Chóra - Apíkia - Steniés - beach of Giália - Chóra |
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Evaluation:
This is a beautiful hike, especially because of the marvellous trail
between Chóra and Apíkia, one of the longest kalderímia of the island,
and because of the great location of the villages of Apíkia and Steniés. It thus gets an evaluation of ***.
Estimated time:
The hike till the Sáriza-well in Apíkia takes about 1h10 (AWT). It will
then cost you a little over 1h10 to walk to the beach of Giália, by
passing underneath Steniés. In about 35
minutes you can then walk back to the beach of Nimborió in Chóra.
This circular hike of 8,27 km means a total
actual hiking time
of
a bit less than 3 hours; taking into account the
breaks this makes all together for a hike of about five hours (TWT).
Route description:
(0h00) For all hikes leaving from Chóra you have to depart from
the main street near the large church of the Panagía tis Kímisis, which
is visible from all over town (for more details you might have a look at
the description of the short hike in Chóra itself). For the hikes in the
direction of Apíkia and Vourkotí you have to follow the main street
inland for a short while (to the right when facing the church). You then
have to take the first street off the right, the Odós Stamátis Empiríkou.
Via a staircase of about 50 steps you thus descend until you get to a
promenade with a couple of restaurants; you veer to the left and then
you take a right to cross the bridge over
the mouth of a small river, where the Nimborió-quarter begins.
On the parking lot over the bridge, on the right side, there is an
information board of Andros Routes – and
you follow the asphalt road for 1 more minute, to the left of
the palm trees.
(0h07)
After
1 minute you take a left
and you walk on
the wide white
stairs (walking
sign to Apíkia 3,2 km
/ Bistis tower 5 km / Katakaléď 4,9 km / Vourkotí
7,1 km + [2]). The hiking sign at the beginning of walk [2]. Then you continue straight ahead on the concrete ramp and follow the street [2], until you arrive at a cross street, where you go to the right (signpost to Vourkotí 2 1/2 hours + [2]). Almost immediately a beautiful staircase begins along a wall [2]. A look back, on the beautiful path from Chóra to Apíkia. Later on, the
really beautiful trail is sometimes 3-4 metres large and it climbs
gradually above Chóra and the sea, for about 9 minutes.
You then get to a
concrete road and you follow it, while describing a curve to the left
[2]. Panoramic view on Chóra.
(0h20) Two
minutes later this road becomes again a very nice trail: you climb
slowly and then, a small asphalt road goes off the right, but you follow
the ancient staircase going up on the left [2].
You continue on a large staircase, overgrown with flowers in Spring.
Some 4 minutes
later this staircase crosses an asphalt road - on the left you can see a
commemoration plate from 1907 for the "great patriot" Alkibiádis
Empiríkos, “because he created a road from the town to there”.
In Spring, a lot of flowers cover the path... (0h28)
After these 120 steps, you
already have a great panoramic view on Chóra, but you have to continue
climbing up on the staircase [2]; after another 2 minutes and about 150
steps, you pass an (open) chapel with a terrace and stone benches, you
cross the asphalt road to Ménitzq and you continue, via a newly
constructed staircase (hiking sign Apíkia 1,7 km / Vourkotí 5,6 km +
[2]). You continue going up, towards the hill crest. From here onwards
you can really admire the walls, built in a typical Andriotic way:
these walls are made out of regular stones alternated with large, flat
schist-plates; this method of construction was probably used to save
building materials and time, but it also resulted in a very aesthetic
unity. Have also a look at the construction of the trail itself – with
the foundation stones piled up vertically! The typical walls on Andros. The nice pavement of the path. The side of the monopáti. After another 8-9
minutes, the stone pavement of the trail has basically disappeared – it
is quite likely that the stones have been used to build the walls in the
neighbourhood. View on Apíkia.
The shadowed path, just before you reach the bridge
underneath Apíkia. The bridge near Apíkia. |
You now proceed on
a paved staircase and a concrete ramp, you cross an asphalt road and you
continue on the other side on a concrete staircase [2]. A little further
the trail splits up – straight ahead (on the right of the blue iron
gate) hike [8] continues to Steniés and the beach of Giália (hiking signs).
You will
return here within a short time! [Here, you could
continue to the left to the waterfalls of Pithára (hiking sign
"Waterfalls" + [2a]) - see the walk Chóra - Apíkia - Pithára and back.]
(1h10)
You go right
for a short while (hiking sign + [2]), with the big hotel Pigí Sáriza in
front of you, and on the left-hand side of the hotel you go up the
shining white staircase (hiking sign Vourkotí 3,9 km + [2]) until you
see the famous Sáriza-well on the left in front of you. One still can
read the date 1787. The water of this well is famous and it is bottled
in a small factory a little further down in the village – in 2019, this
factory was closed…
The Sáriza-well in Apíkia.
(1h11) Today, you retrace your steps, you go a few moments to the right on the paved road [2] and you take the stairs down to the left (sign Paralía Giália 3,5 km / Chóra 3,2 km + [2] and [8]). Once arrived in the bend, after 4 minutes and the 184 steps, and near some pines and a small blue gate, you go to LEFT: it is the beginning of the walk [8] (signs [8] Pýrgos Bísti / Giália) .
The bifurcation of walks [2] and [8]
You follow the concrete path for 2-3
minutes and, while descending, you reach a beautiful spot under
cypresses and maples. There is a fork, where you descend to the right
[8] to cross the lowest bridge and you continue on a flat, concrete path
that passes over small gardens.
![]() The living tower of Bísti-Mouvéla. Panoramic view on Steniés.
(1h51) You have to go down on the right here [8], and at the bottom,
you go to the left and you get to the asphalt road that leads to Steniés
on the left ([8] on a pole). Shortly after, you reach a fork: on the
left, you could go to the village of Steniés, but you go down the stairs
sharply on the right [8] and you arrive after 3 minutes near a beautiful
arch bridge - it is the " gefíri tou léontos "or" lion bridge ".
(2h01) If you want to follow the main path [8], you take a left
(signs): rather quickly, you pass a bridge, located under a beautiful
plane tree, with a large inscription saying that the bridge was built at
the expense of Geórgios K. Empiríkos in 1895. You continue to the left
next to the water, but a little further, after 10 steps, you go RIGHT (2
X [8]). Here again, you have behind the wall a nice view of the big
building with the water mill.
The beach of Giália.
The nice tavern
"Ta Giália" lies to the right; opposite the restaurant, a staircase
descends to the beach - it is somewhat disfigured by the heavy retaining
wall of the road. View on the bay of Giália, while you climb to the hill crest.
(2h32) At the top, you get to
the bend of the asphalt road; you go to the left, but already after 2
minutes, just beyond an electricity pole, you take a narrow path on the
left: it goes down very fast and makes you cut a very wide bend of the
road. You follow this path for about 6 minutes, while you enjoy the
magnificent view of Chóra, under the evening sun.
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