Evaluation: This hike describes one of the ways to walk from Chóra to Ano Meriá. It follows some magnificent trails and it provides great panoramic views on the bays of Angáli and Agios Nikólaos. 
This hike gets an evaluation of ***.
[Update by Raymond on May the 11th, 2017.]
[The translation of this walk was made with the help of Google translate - so, please, do not mind the mistakes...]

Estimated time: It takes about 1h10 (AWT) to walk from Chóra to the hamlet of Giórgi t’ Aga and it will then cost you 35 minutes to reach Eleïmoon in Ano Meriá. On your way back, you will need another 35 minutes to return to Giórgi t’ Aga, via Theológos and the Folk Museum, and finally again 1h10 to walk back to Chóra. The total length of this hike is 10,4 km.
So, the total actual walking time is three hours. We hiked from 10am to 5pm, a total of 7 hours TWT, with the necessary breaks.

Route description: (0h00) In Chóra, you go to the Platía Dounávi, the first square, with a circle of stones in the middle - it lies between the outer wall of the kástro and the two churches of Agios Nikólaos and Taxiárchis.
To the right of these churches, you notice the sign that announces the start of the walk [1] (Angáli 50 minutes).

 

The platía Dounávi and the churches of Agios Nikólaos and Taxiárchis.

To the right of these churches, you notice the sign that announces the start of the walk [1] (Angáli 50 minutes).

The hiking sign at the beginning of walk [1].

You go to the right and the typical street arrives next to the bakery; at the corner of it, you go left and right [1] and so you leave the village, with a beautiful view of the landscape and the sea below Chóra. The small concrete street [1] descends and soon becomes a trail. After 5 minutes, another path comes from the right and a little further, you do NOT go up to the left, but you continue straight on the path that climbs slightly (a [1] a little later). Further you get behind you an exceptional view of the position of Chóra and of the Panagía.

Looking behind you to Chóra and the Panagía.

(0h09) After a few minutes, you pass a chapel with a flat roof and a little later, you come to a small gravel road [1] that you follow up to the asphalt road, where you continue to the right (hiking sign Angáli).

(0h15) You follow this road for 5 minutes and you pass the chapel of Stavrós, with a strange kind of balcony [1]. Just past the chapel – so before the trail [1] to Fyrá and Christós on the left (signpost) – there is a gravel road to the right. This gravel road curves to the left after a short while and it thus passes on the left-hand side of the three mills and two houses.

The road that leads to the three mills.

The road becomes a path and just past the third mill and the last house, you find a narrow path going down on the right. This path becomes really beautiful and it runs high above the sea. After some 6 minutes there is a side-trail going down on the right and a little further down there is a similar trail off the right – you continue straight ahead twice and some 8 minutes after the mills you reach the asphalt road again (signpost to Voriná). You take a LEFT for a while, until you have passed the chapel of Agia Paraskeví and then you follow the beautiful trail on the right (signpost to Angáli Pezódromos = foot trail).

The hiking sign next to the path to Angáli.

(0h35) You descend steeply, but you then find a marvellous and flat path – on your left you can already see the bay of Angáli – sometimes, you see the letters AL (white on red background). You then go down again, sometimes very steep, with a nice view on Angáli.

View on the bay of Angáli.

After 14 minutes all together you get to a sharp turn to the right [AL]. You descend on the right, but at the end of the trail you should not go to the left too early: you curve to the left between walls and via a concrete slope you get to the concrete road, which descends to Angáli on the left. Straight across there is a cistern and a drinking trough.

(0h54) You go right for a very short while and on the slope on your left-hand side you then find the steep continuation of your trail. Thereafter, a nice gravel path continues horizontally; after 7 minutes you reach a kind of crossing, where you proceed straight ahead, on a steep and rocky path (red mark).

After a couple of minutes the rocky trails curves to the left, between walls and a rock face. Another 5 minutes later you reach a couple of stables and a still occupied house, with two palm trees, belonging to the hamlet of Agios Geórgios (or Giórgi t' Aga). You go up for one more minute and then you notice a path towards the right, diverging from the main trail.   

[This path goes to Theológos and the Folk museum, in Ano Meriá – this is the path you will follow on your way back.]

(1h10) You continue straight and shortly after, the main trail veers a little to the left - this trail continues towards Agios Nikólaos and also towards the lighthouse of Asprópountas. You continue straight, slightly to the right: you climb gradually, sometimes between green bushes, and you slowly turn to the right. You already discover the houses of Ano Meriá, at the very top. The climb continues, with a deep valley on your left – down, you see the small chapel of Stavrós. Later, you descend quite a long time and after crossing a low gate in reinforcing steel, you arrive down, underneath terraces with olive trees - a little further, there is a spring with drinking troughs.

(1h26) But you should immediately take a right, 20 meters before the well, on the staircase that goes up on your right: it is a very beautiful staircase, a little ruined - you can imagine how many efforts and work this work must have cost! After 7 minutes, the path is paved for a few moments, then you climb again, next to a low wall and from time to time on a beautiful pavement. You climb another staircase and you arrive at a concrete road which goes up and down and finally gets to the asphalt road, to the left of a chapel: it is the hamlet of Eleïmoon.

(1h47) You take a right, to follow the road for 400 meters, until beyond the bus stop of Kyparissáki - then you have to pay attention: a paved slope suddenly goes up obliquely to the right, then it turns left and becomes a very beautiful path between walls.

[You could also continue on the road, in order to take further, near the chapel of Theológos, the gravel road to the right.]

(1h55) After a few minutes, the trail gets to the gravel road that comes from Theológos, with in front of you the Folklore Museum, which is closed. You follow the little road to the right, with on your left a magnificent view of Chóra, with Síkinos on the left.
This road becomes a little farther to the left a path that descends between walls, always with this splendid view on the left. After a first steep end, there is a false flat, then you descend for quite a while, sometimes on steps, sometimes on a rocky or stony path. There is another short stretch that is more flat, then you go down again quickly and on a very steep slope - and you thus get to the main trail that you followed to the right on your way out.

(2h18) You take a LEFT of course and already a minute later you reach Giórgi t 'Aga.

Giórgi t' Aga.

(2h19) The continuation is really unambiguous: first, there is a rocky descent of some 6 minutes; at the kind of crossing you go straight ahead and then you follow a gravel path for another 6 minutes. Thereafter you go down to the road to Angáli, but before descending you can clearly see the continuation of the trail on the other slope.

(2h32) At the concrete road (to the right it descends to the beach of Angáli) you continue on the concrete slope more or less straight across (from here onwards there are signs [AL]) and in the curve to the right, you take the path straight on: this is first a rather nice, ancient stone staircase and then it becomes a stony trail. After about 4 minutes you describe a sharp turn to the left and you keep going up in zigzags. You get to a steep climb and thereafter the trail becomes flatter with on the right a beautiful view on the bay of Angáli.