Falatádos - Xóbourgo - Koumáros - Loutrá - Krókos - Skaládos - Voláx - Falatádos

Evaluation: This circular hike offers the opportunity to climb the platform of Xóbourgo and from there onwards it brings you to a number of lovely villages in the interior of the island of Tínos. If you already hiked the trajectory from Krókos over Skaládos to Voláx, it might be a better idea to choose the alternative Falatádos - Xóbourgo - Tripótamos – Chóra instead of this hike. This hikes gets an evaluation of ***.

Estimated time: The trajectory from Falatádos to Xóbourgo only takes about 30 minutes; if you want to climb to Xóbourgo it will take you 20 minutes up and down; you will then walk for another 25 minutes to Koumáros and some 20 minutes to Loutrá. From this village it takes yet another 20 minutes to Krókos. Only about 13 minutes later you will reach Skaládos and it will then take 30 minutes to Voláx. Finally, in order to close the circle, you will have to hike for a little over 35 minutes to Falatádos. This means that in actual hiking time this hike takes 3h15 – which makes for another full hiking day. Taking a taxi to or coming back from Falatádos will cost about 9 € (in May 2005). However, since this hike departs and ends in the same place, you could consider renting a car for this day… 

Route description: In the village of Falatádos the taxi might drop you on the main road; in any case, you have to go up the slope (with steps in the middle) in the direction of the large church; you thus pass the school, the monument for the dead and the café "To Katooi". In this way you arrive at the platía Megalochóri, at the foot of the church with the two towers.

The street on the right is the beginning of the hike to Mirsíni and Liváda, on the right you can also see the beautiful tavern "En Falatádoo". You take a left, though, and further down in the village you go left for a short while; immediately thereafter you go right. Later on you keep to the right and in this way you get next to the similar church of the hamlet of Kathlikádos, where you arrive at the asphalt road.

Slightly further you get to a bend: on the right, at the corner of a wall, you find the departure of the direct trail to Voláx – this is the place where you will end up this afternoon. You continue straight ahead and up on the gravel road and you follow this rather monotonous road for about 15 minutes - the view on the platform of Xóbourgo does get clearer all the time.

Some 21 minutes after your departure from Falatádos you get to the asphalt road again; you follow the steps on the opposite side and you thus get to a fairly overgrown path. In 6 minutes you then arrive at a squarely built stable; you open an iron gate and you get to a crossing: the trail on the right (there is a signpost) leads to Koumáros – if you did already visit Xóbourgo, you can take a right here; otherwise you will come back to this spot later on.

Supposing that you first want to climb the platform, you go straight ahead, up the concrete slope. You follow the meandering concrete road going up for about 5 minutes and you thus reach the large monastery of the Holy Heart (Ieras Kardías). You walk to the left and then to the right along the large outer wall of the monastery in the direction of the platform of Xóbourgo.

Pretty soon you see a sign pointing to the right, to the Kástro – you are now at an altitude of 440 metres.

After about 3 minutes you already walk through some remains of ruins and after 8 minutes you arrive at the actual Venetian remnants of the kástro. At this place, though, also remains of much older buildings have been found, such as the remnants of the ancient city of Tínos, founded at about 1000 BC. During the excavations, some geometrical and archaic statuettes have also been discovered.
The trail continues now under the form of steps, until you get to the cross of 1931 and the aerials on top of the 559-metres-high summit. The panoramic view is fantastic over here: from the southeast to the southwest (and from left to right) you can distinguish in clear weather: Mýkonos with Dílos and Rhínia (and the islands of Náxos, Páros and Antíparos beyond), Sýros (with the islands of Sífnos, Sérifos and Kýthnos beyond) and the uninhabited island of Giáros. You can also discern many villages, such as Koumáros, Kámbos, Chatzirádos and Ktikádos!
It takes you about 10 minutes to get down again.  

You now continue to the catholic monastery of the Holy Heart (Ieras Kardías); you walk on the right-hand side of the wall, and then you do not go straight ahead, but you take a left – a blue sign points in the direction of Falatádos. You follow the meandering concrete road until you arrive at a stable with a flat roof after a couple of minutes. On the left of the stable you find the beginning of two trails: the one on the right (with a small blue sign) is the path to Falatádos, which you followed a little earlier today. You now have to take a left, obviously, to the village of Koumáros (wooden signpost).

The rocky trail descends quickly with a beautiful view on the green valley. After some 10 minutes already you get to Koumáros, a nice village with a main street with three vaulting arches. You pass a self service café and you thus walk through the village till you reach the asphalt road, where you can find a nice well. You then walk back the way you came and some 10 metres past the third vault and the café, at the house with number 35, you take a right. Slightly further you go left and in this way you walk in north-western direction out of the village (there is also a red dot). You soon arrive at a shaded trail, which descends quickly into a very green valley (red dot and arrow). After 5-6 minutes you get to a concrete slope, you cross the valley and you continue straight ahead on a narrow and flat trail (red dot). A little further you go through an iron gate, not without difficulties. The trail is somewhat overgrown and some 3 minutes later on you arrive at a gravel road – you have to take the gravel road going DOWN on the left (so the second road).

You follow this road for some 6 minutes, which means that you have to go through a broad open gate. You thus get near the village of Loutrá, on the asphalt road. You take a left for a short while and then you go right immediately, towards the village. You enter the village on the right of the school. You proceed in the direction of the museum, you go past the church and in the centre you take a left. You should have a look into the side street off the right, with the vaulted arches. You continue through the village in south-western direction, on the right of the Ursulin monastery, until you get to the left of the large building of the Jesuits.

You are now at a crossing: the beautiful stone staircase (with a large red dot) straight ahead is the path to Kámbos and Chóra – see the second part of the hike Chóra - Xóbourgo - Koumáros - Kàmbos - Ktikàdos - Chóra. You take the trail on the right to the villages of Perástra and Krókos. You follow this easy and flat path for about 10 minutes until you get underneath the village of Krókos. Watch out not to walk past the crossing! So, after 10 minutes you find a trail going up on the right – there is a blue dot on a wall.

You now walk through lots of flowers – in springtime – in the direction of Krókos; on the other slope behind you, you can clearly see the village of Smardákitos. You climb quite a bit for about 7 minutes and you then curve to the left with a nice view on Loutrá; finally you get to an asphalt road. You take a right, but immediately thereafter you go left on a concrete slope (signpost): this is a steep climb till you reach the village of Krókos.

You walk through the peaceful village, but you go left up the staircase after the first arched passage; this is directly after the house with the inscription GEIA XARA and the small fountain with a little sailing ship – you can see the village of Skaládos already in front of you. 

The trail is still very beautiful, with alternately flat stretches and nasty slopes – all around you there are real carpets of wildflowers. After 9 minutes you get to the village; you take a left and then you go up a staircase on the right, on the left-hand side of a chapel. In this way you get higher and higher until you reach the forecourt of the (catholic) church; from this point you have a great view, as usual: down in the valley you can distinguish from left to right the villages of Kámbos, Tarampádos and Smardákitos.

You go back the way you came for a short while; you then go up a couple of steps, you walk through a small gate and you take a right, out of the village. A little further down you do not have to go in the direction of the small church, but you have to take a left, up a paved staircase – you thus get to the asphalt road, the road to Voláx.

You follow this road to the right for about 7 minutes and then you take the road off the left (there is a signpost to Voláx). Another 3 minutes later you take the narrow gravel road on the left, going down into the valley. You follow this road for another 7 minutes – you can see Agápi already in front of you. All of a sudden, the sand road describes a sharp bend to the right, in the direction of Voláx.

[The narrower sand road straight ahead leads to Agápi, see the hike Tarampádos - Agápi - Voláx. In actual hiking time, this detour would cost you about 65 minutes.]

You thus follows the road to the right, which meanders up and down through a landscape with large blocks of granite – this resembles the typical landscape around Falatádos. After 7 minutes you step over a low gate, blocking the entire road and you do the same about 6 minutes further down. Another 3 minutes later you get to the church of Voláx and you continue straight ahead through this picturesque village. A signpost points to the well (pigí) and to the small open air theatre.
You can go straight ahead or make this small detour – in either way you finally get to a charming crossing with houses with lots of flowers.

You go straight ahead all the time and you thus reach the end of the village. Over here you find the nice estiatório I Voláx with a very pleasant outdoor terrace. Next to this terrace there is a pergola with oleanders, 2 tables and stone benches.

For the final trajectory of the day you leave the village from the tavern, following the asphalt road – far away in front of you, you can already distinguish the chapel of Theoskepastí, where you will get to later on today. When the road describes a bend to the right, you go straight ahead on a small concrete road; after 2 minutes this road becomes a gravel road. After about 6 minutes you have to watch out: immediately after the bend to the right there is a trail off the left between walls. You follow this path, going up steadily; after 3 minutes you go through an iron gate and you then continue through a marvellous rocky landscape. Some 14 minutes after your departure from Voláx you arrive at a sand road, where you take a right.

You follow this road until you almost get underneath the chapel of Theoskepastí: in a bend to the left you notice the old trail on the right-hand side of the road and you follow this trail till the chapel. If you miss this trail, you can also continue until you see the signpost to Theoskepastí; over here you can climb up on the right to the beautiful chapel.

You keep following this wonderful rock trail; after another 7 minutes you have to walk through an iron gate and some 10-11 minutes later you get to a gravel road. A couple of minutes later this road leads to the asphalt road. This is a spot where you were already this morning – you then took a right on the gravel road to Xóbourgo. You now have to go left on the asphalt road, of course. It only takes one minute to reach the church of the hamlet of Kathlikádos and then you get to Falatádos after only 5 more minutes.

In the attractive tavern "En Falatadoo" you might want to taste the "tsípouro" (brandy) or the delicious mezé.

If you call a taxi from this place, it is a good idea to wait for the driver downstairs, on the side of the asphalt road.