Chóra - Tripótamos - Mountádos - Kechrovouní - Karyá - Mountádos - Tripótamos - Chóra

Evaluation: This long hike begins by following the familiar and very beautiful trail to Tripótamos and it brings you to the nice valley at the foot of the 610-m high Kéchros. Besides a couple of villages, your main destination is of course the very big convent of Kechrovouní. A few of these paths and panoramic views are truly magnificent. This hike really deserves an evaluation of ***.

Route description: (0h00) When leaving from the town of Tínos or Chóra there are two ways to get to the important hiking trail leading to the interior of the island:
- you can either leave from the quay at the old harbour; from the little square with a kind of modern stage in the middle you then take the broad Leofóros Megalocháris, which goes up to the large cathedral of the Panagía Evangelístria. You thus follow this street upwards.

- you can also leave from the modern harbour and then you will enter Chóra via the Leofóros Stavroú - Kioníoon. In this case you arrive at a first little square with palm trees and a playground. If you go straight ahead in the left-hand corner, you reach a second little square with a fountain + dolphin. Over here a narrow street leads straight ahead to the third square, at the foot of the Leofóros Megalocháris, where you can go up on the left. However, maybe you did already see the small blue sign in the corner of the first square. The text on this sign says Xóbourgo - Falatádos - Liváda / Fáros and you can follow this sign by taking a left into the Odós Theológos Afentoúli. Later on this street becomes the Odós Nikoláou and after some 4 minutes you get to a sign pointing to the Evangelístria on the right.

[If you want to you can first visit the church, but it might be a better idea to postpone this visit to a more relaxed day! If you departed via the broad Megalocháris-lane, you have to take a left on the last crossing before the large church: over here you can also find a blue sign pointing to Xóbourgo and Falatádos. In this way you get to the Odós Nikoláou as well.]

From the Odós Nikoláou you go straight ahead into the Odós Várvaras; this staircase-street continues for about 5 minutes, leaving the town behind, and then it turns into a paved road. After another 2-3 minutes you cross the asphalt ring road and on the other side you go up on a broad and paved path.

(0h12) Slightly further down you get to the old paving and you also walk between the traditional walls; remember that this is still the ancient Venetian trail that many centuries ago already connected the harbour and the fortress of Xóbourgo. On your right-hand side you pass a drive with a misleading red arrow – which you ignore, obviously – and further down you also pass a broader gravel road off the right. You continue straight ahead all the time, going up on a marvellous kalderimi. After about 40 minutes you walk on a road coming from the left for a short while. Going straight ahead, though, you get to the old monopati again - which is narrower now - after about 10 metres. You walk underneath a small church and you gradually curve to the right; in this way you get a beautiful view on Chóra, right underneath your trail. After some 50 minutes you thus arrive at the chapel of Agia Xéni – this is a spot well maintained, with lanterns, but it is often very windy over here. You can take some rest on a bench inside the church.

(0h49) In fact, this place is an important crossing of hiking trails, so it is a spot you might pass a number of more times when hiking on the island of Tinos. On the right there is only a blocked trail; on the left a nice path runs downwards in the direction of Ktikádos and Kámbos; and straight ahead (on the right-hand side of the chapel) the trail continues to Xóbourgo – today, this is the way to continue.
Your trail keeps going up beautifully until you walk underneath a high-voltage cable after some 10 minutes – from here onwards you start to descend gradually. A couple of minutes further down you get to a three-forked junction: your trail continues on the left, over a little bridge; on your right-hand side you notice a nice well. After another 6 minutes the trail leads to the asphalt road, next to some houses of Tripótamos. On the opposite side, on the left, you can see the famous cheese factory or "tirokomío".

(1h10) You follow the asphalt road to the right and when you arrive at the crossing, some 100 metres further on, you take a right again; you continue past the chapel but then you take the first little street off the left (notice the red dot at the lantern) – in this way you enter the village of Tripótamos. You have a nice view on the height of Xóbourgo and you can already see the church with the red roof where you will get to later on.
You descend and you arrive at a picturesque little square. You have to keep going down on the right – not all the way to the right, but via the vault underneath a house with a small staircase on each side. Slightly further you keep to the right and in this way you reach the church. On the right of the church tower you can distinguish your final destination, far away and high up against the side of the mountain: the convent of Kechrovouní...

(1h16) BEFORE the church you go left, you descend towards a small bridge and you take the concrete road on the right. You will get a nice view on Tripótamos, on the height of Xóbourgo and also on a couple of pigeon towers. You go down towards another part of the village and after 4 minutes you keep to the right in order to proceed on the right-hand side of a second little church. Thereafter you continue straight ahead and you leave the little hamlet via a concrete road. You get to a nicely laid out well (there is a tap with water) and you notice a kalderimi continuing on the right. You follow a sunken road and after one minute you keep to the right, obviously. You thus get to a trail between walls. This trail splits up after one minute and you go right (red arrow).

(1h25) After a little while you continue on the left-hand side of the actual path, in order to avoid a caving-in (red arrow). A little further you have to walk on the right-hand side of the path to pass an overgrown part. After 3 minutes you keep to the left and a little further on to the right (each time you notice a red dot) – you can now see the convent high in front of you. Slightly further, where there is a path going down on the right, you take a LEFT in the direction of Mountádos. You descend on the slope opposite the little village and you get to a gravel road, where you go left. After a while you go right, over a small bridge; you keep all the way to the right and you enter Mountádos by means of a beautiful, white staircase. Before the first vault you go left up the staircase, you walk through a couple of vaulted passages, going up all the time. After the staircase, you keep to the left on a concrete road and you arrive at the asphalt road near the sign "Oikismós Mountádou / Mountados Settlement".

[This is the point where you will come back later on and from here you will return by following the same road as for the way out!]

(1h43) You follow the road to the right for a short while, but already after half a minute you go up on the left, BEFORE you get to a chapel, following a path under a fig tree. The path becomes a nice rocky trail for a while, but then it turns into a goat trail and it meanders over the terraces, going up steeply on the left of a wall. After 4-5 minutes you arrive at a larger terrace, you go through a metal gate and you continue on a staircase. You reach a smaller terrace, where there is a clear trail off the right. You follow this trail for a couple of minutes, you even descend a little, but then you take the first path off the left, between walls. You keep going in the direction of the convent, walking over terraces quite often; you DO NOT step over the metal fences, however – instead you rather keep to the right. You climb over a wall and after a fairly difficult clamber you reach the asphalt road. You go left for a short while, but at the crossing with the large signpost to the convent you continue for 200 metres to the right – finally you have arrived. (1h58) 

This convent is really a village, with a couple of churches: there is the church of the Zoödóchos Pigí (the Life-granting Well), there is of course a church in honour of the Blessed Pelagía, whose skull is kept over there. On the 23rd of July 1822 she received a vision from the Blessed Virgin, to tell her where the famous icon was buried. It is this icon that is now worshipped by so many pilgrims in the Panagía Evangelístria in the capital of Tínos. About 50 nuns are still living in this convent.

You can have a picnic in the forecourt: there are benches and three eucalyptus trees; there is also a tap and there are some stalls with herbs and deliciously dried figs. From here you also have a great view on many islands: all the way to the right there is the deserted island of Giáros with Kéa beyond – in the middle you can distinguish Sýros with Kýthnos beyond, there are the islands of Sérifos and Sífnos and all the way to the left you notice Páros and Antíparos. From the road in front of the convent, the view on the towns of Chóra, Tripótamos and Xóbourgo is absolutely wonderful! 

(1h58) After a long break you return via the asphalt road and at the crossing you go right onto the main road. You follow this road for about 11-12 minutes – you can see a few trails, but none of them looks really attractive. In the meanwhile you have a nice view on the deep valley before Xóbourgo. After about 13 minutes all together you take the little concrete road off the left, with signposts to Panagía Kýra Xéni and to Agii Anárgyri.

(2h11) You go down on the left, you pass a chapel and after about 2 minutes you arrive at the gate of yet another chapel.

[You notice a promising gravel road descending on the left, but it runs to a dead end after 6 minutes...]

You continue on the RIGHT, on the concrete road that meanders down between pigeon towers. Shortly thereafter you reach a three-forked junction with a tree in the middle: the little village of Tzádos is situated in front of you, and you take a left on a small gravel road. After another 2-3 minutes you get to a chapel, where you take a trail going down on the right. You have to watch out after one minute: you do not curve to the right towards Karyá, but you take the narrow path straight ahead on the left-hand slope of the valley. Sometimes this trail is paved and after 2-3 minutes it arrives at a well. Slightly further you get to a junction where you go right; the trail now runs nicely between walls. You have a beautiful view on Karyá and the height of Xóbourgo. Your winding trail descends to the asphalt road, next to the sign Karyá – you take a left on the road and you follow it for 3-4 minutes until you reach the familiar spot where you were this morning, close to the sign of the village of Mountádos.

(2h28) From here you follow the same road as earlier today. You descend the staircase, you take a left on the concrete lane and you arrive in the village. You keep to the right, you walk through the vaults and you take the side road off the right, leaving the village.

(2h31) You go down the white staircase and you turn to the left into the valley; you cross the little bridge and you take a left. Watch out now: after some 30 metres of gravel road the trail goes up on the right, next to two hoses.  
A few minutes further on you walk through a metal gate and you climb up on a path between walls. You cross the hill ridge and Mountádos disappears behind you. Later on you keep to the right and then to the left. Another 2 minutes later you keep to the right again, on a trail between walls (red dot) – from here on this trail runs straight to Tripótamos.

(2h45) You then have to go left for a short while, and then you have to walk on the right-hand side of the main trail. In this way you reach a ruin, where you go left; you descend via the sunken road, you walk past the spot with the laid out well and you cross the little bridge.  
Via a concrete and then a paved lane you walk through the lowermost quarter of Tripótamos. Past the church you keep to the right for a short while, but then you go left immediately. You continue for a few minutes in the direction of the main village, you cross another bridge and you climb to the church.

(2h57) Just past the church you go right, past the vaulted passage on the left. You walk underneath some more vaults, then you arrive at the small square and you take a right through some more vaultings. Past this passage you go up the staircase on the left, you proceed straight ahead on a little concrete street with lamp posts and in this way you get to the asphalt road. You take a right and at the crossing you go left – in this way you reach the cheese factory, the tirokomío.

(3h03) Over here you take the clear trail, obviously, to the left of and underneath the main road. Some 6 minutes later you walk over a small bridge, with a lovely well down under on the left, and you get to a three-forked junction. Over here you go straight ahead/slightly to the right and you go up a little. After another 4 minutes you walk underneath a high-voltage cable. From here onwards you will descend almost continuously for 50 minutes until you reach Chóra.

Some ten minutes later you arrive at the chapel of the Agia Xéni, at a crossing where you might have been before. The beautiful trail off the right goes down to Ktikádos and Chatzirádos; straight ahead the path continues to Chóra. From the nicely laid out terrace you have a great panoramic view on the tongue of land of the city of Tinos – the old harbour is built against this point. On the left you can discern the island of Mýkonos with the small island of Dílos, further down there are the islands of Náxos and Páros. This spot is often very windy, so maybe it is more relaxed to have a break or to picnic inside the chapel itself.

(3h23) You then continue your descent straight ahead on the beautiful and old monopáti. After 8 minutes you get to a gravel road for a short while, but some 20 metres further down you take a left again, onto the old trail – it still dates from the era of the Venetians. During the long and steady descent in the evening sun you gradually get a really beautiful view on the town of Tínos.

Just before you reach the ring road your trail turns into modern paving; on the asphalt road you continue straight ahead, keeping a little to the left on the paved road. Going straight ahead all the time you can thus arrive at the harbour. You can also take the first broad street on the left and then further the Leofóros Megalocháris on the right. In this way you arrive at the marina, right in the centre of town.  (4h06)