Chóra - Gýftika - Protórgia - Vársamo - Panagiá - Diaséla - Vounáki - Páno Stavrós - Chóra

Evaluation: This hike is a variant of the hike Chóra - Gýftika - Protórgia - Panagiá - Gýftika - Chóra: you follow first of all the wonderful monopáti to Gýftika (walk [2]), then the beautiful trails into the solitary interior of the island, north of the Troúllos hill (walk [4]). For the return route from Panagiá, which in the variant partly follows the asphalt road to Gýftika, you follow now the gravel road on the slopes of the Diaséla until you arrive above Kallítsos. You then descend to the trail [1] and cape Vounaki, in order to follow the well-known path back to Chóra. You thus follow, during this long hike, not only walks [2] and [4], but also an important part of the trail [1]. It thus deserves ***.
[15/16 September 2017]
[The translation of this walk was made with the help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]

Estimated time: The walk to the crossroads near Gýftika lasts about 50 minutes (AWT), and then it takes 45 minutes to reach the hamlet of Protórgia. The walk to Panagiá requires about 50 minutes. It takes a little less than an hour to get to Vounáki, at the end of the gravel road on the Diaséla, and finally some 1h10 to return to Chóra. The actual walking time of this long hike of 12,2 km thus amounts to a total of 4h30, some 35 minutes more than in the variant. As for us, we walked from 10.30am until 17.00pm (TWT).

Route description: (0h00) On the little square in Páno Chóra, you notice the kafenío I Míli (The Mills), as well as the "pantopolío" of Michaïl Bofilios and a couple of small cafés.
The road on the right (when facing I Míli) goes into the village and the road on the left runs up to the mills. You take a left, you descend to the left on the asphalt road, just before the first mill, and slightly further you take the climbing concrete street on the left of the mills (red hiking sign and [2] on a pole). After 3 minutes, you continue, first on a stony, then rocky slope; you go up to the right on that slope [2] and you get in this way to the trace of the old trail (red hiking sign).

(0h06) A little further, you go sharply right and then left again (little arrows) and in this way you get to a very well-preserved kalderími with nice curb stones. The pavement is still rocky [2], but soon the uneven old pavement begins. It becomes very nice after 15 minutes, with on the left a heavy obvious retaining wall. All along you will now follow a marvellous old kalderími, running against the barren mountainside, and known as the “drómos toon Plakoón”. When looking behind you, there are a whole lot of islands: from left to right Náxos, Páros, Antíparos with Ios very far away, the tip of Síkinos, then, more clearly, Sífnos, with a tip of Folégandros, and finally Mílos and Kímolos.

(0h15) You go up gradually now, on one of the most beautiful kalderímia of the Cycladic isles. The trail curves to the left, towards the pass with the chapel of Agios Geórgios. After climbing up continuously for 12 minutes, the path becomes rocky again and you climb until you reach the simple chapel on the pass.

(0h34) In front of you, you can now see a bare slope, with the heliport on the left. You continue, at first with a wall on your left side. Pay attention: after 2 minutes, near a post, you have to keep to the right - the stony path now goes all the way up slightly, while following the bare slope of the hill.

(0h48) Finally, you get to a small asphalt road, near a hiking sign. The heliport is situated on the left and you proceed straight ahead for another 4 minutes, until you arrive at the main road – this is Gýftika. (0h52)

Straight ahead, you see a gravel road with a sign for hike [4] to Vársamo and Panagiá (hiking sign).

(0h52) On the gravel road, you take the second little gravel road to the right, then again immediately the very narrow path to the left that continues between low bushes (red sign [4]). You veer right: the trail is easy to follow because of the sign-posting = and [4]! After 5 minutes, you see the path far ahead of you, running towards the crest of a hill, with a power line.
After 9 minutes, you come along a wall and a heavy water-pipe. Behind you, the island that emerges from the sea is Sífnos You continue along the power line ([4] on a pole) and you climb to the highest point on a sort of plateau.

[You here can deviate from your road and go left along a track that leads to the rotund top and a small antenna: here you are on one of the summits of the Troúllos, 557 meters high. You have a magnificent view that encompasses many islands:
- to the south, the island of Sífnos seems to float on the mist and the sea; beyond it you can still distinguish Sikinos and Folégandros, with more to the right Kímolos and Mílos (from the left to the right)
- to the left, behind the summit of the Petriás (553 meters high) and behind the Diaséla (494 m high, with antennas) lay the islands of Sýros and Tínos
- on the other side, in the north, you see just a tip of Kýthnos.]

(1h07) Back on the trail, you continue straight, at first on the right side of a track. The track veers to the left, you continue straight ahead between 2 low walls (= and [4]). You are now moving in the direction of Kýthnos, on a clear path that is narrow because of the low, thorny bushes (cairns and [4]). You descend into a small valley and you stay on the left slope of the valley; then you veer slightly to the left [4], with a little wall on your left side and pale rocks on your right side. You go down a bit and up again, and you arrive to the left of a dilapidated wall (cairn and =), with a beautiful view over the entire valley.

(1h20) Finally, you come to a gravel road, which you follow to the right - there is a small pole with a [4], but the walking sign has disappeared. The view of the sea, with all its islands and islets, is simply fantastic: in front of you, you still can see the elongated island of Kýthnos, with behind it the vague contours of Kéa; to the right, there are the rocky islets of Pipéri and Serfópoula with behind it the island of Sýros and beyond this island Andros.
After 4 minutes, you arrive in a curve, where you enjoy a magnificent view over the whole valley. On the right you see Panagiá, recognizable by the red roof of the church, and on its left the cemetery with above Panagiá the small village of Pýrgos. From here onwards, the road is cemented, and after another 5 minutes, it begins to zigzag and to cut the old overgrown path. About 4 minutes later, the concrete becomes gravel again and a little further, you arrive near some ruins - this is the abandoned hamlet of Protórgia. Before the first ruin, there is a clear path off to the right (with a sign [4]).

[To the left, beyond the valley, you see the on the conic summit the church of Agia Thékla, and on the slope the tower of Kefalá.
If you continue to follow the road, you could see after 1,5 minute a path that goes up to the right: it leads to the Panagía Kamarotí, an interesting junction of trails – see the Anávasi map.
If you continue on the road, you will get, after a bend in the road, a good view on the very simple Panagía Roudianí. You can arrive near that chapel after 7 minutes: to the left, you can enjoy there a nice view on that very isolated part of Sérifos, with the valley of Lierólakkos, of which the upper part is called Agriolangáda or “Wild valley”.]

(1h36) You thus take a right here: the trail turns immediately to the right again [4] and passes next to a ruin and a white house. Down on the left, you see the green oasis of Vársamo, and in front of you, you see how your path describes a long curve to the left. You now go down fairly quickly on a very stony and rocky path between dilapidated walls. After 9 minutes, you arrive in a small and very green side valley green [4] – to the left, there is a well with the date 1959 on a stone. The rocky path goes up on the opposite side, but then it quickly descends again.
Pay attention after about 3 minutes: at the end of the wall on your left, the trail forks. Do NOT go down on the left along the wall, but take a RIGHT, while remaining on a flat trail ([4] and a cairn on a rock).

(1h48) You go up slightly and pass through two walls, each time with signs [4] on the stones, and then you continue on a flat elongated terrace, until you arrive, after 4-5 minutes, in front of a deep valley with many small terraces. To the right, on the opposite hill, you see the path that you will follow to Panagiá - this trail will pass next to two small stone buildings, on a slope with a lot of terraces.

(1h53) You again go through a breach in an wall and to the left through an open metal gate: you descend quickly on a path that winds on a rocky slope. After 5 minutes, you reach a side trail – to the left, you could go to Vársamo in a few minutes, but now you should keep to the RIGHT (small arrow and [4]).

(1h58) You get to a flat stretch [4], then you descend into a small rocky side valley, with a source on the left. You go up again (=) and you continue now on the beautiful trail that you saw earlier from above and that will take you directly to Panagiá. After a few minutes, you cross a small valley with even a trickle of water (7 October 2007 and 16 September 2017), you climb again and after 9 minutes, you pass the house you have also seen from above.

(2h09) In front of you, there is again a small and very green side valley – there is even a tall cypress and a fig tree. This is the upper part of the long, green valley, the green ribbon that you can see when walking walks [5] and [6] - see the hike Pýrgos – Galaní - Sykamiá - Panagiá - Pýrgos. You continue to walk on a very nice and flat trail for 3-4 minutes – mind beneath you the little terraces, an alóni and a chapel, that remember a past that has gone…

(2h15) After another 6 minutes and a climb, you cross another cape, and suddenly you see that Panagiá is no more very far away. On the left, you also see the beach of Sykamiá, at the end of the green valley you just crossed. After 5 minutes already you find yourselves near the first house, where you keep to the right on a concrete slope [4]. You enter the village along a street that turns left towards the church, recognizable by its red roof. Near the large white staircase, walk [4] continues up - you will return here later on.
First, you continue into the village and descend the winding stairs to the LEFT. Then you take the first street to the right, and further on you go right, left, right and left again - and you arrive in this way at the platía with the church. (2h24)

This church is the beautiful Byzantine church of Panagiá, dating from the 10th century A.D. This church is devoted to the Virgin Mary, with a huge celebration on the 15th of August. If this church is open you can visit some wall paintings from the 1300s; there is also a beautiful ikonostási.

[On the opposite side on this square with the church, there is a street that leads to an anonymous café (with store), 50 meters away. It is almost always open, but only on Sunday it is rather crowded. The beer is fresh, you can eat an omelette ... and the hostess has the key of the church.]

(2h24) Starting from the square, you retrace your steps – a hiking sign [5] and the trail markers 4-5 show you the road. You meander to the right [4] [5], to the left and to the right again and at the following crossing hike [5] (to the beach of Sykamiá) goes straight ahead, while hike [4] takes a left.
You go up the staircase and you continue up the meandering staircase straight ahead. At a certain point you see a large, white staircase on your left – it is here you came from the right, a while ago…
You thus go up on the left and after 43 steps you arrive at the asphalt road. This is the end of hike [4].

(2h29) You notice a really beautiful and paved trail straight ahead, without any trail markers. After about 3 minutes the path becomes uneven and stony. Some 6 minutes later you pass to the right of a new house: here, it is better not to continue straight on the steep slope, but you should follow the little road to the RIGHT, until you get to the asphalt road. Over there you go LEFT.

(2h42) You only follow this road for 2 minutes, because in the right bend and below the chapel of Taxiárches, you should take the gravel road to the LEFT - it is here that the variant will follow the asphalt road for another 24 minutes to Gýftika.
The gravel road continues all the time on the slope and sometimes on the ridge of the Diasela: while walking, you can enjoy a beautiful view on your right side on the hills that go down to Chóra and to the bays of Psilí Ammos and Livádi. At sea, you distinguish from left to right Páros + Antíparos and Sífnos, with behind this island Síkinos (left) and Folegandros, and more to the right the group of islands of Mílos.

(2h52) After 8 minutes, you arrive on a pass, from where you have a beautiful view of Galaní and, at the bottom left, Pýrgos. At sea, you see Kýthnos and Kéa, so you are on a row with the islands of Kea, Kýthnos, Sérifos and Sífnos!
You pass Aria's Villas and after exactly 900 meters you reach a fork, where you veer left and then right again. Further, you start a steep climb: you pass down the first antennas, you leave 2 small roads on the right and, near the road that goes up to the left to the second antenna at the top of the hill (494 m), you turn to the right.
You descend now with a splendid view on the other face of the island, with Agios Ioánnis, Psilí Ammos and further Livadi and Chora, and with in sea many islands. You zigzag to the right and to the left, while descending, and in the next turn to the left, you have a beautiful view of Kallítsos.

(3h16) It is here that a small road goes down to the RIGHT: in the first bend of the road, you continue straight on a path, which descends quickly on the crest of the hill, with Kallítsos on your left.