Another Greek road trip

There is always an element of risk associated with jumping in a rental car and hitting the road with no real plan and having done very little research. And when you couple that with never booking accommodation, as I like to do, one never really knows what to expect.

That latter part I like, the unknown, but sometimes when you put all these things together it turns out to not be what you thought. The start of this road trip was like that.

On the map, the east coast from Athens to Thessaloniki looks great, small towns and villages with the seaside, fishing ports and beaches so this was what we set out to explore. As a kind service agent put it at an information office half way through the trip up the coast “yeah it looks good on paper, but it isn’t really” and he was right!

By the time we arrived at the first destination, Skala, it was dark and all the accommodation was full due to the Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations. With advice and assistance from a local restauranteur we headed to a nearby town called Livanates. Nothing to write home about here except I was awake early enough to see the sun rise.

Next stop was Raches Beach while passing many small towns along the way. This is about when we were started to scratch our heads about the journey. Raches Beach is nice enough, a small 100mtr strip along the waters edged but nothing else. A good stop for a rest.

We arrived into Volos next, a metropolis of business and concrete apartments. This is where we stopped and re-evaluated. The road trip wasn’t going as expected and a change was needed so of we went to a local tourist information office. With some good advice and a new plan, we set off to Makrinitsa high in the hills above Volos.

This is a charming small village where we could enjoy some nice walks, good food and a very comfortable rest overnight. Things were back on track and looking promising.

Now armed with a new hope, we headed to Panteleimonas which is also perched high on top of another set of hills and a very old village with plenty of character.

There were some nice spots to walk and because of the altitude it provided a really good view.

Olympiaki (Akti Beach) was the next spot we headed. Dead is the best way to describe this place. All the other towns we visited were also very quiet but this place was closed. In the off season (now) there are about 800 people in the area. In the tourist season, it grows to 20,000. All that was happening while we were there was refurbishment and preparation. There was one hotel open (out of about 30) so we took it. Had dinner, slept and left. Riveting!

Thessaloniki doesn’t have a reputation for any real excitement or even beauty but I did read that there are some wonderful natural reserves, wetlands and walking tracks. No, no there isn’t. Well if they are there I have no idea where. The ‘famous’ wetlands are more like a wasteland. And when we asked about the other natural features we got blank looks in reply. Another fizzer.

That was the end of the east coast road tripping and now it was time to drive through the centre and over the mountains to a place called Meteora on our slow journey back to Athens.

Finally, a place that is worthy of its reputation and which provides reward for effort.

Meterora’s claim to fame is it's rugged hills, giant rock mountains and the numerous Monasteries that are perched high on top of each.

The scenery is spectacular and the walking is excellent. The town that sits below is called Kalambaka and It’s a small but pleasant place and a good area to stay a few nights so we could enjoy all that Meteora had to offer. Probably the highlight of the entire road trip.

Next destination was a village named Arachova. I think the journey to here was the longest, about 4 hours. We really put the little rental car to the test and drove on roads that were made for tractors not small front wheel drive hatchbacks. The town though is really cool with a typical Mediterranean appearance.

Delphi is sort of close by to Arachova and is one of three significant religious sites in Greece. All the tourist bus companies and travel agents know it well. We didn’t stay, pay the huge amount they wanted to enter everywhere or get excited about Delphi at all. We kept on driving.

At the end of this days driving we found ourselves back on another coast line. This time on the central south coast and at a town called Antikyra.

There is nothing here except a few nice restaurants, a port and a pretty good outlook over the bay.

Next stop, Alyke. “Travellers and tourists don’t come here”. It’s a little village for Greek holiday home owners and that’s all. A place for Greeks to come that’s close to Athens yet far away enough to be relaxing. End!

And then it was the last off to the stop which was to be Voula. Just a place to rest and end the journey and nothing else. Close to Athens and the airport and Rafina port which is where I needed to be for the ferry to take me to Andros island for a workaway.

Looking back, the road trip in general was good but expensive. Started poorly, got better, got weird and ended well. It’s what you make it right? We made it as good as we could but in retrospect there was way too much driving (1,250klm by calculation) and not enough reward for effort. But we have some good memories and did meet some nice people, enjoyed a few cool places and had plenty of laughs along the way.