Apollonía - Taxiárchis tis Skáfis - Kalamítsi-well - Vathý

Evaluation: This is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful hikes on the island of Sífnos. You will discover the untouched interior of the island and the absolute silence, and there will be some great panoramic views on the coastline. The paths are just splendid, with a lot of aesthetic spots. At the end you will find the beach of Vathý, where you can have a swim or drink something in one of the taverns. We give this hike the maximum evaluation of ****.
[Updated by Raymond on October 1^st, 2013 and on September 22^nd, 2018]
[The translation of this walk was made with some help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]

Estimated time: The best thing to do is to leave early, especially in Summer. If you also take the three-hour detour via the Profítis Ilías, you definitely have to depart at 8-9 o’clock in the morning. The hike from Apollonía to Vathý (without the Profítis Ilías) is 8,01 km long and takes about 2h55 (AWT) – but the TWT can amount to 5 hours and more – we walked from 10am until 15pm, so we had some time left on the beach.
From Vathý you can take the bus back to Apollonía (the bus departs a little inland; do not forget to note down the bus schedule before leaving from Kamáres!

Route description: [The bus from Kamáres stops on the Platia Iroöon (the Square of Heroes), where you can relax for a while on a bench in the shade of some trees. On this square you will find the museum of folklore (closed on Sunday mornings), the war monument and the post office. The pedestrian street to Katavatí begins on the left of the square, opposite the Piraeus bank. The pedestrian street to Artemónas begins in between the little store Tésseris Epochés and the bar Lákis.

Two walks by themselves are to walk up and down from Apollonía to Katavatí and to Artemónas, while enjoying all of the beautiful churches and all of the picturesque spots. But in fact, you can as well explore these streets on the hikes from Apollonía to Vathý and to the Agios Simeoón.]

(0h00) So, for the walk to Vathý, you take the very picturesque street to Katavatí, opposite the Piraeus bank. After some ten metres this street curves to the right (= and a little sign for hikes [5] and [6]) and it continues past the nice churches of Stavrós and Taxiárchoon. About five minutes later, you get to the Mitrópoli, the main church.
You then go straight, up the long staircase, and after another five minutes and 170 steps, you get to the gymnásio/lýkio, the secondary school. You continue up this street, you walk on the right hand side of a curve in the asphalt road for a couple of metres, going further towards Katavatí (sign-post and =). You pass the little shop of Maria Sardis, you pass on the right 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 sign-post to the Profítis Ilías (=).

You thus follow the broad concrete path. You pass a little concrete road on the left (=) and an earth path on the right (=). You thus stay on the little concrete road that curves to the left (sign-post) and to the right and a couple of minutes later it reaches the bypass around Apollonía (kiosk and information panel). You go for a moment to the right and there you will find a beautiful monopati on the left side, to the Profítis Ilías (hiking pole [5] Agios Nikólaos 1h50 / 4,4 km -  Vathy 3h10 / 7 km and [6] Agia Marína 1h45 / 4 km - Tóso Neró 2h55 / 6,9 km. The stretch until the bifurcation to the Profítis Ilías is thus signposted with [5] and [6].

(0h24) 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 Agii Anárgyri (hiking sign to Agios Andréas - see the walk Apollonía - Agios Andréas - Apollonía). After 6 more 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 (hiking pole [5] and [6] Profítis Ilías 1h30 / 2,7 km - Tóso Neró 2h35 / 6 km - Vathý 2h50 / 6,1 km).

[If you first want to climb all the way to this 681-metres high top, you will have to go up steeply along a zigzag trail. The monastery looks like a fortress and inside you will find an interesting church and an impressive dining hall. On the 18^th and the 19^th of July there is always a great festival on this location. From the summit you have a great panoramic view over the whole of the island.
It is possible to combine this hike to the Profítis Ilías (to go all the way up and back down you have to count about three hours) with the hike to Vathý. However, when the weather is really hot, it makes much more sense to do this on a separate day.]

(0h40) If you do not want to visit the Profítis Ilías, you go straight and further on the path continues through a small gorge. After some four minutes you get to a kind of rocky plateau – in front of you you see the corner of a wall. On the opposite hill you can distinguish the nice church of Agios Eustáthios. 

[At this point there is a path off the left towards the south (small sign Agios Stathis); this is also an opportunity to visit the interesting site of Agios Andréas and to return to Apollonía – see the walk Apollonía - Agios Eusthatios - Agios Andréas.]

(0h44) In order to go to Vathý, though, you have to follow the main path to the right (=). You keep thus to the right hand side of the wall and you go up slightly. 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 nice old church of Taxiárchis tis Skáfis in front of you.

(0h46) Before you get to 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?”

(0h53) A staircase on the right leads towards the monastery (hiking pole). This is a very pleasant place to have some rest: the door is often open, there are some wall paintings behind the ikonostási, 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 some7 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 get to a plateau with a kind of meadow. Just before this plateau there is some shade underneath a couple of trees and under an inclining rock  – you better take advantage of this!

(1h15) Immediately after you get to the end of the wall and on the open ground, there is a junction: you DO NOT take the broad path straight ahead – this path leads to Agia Marína and the Panagía Tóso Neró, see the hike Apollonía – Agia Marína – Panagía Tóso Neró.
Now, you should go left, more or less along a wall (hiking pole [5] Vathý  2h10 / 4,5 km – [6] Tóso Neró 1h55 / 4,4 km).
Just past the wall, you get to a broad gravel road, which was constructed in 2005-2006 – on the one hand to facilitate the fire fighting in the heart of this nature reserve, and on the other hand to make it possible to work at the site of Agios Andréas. You cross the road to the right and you continue on the climbing path (= and hiking pole).

(1h18) Some 50 meters later, there is another junction and at this point you have to watch out: you can take a left, and this is described in the alternative hike to Vathý via Agios Nikólaos T' Aeriná - also one of the hikes to Agios Andréas follows this route. Today, though, you have to go right, in the direction of the sea (hiking pole [5] Vathý 2h05 / 4,3 km and [5a] Vathý 1h50 / 4,4 km – Agios Nikólaos 40’ / 1,7 km).
Some 4 minutes later you get an open sight on the sea, with the rocky island of Antímilos. On the right there is the base of an old tower.

(1h22) The trail now curves to the left, with Polýaigos, Mílos and Kímolos in front of you; the nice and broad trail is sometimes well paved and it clearly runs on the left hand side of a wall.

(1h28) Some minutes later, it passes a chapel with a flat roof and a little white arch, the chapel of the Panagía tou Nýliou or tou Nigiou.
You proceed to the left of the chapel and on the left hand side of a wall (=). You continue to go down, sometimes in between walls and sometimes in between bushes; the trail is old, rather sandy, but easy to distinguish.
After another 5-6 minutes you reach a T-junction, between walls and next to a stable: you continue straight ahead (=). Two minutes later, you veer to the right and you arrive between very nice walls.
You keep going down on a splendid trail, between terraces with olive trees, and with the islands Polýaigos-Kímolos-Mílos in front of you. This trail is one of the most aesthetic trails of Sífnos, with gnarled trees, old decorated walls, old passages, etc.

(1h43) After a long descent , you reach an open ground - on your left in the distance, there are two white buildings, that is where you will arrive. Again, you enjoy a magnificent view of the 3 islands. You meander down, you get between pine trees and down, you keep to the LEFT at a bifurcation (=).

[The nice trail that continues straight on the left side of an alóni and between walls, leads to a ruin and the simple chapel of Agios Polykárpos, with a roof made of stone. You could have a picnic inside the chapel or next to the little house to the left… ]

(1h48) You thus take a left on the main trail (=), you still descend on a narrow rocky trail - high in front of you, you see Agios Nikólaos, located on the ridge - and so you arrive down in a green valley.

(1h56) You go up again, at first on stairs – to the right you have the 2 small white buildings of Agios Polykárpos, and you descend on a steep slope in the second valley – this is the valley of Kalamítsi, a gorge with a lot of terraces.

(12h04) After you have passed the bottom of the gorge + a well, on a spot with a lot of boulders, you will find the only source on this long hike – the source was still running on 1 October 2013 and also on 22 September 2018. You continue to climb, you come next to a wall - but watch out after 1 minute: some years ago, you should veer left, away from the wall, in order to continue on rocky slopes, but now you have to continue straight along the wall (=). The rocky path descends next to a ruined wall (=) and then continues for a few minutes flat. So you come against and to the right of a long wall, with behind it an olive grove and a small white building. You go up again next to the wall, then you continue for quite some time almost flat and most of the time next to a wall. After 5 minutes, the wall veers more to the left, you continue straight and go up slightly, with on your right and down a large farm. At sea, you always see the group Polýaigos - Kímolos - Mílos.
A few minutes later, you arrive on a recent gravel road, which has disrupted the situation of hiking in the vicinity of Agios Nikolaos T' Aëriná.

[From here onwards you follow again the hike that passes by Agios Nikólaos T 'Aëriná.]

(2h25) You take a right (= and hiking pole Vathý 35 '/ 1,4 km), but already after 1 minute, you see in the first bend the old path that continues straight (cairn and ==). You now continue straight in the direction of the group of islands with Mílos. Some 4 minutes after, you arrive between converging walls and then you pass through a wooden gate - you can guess the bay of Vathý on the left side, but you do not see it yet. The path becomes rocky and some 3 minutes after you can catch a glimpse of the bay. But nevertheless you veer right, you descend between lush vegetation, then you veer more to the left, so that, finally, you have a beautiful view over the bay of Vathý, behind a wall.

(2h37) You continue down along the wall and 4 minutes later, at the end of the wall, you get to a broader path that goes left through an open metal gate. You follow this path for 6 minutes - you keep of course to the left at a junction, the path becomes very stony and steep and so you get to a little road, next to the first house.
You follow the road to the right, but soon you can take the staircase in front of you, that descends and gets onto an alley which leads straight to the sea.

(2h51) You get to the far end of the beach (little sign on the wall “Apollonía 3h55 / 8,5 km) – so walking times are a bit exaggerated...
You go left for a few minutes and pass next to the nice little church. Just past the terraces of Okeanída and Apérantho Galázio, there is on the left side a small road that leads to the small square where you will find the bus terminus. (2h55)

[October 1, 2013, the last bus to Apollonía was at 4.40pm, in September 2018 it was at 4.25pm.]