Transfer to your guesthouse situated at the beautiful village of Elafotopos. As a Zagorian village, Elafotopos is a little gem, well-hidden underneath lush green mountains. The old name of Elafotopos village was “Cervari”, deriving from the word “Cerva” which means deer in Latin, signifying the high presence of deers in the area. In an attitude of 1100m Elafotopos holds an excellent climate and enjoys, due to its orientation, many hours of direct sunlight. In the afternoon you will stroll around Elafotopos traditional “kalderimia”, the centuries-old stone paths, visit the church, the square, the museum and the little “kafenio” (coffee shop) of the village. To complete taking in the atmosphere of our base camp we will enjoy a heart-warming dinner cooked by Lena, the owner of our guesthouse.

With a transfer to Vradeto, the highest of the Zagori villages at an elevation of 1340m, we will see traditional stone architecture, dominant in every public building, dwellings and churches, in the village paths, which still remain unspoilt. This is where we’ll take a captivating path towards the viewpoint of Beloi, a natural stone balcony offering breathtaking panoramic views over the gorge. It is also the ideal spot for wildlife spotting so an encounter with a bold Eagle or one of the few remaining Pindos Black bears should not come as a surprise.

After admiring this wild, untouched scenery and returning to Vradeto for a coffee in its beautiful square, we will zig-zag down an impressive cobble-stone staircase of 1200 steps and 39 turns, that was painstakingly builtstone by stone, and was the only connection of isolated Vradeto with Kapesevo and the rest of the world till the road was built in 1973! Completing our descent of this architectural masterpiece, the “Vradetto stairs”, we will have our dinner at Kapesovo.

Today is the day! After admiring the gorge from above, you will be amazed by its ravines and hidden spots as you follow a long traverse route through the gorge, from the village of Monodendri all the way to the beautiful village of Papiggo. Starting in Monodentri, you will descent to the bottom, then move up along the river bed until the Voidomatis springs. Vikos Gorge, with a length of 20km, walls that reach 450m and 1600m depth, and a width ranging from 400m to just a few meters at its narrowest part, is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the deepest canyon in the world in proportion to its width.

The park of Vikos Aoos is one of the ten national parks of Greece, part of the ecological network Natura 2000 and the UNESCO Geoparks Network, because of the rich variety of flora and the great variation of biotopes. Our naturalist guide will be glad to spot for you the most important plants and herbs!

After reaching Voidomatis springs – the brave enough can jump into the frozen water! – we will ascent to Papiggo, one of the most popular Zagorian villages. Papiggo is situated in a breathtaking landscape, under the towers of Astraka, some of the most amazing solid rock formations of the area. After a delicious meal at a local tavern and a stroll around the village, you will be transferred back to your guesthouse.

For those seeking some luxury, a visit to Mikro Papiggo 1700 Hotel can be arranged, which has an excellent spa overlooking Astraka’s towers.

After a delicious breakfast at our guesthouse, you will start

your recovery walk around the picturesque villages of

Vitsa, Koukouli, Kipi and Dilofo through traditional stone-

built paths and arch bridges. The Zagori area as you have

realised by now is full of deep gorges, ravines, streams

and white water rivers. Whereas today those water

reservoirs serve as the playground of many outdoor

activities, such as kayaking, rafting, river trekking and so

on, back in the day they were big burdens for local people,

especially in the winter, as some of them were impassable.

Local wealthy families and noble governors were building bridges so that villages won’t stay isolated during winter and thus transport of goods and people was facilitated. The bridges were named after the family or noble who build it. Due to their remarkable architecture, most of these stone bridges are still standing and during this circular walk you will admire some of the most remarkable centuries-old arch bridges in Greece.

We will stop in Koukouli for a lunch break and a visit to the local museum dedicated to local and endemic herbs and plants. We’ll continue our village hopping till we reach our base, Elafotopos. Time to rest before enjoying another lovely dinner.

Today is the day to move and meet another yetfascinating place of rural and mountainous Greece. Wewill be driving through magnificent scenery to reachthe village of Melissourgoi nested up on the highmountains of Tzoumerka. Melissourgoi is located at analtitude of 850 m, and is said to have been namedafter the bees (‘Melissa’ in Greek), as bees are a model of industriousness and represent the hard work of the villages’ inhabitants. The wild nature along with the clear waters and fir forests give this village a particular natural beauty. Today’s walk will be a circular route to Kefalovryso Waterfall and back, the tallest in the country hidden in the deep forest behind the refuge. After the walk we will enjoy a home cooked meal from our new guests.

Today we will start the day early and drive 40 minutes to reach the trail head of our route in Syrako village. Syrako and Kalarites are two villages build one facing the other separated by a deep gorge. This is where exactly the first boarder of Greece lied. Kalarites was Greece and Syrako still belonged to the Ottoman empire for many years more before being attached to Greek territory. Both are traditional villages, true gems of local architecture. They were constructed around the 15th century by Vlach-speaking populations.

The glorious past and the economic prosperity they experienced in previous centuries - thanks to the famous tailors, merchants, who honoured their homeland in the great markets of the Mediterranean in the 18th and 19th centuries - are revealed to us through a walk in their stone-paved streets. The beautiful path we are going to walk starts from Syrrako and connects to the village of Kalarrites. We are going to finish the walk in Kalarytes, only to find ourselves dining in one of the oldest little tavernas of Greece, Napoleon’s place, truly not to be missed. On our way back we are going to pay a visit to the Monastery of Kipina (1212), dedicated to the Zoodochos Pigi, with impressive 17th-century frescoes. This monastery, embedded on a steep, vertical cliff, is one of the most impressive and imposing not only in Epirus, but also throughout Greece. The sight of it is awe-inspiring and breath-taking. It is worth climbing a few steps to visit it!

Today we will drive to Pramanta nearby refuge tostart our ascent to the impressive Stroggula peak. Itis an ascent with almost 900 meters of elevation togain. It took us around 3 and half hours to reach thetop at a swift pace and just a couple of brief stops.

The ascent itself starts easily with the path climbingslowly across the grassy lower slopes of themountain. Gazing at the misty valley underneathmakes this first section of our climb absolutelybreathtaking. Later, the terrain becomes rockier andthe path steeper rising up among the rugged crags.

The views from the top at an attitude of 2.115mt are breathtaking and definitely will reward us the strong effort. When back in our base we will enjoy the experience of cooking in the wood oven and to wash it all after dinner enjoy a sauna in a private cabin in the woods. The perfect way to say goodbye to a week’s long adventure on the Pindus mountains.

Breakfast and departure to Lefkada.

On our way to Lefkada we will stop for lunch in Prevexa town by the water to let the sea breeze welcome us and enjoy exquisite seafood.