concrete path. You pass a little concrete road on the left, an earth path again on the left, and a little further another earth path on the right. The trail then turns into a typical donkey path. It runs in between walls and after a couple of minutes it reaches the road around Apollonía. You cross this road, slightly going to the right, and there you will find the beautiful monopáti with a big sign the Profítis Ilías and Mávro Chorió. It has now been almost 20 minutes since you have left Apollonía.

You take this path, which first goes up along a marvellous paved staircase for about five minutes – you just have to ignore the little side roads. Afterwards, the trail continues rather flatly. After ten minutes you pass a path which goes up to the left to Agi Anárgyri, and after some fifteen minutes - you are already right into the magnificent interior Sífnos – you get to the path which goes up to the right towards the Profítis Ilías. At this point you cannot yet see the monastery on the top of the mountain. 
Climbing up the mountain is something we keep for another day, and you go straight, towards the left, and the path then continues through a small gorge. After some three-four minutes you get to a kind of rocky plateau – in front of you you will see the corner of a wall. On the opposite hill you can distinguish the beautiful church of Agios Eustáthios. 

[At this point there is a path off the left towards the south; this is an opportunity to visit the interesting site of Agios Andréas and to return to Apollonía – in this way you get to the hike Apollonía - Agios Andréas .]

You have to go straight again and you keep to the right hand side of the wall; you go up slightly (you will find a fallen down sign and there is also an old indication for the hike to Vathý: a red cross in a square with dotted lines). The trail is still very clear, it curves to the right, following the valley and very soon you will see some ruins and also the beautiful old church of Taxiárchis tis Skáfis in front of you.

Taxiárchis tis Skáfis, on the way from Apollonía to Vathý.

Before the church you pass a little road off the left.  You then walk on the right hand side of a palm tree and you cannot help thinking: “Where does this tree come from?”. A staircase on the right leads towards the monastery. This is a very pleasant place to have some rest: the door is often open, there are some wall paintings behind the ikonástasis, and there is a strong smell of incense.

The actual monopáti runs underneath the monastery and during the next 20 minutes it goes up gradually, sometimes like a staircase. Often, the path is narrow, in between a wall on the left and the rock on the right – in Summer time this is really a very hot spot! After some eight minutes you descend for a little while into a green valley, on the right hand side you have a nice view on the Profítis Ilías and the monastery. A little further, though, the trail goes up again steeply. Twenty minutes after Taxiárchis you will thus get to a platform with a lot of bushes. Just before this platform there is even some shade underneath a couple of trees – you better take advantage of this!  

When you get to the end of the wall you reach and open plateau. Over there, the trail splits up: the road on the left leads to Vathý (see the hike Apollonía - Vathý), but at this time you follow the large path to the right. For the next seven minutes you walk on this broad trail, slightly curving to the right: on top of the hill on the left you can see the ruins of Mávro Chorió; on the right you can see the Profítis Ilías, far away and towering over the landscape. You pass a trail off the left and you walk almost straight in northern direction, between bushes and a wall. A little later on, you move away from the wall; deep down on the left you can already see Agia Marína. The terrain gets wider, with lots of goat and sheep. On you right, you notice the farm of Kouní.

You curve to the left again and you arrive at a paved trail. Once in a while there are steps and this path leads to the beautifully situated Agia Marína.

After a possible visit to Agia Marína, you will have to get back to this spot for the remainder of the hike! This trail runs between the bushes, in the direction of a small white building far away. You should not go down; at first you should walk at more or less the same altitude. Only after a couple of minutes you get to a steep descent midst the trees. After some seven minutes you thus get to a spot between two wells – at the corner of a wall. Over here you have to follow a path on the right of the wall.

For the next few minutes you first walk on the right-hand side of the wall. You continue on the edge of the steep valley on the left and finally you walk again on the left-hand side of a wall. Slightly further you reach an unclear junction, where you keep to the right. By describing a large bend you thus go slightly up again, curving to the left till you get above the square little building of Agios Konstantínos.

The little church of Agios Konstantínos.

From here onwards the trail continues very clearly between two walls, in northwestern direction. On your left you can notice the islands of Mílos and Kímolos. The peace and the silence are really impressive over here. After a short while, the walls get closer to one another, but a few minutes later you leave the walls behind you. The trail goes into the green bushes and it takes a left for a little while. Then it describes a bend to the right, midst a very green landscape. You now proceed in the direction of two small, square buildings. Your trail descends until you get to the wall underneath the buildings. Along the wall it then turns to the left sharply. He path gets narrower and it is only barely visible – all the time, though, it does not move too far away from the wall. A little beyond the wall, the path – which is now almost invisible – curves to the right. It continues above some bushes and in this way it gets to the left of a rocky hill top. You arrive at a large stone with the red letters AD written on top of it. You proceed a little further between the green bushes and at this point the trail almost completely disappears. You should continue meandering on the small goat paths, between the bushes and moving to the north all the time – and all of a sudden you will see Tósou Neroú far away in front of you!

The next climb is really hard: you move between bushes and over rocks, so long trousers are really necessary. You should first descend in the direction at about 30° to the right of Tósou Neroú – watch out that you do not go too much to the right, because you then get to some sharp and steep rocks. Once you have passed the rock ridge, you can head straight towards the monastery. 

After some difficult moments, you reach a trail, which you have noticed from far away already, running on the right-hand side of Tósou Neroú. You follow this trail going up for a short while and you then reach the round corner of a wall. On the left, the trail descends to the small beach Vlási. On the right, it goes up and in five minutes it brings you to the large monastery.

[If you would take a left and go down for another 15 minutes, you would arrive at the beach of Vlási. For the final minutes, you follow a zigzaging stone staircase (176 steps). This staircase begins on the left of a valley full of oleanders – when blooming this is a marvellous view. You thus reach the idyllic pebble beach; this is really a great spot to have a swim. Afterwards, though, you have to go all the way back up to the monastery...]

To return to Apollonía via Agios Elefthérios, when leaving from the monastery, you first have to climb up for 40 difficult minutes, on a stony, but very obvious trail, to the pass. The panoramic view behind you is really incredible. 

Panagía tósou Neroú and the coast.

When crossing the hill crest via the pass, all of a sudden you will discover the bay of Kamáres in front of you – you are now at an altitude of 410 metres.

View of the bay of Kamáres.

You follow the clear trail towards the right and for the next 35 minutes you keep enjoying the marvellous view over the valley. Down under you can notice the remains of some towers (from this point onwards a very vague trail leads directly down, all the way to Kamáres – see for instance the hike Kamáres - Tósou Neroú). About 15 minutes past this pass, when you are near the third hill, you can also see the remnants of some mine exploitation. In this way, by following a gradually descending path "en corniche" you will finally arrive at a large aerial with a radar reflector. Over here you go slightly to the right in order to get to the modest buildings of Agios Elefthérios. The draw-well is basically dried out and there are only a couple of names in the visitors’ book. The peace and silence on this isolated spot are overwhelming – you are at an altitude of about 325 metres.

The monastery of Agios Elefthérios.

You descend into the valley via a rather long, but truly beautiful and meandering trail. In front of you, you can already see Apollonía and the monastery of Theológos tou Mongoú. 

You thus get to the gravel road with Theológos tou Mongoú in front of you. You take a left and then you have to look around for a little while in order to find the path. After some 50 metres, just before a sloppy metal fence, you have to search between the bushes on the right in order to find the almost invisible trail. After some 100 metres the trail gets clearer; it runs on the left-hand side of a wall and it brings you to the left of the Theológos-monastery. At the entrance of the monastery the path turns into concrete and it continues between a kitschy little church with a blue dome on the right and another modest little white church on the left. Further down, you keep to the left and by following a rocky slope and a staircase – with the small church of the Panagía Ródoon toon Amarántoon on the left – you get down to the road. Over here you can wait for the bus to Kamáres (if you have noted down the hours of the bus in advance!), but it is a much better idea to sit and wait on the outdoor terrace of the café Lákis on the platía of Apollonía. To get to this square you should follow the main road towards the right. In about 10 minutes you will thus reach the centre of the village.

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