Estimated time: The trajectory from Tarampádos to Perástra takes a little under one hour (actual hiking time!). From Perástra to Agápi you will have to hike for about 1h40 – the church of Aedes S. Annae, between Perástra and Krókos, is a very pleasant picnic spot. From Agápi to Voláx it will take you another 55 minutes. In Vólax you can then call for a taxi. In actual walking time the entire hike will thus cost you 3h35. Taking into account the pauses and the visits, we hiked from 10.45am to 6.30pm – as usual, you have to allow for the double of the actual hiking time.

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!

The pigeon towers around Tarampádos.

[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".  

More pigeon towers...

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...]  

The beautifully decorated double pigeon tower near Tarampádos.

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! 

The Aedes Sanctae Annae.  

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, where you go left (there is a blue dot on the wall).

The path near Perástra.

[If you would go straight ahead here, it would take you 10 minutes to arrive at Loutrá, on the right of the Jesuit monastery. This would also be a way to return to Chora via Kámbos – see the hike Chóra - Xóbourgo - Loutrá - Kámbos - Ktikádos - Chóra.]

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 path between Krókos and Skaládos.

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.

If you would first like to go to Agápi, you have to go straight ahead at this point, still following the narrow sand road – later on you will have to come back over here in order to continue to Voláx. This detour to Agápi will cost you about 65 minutes in actual hiking time.

Supposing that you would first like to proceed to Agápi, you thus go straight ahead. After 4 minutes already you have to watch out, though: at the moment you get a nice view on the village of Agápi, you see a large boulder with a blue arrow (+ the figure 36 in red, without any significance) on your right-hand side. Over here you take the path on the right and you begin to descend beautifully into the deep valley. On your right you can spot a couple of pigeon houses. After going down for about 9 minutes you get to a crossing: there is a wooden bridge on the right, but you have to go straight ahead. After 4 minutes this beautiful trail reaches the main valley, next to a pigeon house. You continue straight ahead, you cross a large bridge and you take a left – in any case, you should NOT climb up the staircase straight ahead!

The beautiful bridge on our path to Agápi.

The monopáti now runs above a marvellous green valley, with the village of Sklavochóri on the other side. After 7 minutes the trail turns into a small concrete road and a couple of minutes later this road arrives at the beautiful village of Agápi.

You walk through a number of arched passages and at the end the small street is almost entirely vaulted. On the left you see the nice kafenío O Mitsáras with a pleasant outdoor terrace and a great panoramic view – this is an ideal spot to have a rest or, if you want to, to conclude this hiking day.

The vaulted street in Agápi.

[Indeed, you can end this hike over here and call a taxi. In this case it is better to wait for the taxi downstairs, at the asphalt road next to the church. To get to this spot you have to go down the small street near the café. In this way you reach the platía Agapítou Filipoússi, with the small town hall and a nice washing place with lots of streaming water beyond. You curve to the left, towards the other part of Agápi and you thus arrive at the asphalt road underneath the second church – this is a good spot to wait for the taxi.]

But, if you still have plenty of energy, you can continue to another really beautiful village, Voláx.
To do so, you have to go back the way you came: you thus have to walk through the arched passages again and at the end of the village you have to take the small paved lane; later on this becomes a beautiful trail running above the valley. After 10 minutes you reach the large bridge again; you cross this bridge and then you take the staircase on the right-hand side of the pigeon house. You follow this nice path without paying attention to the side roads. Also at the crossing with the wooden bridge on the left, you have to proceed straight ahead. The shaded monopáti curves to the left and it goes up steeply – with some pigeon houses on your left. After about 20 minutes you get to the sand road, where you take a left. Some 4 minutes later you finally reach the broader sand road; over here you take a left again, of course, in the direction of Voláx!

The road 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.

A nice spot in Voláx.

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. This is another great spot to conclude this day.

If you call a taxi from this place, you can quietly wait for the driver while eating or drinking something in the lovely tavern.

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