Tarampádos - Smardákitos - Perástra - Loutrá - Kámbos - Chatzirádos - Ktikádos - Chóra

Evaluation: This hike is a variant of the hike Tarampádos - Smardákitos - Perástra - Krókos - Agápi - Voláx. Indeed, if you have already visited the villages of Agápi and Voláx, you can opt for a trip from the beautiful village of Tarampádos, famous because of its marvellous pigeon houses, over Perástra to Loutrá; from Loutrá you can then return via Kámbos and Ktikádos to Chóra. This hike also gets an evaluation of ***.

Route description: Off season you have to take a taxi in order to get to Tarampádos.  On the parking lot you have to keep to the right, in the direction of the church and you walk under a couple of vaults. At the crossing with the signpost "peristeriónes" (pigeon houses) to the left, you can see the main church on the right.

You descend on the left and after 10 metres you have to take a left again. You continue on a meandering and narrow trail and then you see a small church with a blue spire in front of you. Ten metres before this church there is a trail off the left. This is the path to Kiónia, see the hike Chóra - Tarampádos - Kiónia. Today, though, you continue straight ahead till you get to the church; from the front yard of the chapel you have a wonderful view on almost ten pigeon towers!

[If you will not come back to Tarampádos one of these days, and if you would like to discover some more beautiful pigeon houses, you definitely have to make a small detour: you just have to walk back, some 10 metres away from the church, over here you find a trail on the right in the direction of Kiónia. This trail is rocky and it passes a pond. Later on you pass a nice well and a washing place and a little further down you get a view on a number of beautiful "peristeriónes".

You can continue even further in order to reach a double pigeon house, which is marvellously decorated. You then have to walk back to the church with the small blue spire...]

On the other side of the terrace, running around the church, there is a staircase going down on the right. Immediately, you take a left on a staircase of stone and concrete in order to go down into the valley. You cross a small bridge, you go up again and you then curve to the left on a nice trail - notice the panoramic view on the village of Tarampádos with a couple of nice pigeon houses.

After 4-5 minutes you get to a side trail, which you follow to the left (blue dots), later on you go right again. You walk underneath a small church and the ruins of a tower; you then go down, quite suddenly, and via a staircase built with bricks you reach the asphalt road.

You follow this road to the left for a short while, but almost immediately you take the staircase on the right; a little further you curve to the left, in the direction of the village of Smardákitos. The path, although overgrown, arrives underneath the village, near a small parking lot at the end of the asphalt road. You go straight ahead, you walk underneath a couple of vaults and after the second passage you take a left, in the direction of the church. You walk past the snack bar "To Katoï", then past the church and in this way you reach a nice little square with a well.

You take a right here, into a broad, paved street and in this way you leave the village -   do not go up on the left, nor to the valley on the right. After 4 minutes you get to a cemetery and a small church with a little blue spire. The path running between walls on the left (blue dot) goes in the direction of Kómi – you DO NOT take a left, but you go down a little, on the left-hand side of the church. You thus descend into the valley, towards a church with a red roof and a blue dome. The village of Krókos is located on the opposite hill and the village of Loutrà is situated all the way to the right.

Some 2 minutes later you have to take a left and 3 minutes later you go left again. The path is only passable with difficulty and – as was to be expected – about 5 minutes further you get to a little field. The gravel road seems to be very nearby, though, so you climb down by following some goat paths. You can see a kind of mausoleum in front of you – later on you will notice that this is the church of the Holy Anna…

Without too many difficulties you arrive at the sand road – trying to walk to the small white church on the right and thus cross the valley to the large church of the Holy Anna is unsuccessful. This is a pity, because this means that you will have to make a large detour of about 35 minutes via Perástra – and as a result you will arrive almost straight across...!

You thus take a left on the sand road and you describe a large bend in order to get above the village of Perástra. It might be a little difficult, but you will discover an old monopáti on the right, some 15-16 minutes after your departure from the sand road. You climb down, away from the main road and some 3-4 minutes later you reach the village itself. You cross a small bridge (there is lots of water in the little stream, on the 30th of April 2005; this is the same water that about 20 minutes earlier on prevented you from crossing the valley...) and before you get to the church you take a right.  

A paved trail brings you outside the village (blue dots) and you now walk on the other bank of the deep valley of the Megálos Potamós – in fact, you are now turning back in the direction of Loutrá. After 8 minutes you walk on a gravel road for a short while, but quite soon you can continue on a trail that begins on the left-hand side of a small iron gate (blue dot). Some 15 minutes after your departure from Perástra you get to the "Aedes Sanctae Annae", the church of the Holy Anna. This catholic church is surrounded by a nice terrace with 7 strange white pilasters. Half an hour ago you stood just opposite, near the small white church – but the water was much too deep…
This is an ideal picnic spot! 

Thereafter you continue on a beautiful and flat trail for another 10 minutes, it is really pleasant walking this way. You then get to a T-junction: the trail on the left (blue dot on the wall) goes up to Krókos, and in this way you can then hike to Agápi and Voláx – see the hike Tarampádos - Smardákitos - Perástra - Krókos - Agápi - Voláx.

The following descent into the very green valley is wonderful; after some 6 minutes you cross a small river with streaming water (27 April 2005) by means of a number of stepping stones. Thereafter you get to a steep climb, so a couple of minutes later you have a great view on the three villages behind you: Krókos, Skaládos and Loutrá to the right. On your left-hand side you see the high rock of Xóbourgo with the village of Xinára. A little further you take a sharp right (redundant red arrow), this is a marvellous spot with a small stream and shaded by some large trees. About 14 minutes after your departure from Loutrá, near a pigeon tower, you get to a three-forked junction. Over here you take a right, following a red dot. Some 2 minutes later you might hesitate a little, but a red dot sends you to an overgrown and flat path, off the right. This is the right way to go, because 1 minute further down, at two pigeon towers, there is a red arrow pointing to the left, towards a steep trail made of steps. After a difficult climb you suddenly arrive at a small church and you can see the village of Kámbos in front of you – a small paved road, turning into gravel, leads to this village. You have to watch out, though: at the beginning of the village you have to take the first, somewhat overgrown street on the left and then you have to follow the red dots. Past the church you take a right for a short while and then you go left, where you find another red dot. Before the second church you notice the snack bar Romantica at a corner – taking a rest is not a bad idea and it is also worthwhile to have a look around here: also in Kámbos there are many arched streets, although “civilisation” has struck and some of the vaults are now made of concrete…

You continue on the street at the bar Romantica (so on the left of the second church), until you get to the end of the village (have a look at the beautiful side streets). In this way you arrive at the asphalt road, near a telephone booth and the bus shed. You keep following the asphalt road to the left, in the direction of the mill with a red roof. Some 4 minutes further down, in a bend to the left and about 50 metres before the mill, there is a concrete wall with a gate on the right, to the left of which you find the beginning of a path between walls.  

You descend towards the blue dome of the church of Chatzirádos – after 4 minutes you keep to the left at a chapel, obviously (there are some red dots) and a couple of minutes later you cross a gravel road. On a steep slope you then proceed straight ahead. The sloppy path almost gets to Chatzirádos, but 50 metres before the church a broad staircase comes from the right-hand side. Over here you enter a paved alley on the left. Another 50 metres further down, on a small square next to a little tower, you go up a broad staircase on the left. You thus get next to the asphalt road with a bus stop. You do not walk on the asphalt road, but you continue straight ahead on the paved street on the right-hand side of this road. In this way you proceed in the direction of a ruin of a mill on the opposite hill.

The concrete street, later on with steps, leads to a bridge. You cross this bridge and then the road keeps meandering between the dispersed houses – once in a while there is a small church. You keep to the left and then to the right (red dots) and you thus get to another asphalt road, which you follow to the right for about 200 metres. At the end of this road (near a bus shed) you go straight ahead on the street running on the left-hand side of the large church. You are now in Ktikádos, another beautiful village; you should have a look at the beautifully decorated lunettes above the windows, even in the new houses. You first pass the Ouzéri Agnánti, and slightly further the beautiful tavern Drosiá. Over here you can have a drink, enjoying the great panoramic view. A little further, though, the view is as beautiful from the forecourt of the last church, the Panagía Megalómata (Our Blessed Lady with the big eyes) – to get to this spot you have to go right for a short while and then through the gate with a nicely decorated  frame. The view over the green terraces is fantastic and in the church itself there are a number of wonderful icons.  

Outside the village you immediately get to another beautiful path, on the left of the green valley. After 3-4 minutes you ignore the trail going down on the right, but you continue horizontally. You thus proceed straight towards the chapel far away in front of you, in the depression of the hills just opposite – this is where you were this morning! Just before you really start going down, you notice the beautiful staircase straight ahead on the opposite side… You cross the river on a marvellous arched bridge, built in 1859, and you then climb for 5 minutes on a nice, broad staircase towards the chapel.  

In this way you get back to the laid out terrace, from where you can already see the tongue of land of the town of Tínos – the old harbour is built against this point. On the left you distinguish the island of Mýkonos with the small island of Dílos, and further on the islands of Náxos and Páros. You take a right here, of course, on the beautiful and old monopáti, which easily brings you back to Chóra. 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 reach your point of departure. 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.