Pelion walking vacation in Greece

Planet

Our aim is to promote ecotourism and sustainable adventure vacations at the same time as providing a unique travel experience and allowing you to enjoy the fantastic nature and scenery of this wonderful part of Greece, a world away from busy tourist resorts.

Our treks and vacations throughout Greece, encompassing National Parks, Protected Environmental Areas, Archaeological Sites, Caves & Hot Springs - places that have great natural, geological, cultural, and historical value, and the local guides provide further information about the environment and the benefits of sustainable adventure vacations. All staff have a wide knowledge of local areas that you visit during the trips and, most importantly, they know how to protect them.

On this tour we use a Hyndai mini van with natural gas fuel (currently this is the most environmentally friendly fuel source for vehicles); and we keep our groups to a maximum of 8 persons to avoid excessive trampling on the sensitive coastal paths, in particular. In all of our tours we try to avoid as much driving as possible. So we walk. Just this fact helps makes our tours more sustainable. Especially during the spring time, we see a lot of orchids in Pelion. Although for all of our visitors it is obvious, we inform them that orchids are rare and protected. More interested visitors get details about the Greek Flora and Fauna which is one of the richest in Europe.

We strongly believe in the need to protect and enhance the places we travel to, and in the potential of responsible tourism, to be a positive force in environmental and cultural conservation. Our guides provide lots of information to our clients and encourage them to research and support the two specific NGOs:

1. Archelon - The Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece
2. Arcturos - The Society for the Protection of Wildlife in Greece (with current emphasis on the Brown Bear and Wolf).

A donation of a percentage of the tour price is used to maintain ancient paths in the Zagoria area (Vikos National Park) and the Calderimi (stone paths) in Pelion.

We ask all our customers to respect the fragile mountain environment by, for example, taking their litter away with them. All our trips are either in very small groups or tailor made for individuals to minimise the impact of large groups on this mountain region.

People

100% of our guides and drivers in Greece are local people. We firmly believe that a local licensed guide can offer more insight into the countryside and region as a whole as well as enhancing the local economy. Their expertise and local knowledge will enhance your experience and understanding of the historical context and the environmental impact of your visit. This is preferable, in our opinion, than sending a guide from another country or even from elsewhere in Greece. All food on the included trek is bought locally, which provides employment for local shops.

The accommodation used on the tour is in small, family run establishments which have been in business for many years. Many of these hotels are traditionally built, respecting the local architecture and surroundings. Of course at the same time, these enterprises have to offer high standard of quality in dining and accommodation. Food in the hotels is primarily sourced locally. Last, but not least, we have a personal relationship / friendship with all of our providers.

In Meteora we stay in Hotel Dellas, which is owned from the family Dellas; they have 5 more employees, all locals from Kastraki and Kalambaka. We have our lunches and dinners at the Restaurant Paradisos, a family run (couple serving and mother is the cook) with 2 more employees. In Pelion, we mainly stay in Hotel Triantafiles, operated by the same family who owns the restaurant Kritsa at the village's main square. In Milies we use the family run Hotel Dryalos and our favorite restaurant on the whole trip is there - the “Panorama”. Depending on arrival and departure of the flights, we visit two more family run restaurants. One is a small fish taverna in Platamonas by the sea named “To Kaiki Tou Saki” (our head guide says it maybe the best fish restaurant he ever ate in) and in Veria a traditional taverna named Aggelikon.

In all of these villages, the main income of the locals is tourism. Since the economic crisis in Greece, the number of the Greeks visiting the area reduced dramatically. There are no official reports to support this statement yet, but we know it. Greeks used to be the majority of the tourists in the area now only some Greeks can afford a trip there.