Egiáli - Langáda - Panagía Epanochorianí - Tholária - Egiáli

Evaluation: This hike really resembles the hike Egiáli - Langáda - Tholária and it also follows more or less the same trails as the hikes to Agios Theológos and Stavrós. The small detour to the Panagía Epanochorianí gives you the opportunity to picnic on a very pleasant spot. This hike is ideal as a first introduction to the beautiful valley above Egiáli. It thus gets an evaluation of ***.

Estimated time: The actual walking time takes 1h50: half an hour to Langáda, from there about 15 minutes to the Panagía Epanochorianí and then some 35-40 minutes to Tholária; finally, the descent to the beach of Egiáli will cost you 25 minutes. The total walking time will thus turn out to be about 4 hours – we hiked from 12 am to 4 pm.
When you first have to catch the bus from Katápola, you better take the 9.30 bus. In this way you will have enough time and you will not have to hurry up. There are a few pleasant outdoor terraces in Langáda (I Lóza) and in Tholária (Choréftis or Kalí Kardiá) and at the end of the day you still have some time to have a swim on the nice beach of Egiáli.

Route description: You depart near the harbour dam of Egiáli; you follow the water for a short while until you get to the beach and the beautiful promenade bordered with tamarisks – a little further you can see the restaurant To Stéki and there is also the little guest house Fanis. At this point you take the asphalt road going up on the right, in the direction of Langáda and Tholária. After 5 minutes you arrive at a double crossing: you do not take the roads to Tholária and to Langàda off the left, but you go right, in the direction of Chóra. Already after 5O metres you find the old trail to Langada off the left, indicated by means of a wooden sign. Here is the start of hike number [4].

A wonderfully paved path, which turns into a large staircase later on, goes up gradually through a green valley. It is no problem at all to find the right way, there are only a few insignificant side-roads off the trail. After 10 minutes there is a well with a shelter on the left and some 20 minutes later you cross the asphalt road. At the entrance of the village you continue going up on the right and exactly 30 minutes later you reach a small parking lot. You can have some rest on a little wall underneath the trees.

You just continue walking up, on the left-hand side of the parking lot and further into the village. After about 1 minute you take a left (you follow hike number [4]), but after 50 metres already you have to go right.

[Straight ahead there is a concrete road which leaves the village almost immediately. After 50 metres you get to a narrow path in between a lot of flowers; on the left you have a marvellous view on the deep, rocky valley and very far away you can distinguish Tholária. See the hike Egiáli - Langáda - Tholária.]

You now walk all the way through the village, higher and higher and by first keeping to the left. After a few minutes you DO NOT take a left, nor do you go left a little further on – but you can have a look underneath and past the arched passage. A little later you do take a left and then you walk through a small arched passage.

You thus keep going up; you pass the post office and you walk underneath the beautiful church with a very nice, shaded forecourt. You finally arrive at the Loza-square, with a pantopolíon, a butchery, a small restaurant, a grocery shop and the beautiful terrace of I Loza. From the square you then proceed in eastern direction; you go down, leaving the village and very soon you get to a nice, concrete road in front of you. This road descends in the direction of the blue dome of the Panagía Epanochorianí. After 3 minutes you reach a junction: the small road and the concrete staircase on the left go into the valley and past the deserted village of Stroúmbos. You continue to the right, where the concrete road turns into a staircase. On the left you have a nice view on the far away Tholária and nearby on the ruins of Stroúmbos.

A few more minutes later you pass a rocky path on the left – and this twice; after 5 minutes all together you get to a new junction: the concrete trail on the left leads to the Panagía Epanochorianí, on the right there is an old and stony trail with a sign pointing to Agios Theológos and Stavrós.

You take a left here, straight towards the blue dome of the Panagía Epanochorianí. You go down for a short while, through a small valley and then you go up again. After about 6 minutes you first arrive at a small white chapel and then at the buildings of the Panagía Epanochorianí – between the two churches you notice a stony trail on the right, leading to Theológos.

This is a very pleasant spot, with trees and a place to picnic. When we were there, the church was open - which is probably rather exceptional - and it was nicely decorated. Indeed, it was the even of the 8th of October, the celebration of the Panagía or the Virgin Mary. A few icons inside are really worthwhile.

Towards the west you then find the beginning of a stony path: you keep to the right after one minute and after one more minute you go left. You thus get to the trail from Langáda to Tholária, where you take a right – this is the trajectory of hike no. [4] again. This is an easy path that goes down most of the time; after 7 more minutes you thus arrive at a trail coming from Stroúmbos. Over here you have a marvellous view on the bay of Egiáli with the island of Nikouriá. You take a right, on a path leading straight to Tholária in about 25 minutes – you can already spot a couple of houses of this village.  
At first, your trail is still a gravel path, which curves to the left a little further down. By describing a large bend you walk around the green valley, with a nice view on Langáda and on the seven mills high up the mountain beyond. You find another side-road off the right, leading to Astratios, but you keep going straight ahead. The trail turns into a real kalderími after a few minutes and especially the final part is marvellously paved.

You follow this kalderími for 15 minutes and then you get to a small path off the left, leading to a little church. However, you continue to climb to the village, which you traverse in western direction, until you arrive above the church.  

Next to the church there is a beautiful zacharoplastío (pastry shop) and on the right you notice an old arch with a roof made of wooden beams – you thus arrive at the kafenío O Choréftis (The dancer). When you return the way you came, you can take a break in the kafenío near the church Kalí Kardiá (Beautiful Heart); this is the café with the longest name we have ever come across in Greece: a "kafeouzomezedopantopolío", or "a café where you can get oúzo with mezé and which is also a general grocery shop"...

For the final part of your trip you depart from the large church and you descend in southern direction (towards Langáda), until you reach the parking place. Between the lampposts you find the beginning of the final trail – a small sign points to Gialós, or the beach. This road, in gravel or made of old, stone steps, goes down to the far end of the beach of Egiáli and this in some 25 minutes. After 5 minutes you should keep to the right [4] and slightly further you pass a nice well.

The view over the valley is still very pretty; after 15 minutes all together the old and stony path also passes a picturesque little chapel. Some 5 minutes later you get to the asphalt road, near the village of Egiáli. You take a left and then immediately a right, onto a narrow, concrete path. You stay on the right-hand side of a large gate and in this way you finally reach the beach.

It takes you 10 more minutes to walk along the beach to the harbour, but you can first have a swim in the sea. At the harbour you might have something to eat in one of the small restaurants. If you have to return to Katápola, you can choose between the bus or the boat, the Express Skopelítis – but you should first check the departure times!
You should try to buy the tickets for the Skopelítis beforehand, in Katápola; in this way you make sure that the boat is going on that particular day. The boat usually arrives at 8pm and after a very nice trip, amongst others through the narrow channel between Amorgós and the island of Nikouriá, it arrives at Katápola at about 9pm.