empty fuel bottles need to be scrubbed clean enough to pass for water bottles. There must not be any whiff of petrol, otherwise you risk having them confiscated at the airport. Self-sealing camping gas cartridges are available in specialist shops in Athens and big towns, but not elsewhere. A safe bet is Polo Center at 52 Patisíon Avenue, in Athens, close to the National Archaeological Museum.
Emergency services
There are no emergency services or mountain rescue, so you would be wise to have an insurance policy that will get you home if you need serious treatment.
Access to the mountains
For most destinations in this book, buses are the best means of transport. All major country towns have daily connections with Athens. Buses for the Peloponnese and parts of central Greece west of the Píndos mountains (Yánina, for instance) leave from the terminus at 100 Kifisoú Street (referred to as ‘KTEL Kifisoú’); to get there, take bus 051 from the corner of Vilará and Menándrou Streets near Omónia Square. Buses for Delphi, Ámfissa and parts east of the Píndos leave from 260 Liosíon Street (‘KTEL Liosíon’), near Áyios Nikólaos metro stop. The only way to be absolutely certain about departure times is to go to the appropriate terminus.
Onward journeys from provincial centres into the mountains are more problematic. Bus services are much less frequent than formerly and the only way to find out times is generally on the spot. There is always the chance of a lift – easiest to arrange from village to town, when you can ask in the magazeé (village shop, café) if anyone is going. Alternatively, just step into the road and flag someone down. That is what the locals do. Vehicles are rare birds in out-of-the-way places, and you cannot afford not to make your intentions absolutely plain.
Dhrakólimni tarn (Zagóri, Stage 4)
Of the four sections of the Píndos Way, only Mesokhóra, the end point of Section 2/start of Section 3, and Mt Grámos, the very end of Section 4, are unreliably served by buses. The Peloponnese Way is better served, with daily connections to Dhiakoftó (start point), Kalávrita, Vitína, Kápsia, Trípoli (mid point), Áyios Pétros, Sparta and Áyios Nikólaos (end point); plus occasional services to Dhára, Vamvakoú and Árna.
Taxis can always be summoned with the help of the magazeé and are not expensive by general European standards. Ask the locals beforehand what the fare is and be sure to agree the price before you get in.
Using this guide
The book comprises four parts. The main route, the Peloponnese and Píndos Way, which constitutes by far the greater part of the book, is split into two: Part 1 covers the Peloponnese Way, and Part 2 the Píndos Way. Parts 3 and 4 cover the Zagóri district, which can easily be incorporated into the Píndos Way, and Mt Olympus, home of the gods of the ancient Greeks.
It may at first glance strike the reader as rather illogical that the two parts of our main route should be described as running in opposite directions – north to south for the Peloponnese and south to north for the Píndos – rather than as a continuous route. We accept that this will create some difficulties for hikers wishing to do the whole route in one fell swoop. For example, it would entail having to do one of the two halves in reverse – probably the Peloponnese Way, since it is the shorter half and better signed; and in terms of transport, getting to the further end of both halves would prove relatively complicated.
There are, however, some persuasive reasons for running the two halves in opposite directions. First, sea divides the two, in the form of the Gulf of Corinth. Second, Athens, the most convenient place to arrive, the only place likely to meet any last-minute shopping requirements and by far the most useful communications hub, lies smack between the two, pretty much equidistant from the starting points of both halves.
All the routes are broken down into and described as day stages. Practical information relevant to each – how to get there, maps, places with accommodation – is contained in the section and stage introductions. Information about distances, height gain and loss, difficulty, approximate walking times and waymarks is given at the beginning of each day stage. (The route summary tables in Appendix A provide an overview of the key statistics for each walk.)
Walks are graded on a scale of 1 to 3. You will find that nearly all are graded 3, not because they require a high degree of technical expertise or involve any serious danger – with rare exceptions they do not. But they do demand a considerable degree of commitment because of their remoteness and inaccessibility, and the absence of organised facilities. Routes are often long, with nowhere to stop between start and finish. The terrain is arduous and navigation not always easy.
Estimates of walking times exclude halts, and are records of our own times. (I was accused of walking too fast in earlier editions. Youth is well behind me now, so the times should be more generous.)
Following the route directions
L(eft) and R(ight) directions are given in relation to the walker’s line of march. This applies also to the flanks of valleys and gullies. The only exception is when referring to the banks of streams or rivers, when L and R are indicated in relation to the direction of the current. We have also given compass bearings and GPS positions (using GGRS87 – see ‘Navigation and maps’ above) when available.
We have used the word ‘path’ (monopátee in Greek) to describe the old mule trails and footpaths. We use ‘track’ to describe a rough unsurfaced road, more suitable for a four-wheel drive vehicle: the kind of road used by shepherds to get to their mountain sheepfolds or into the forest. Until not long ago, many country roads intended for ordinary vehicles were unsurfaced but maintained and relatively even. Where these still exist we have called them ‘dirt roads’ or ‘earth roads’ (khomatódhromos in Greek). When it is not suitable for an ordinary car, Greeks will call it anómalos (‘anomalous’, or uneven).
Significant features that you pass en route and that are marked on the maps are highlighted in bold in the route descriptions. Altitudes are given in metres (m), for example 2637m. Throughout each stage, cumulative walking times (approximate and based on our own times) are shown in brackets, in hours (hr) and minutes (min).
Greek place names
One problem peculiar to writing guides to Greece is the alphabet and what to do about rendering Greek place names and words in English letters in a form that allows English-speakers to pronounce them in a way that Greek-speakers in turn might have a chance of understanding. There is no consensus, no official system; chaos reigns. Some people no doubt will think the system used in this book crazy too. We have given place names in a spelling not too different from what you are most likely to encounter on bilingual road signs. See the glossary in Appendix B for pronunciation tips together with a list of Greek words and phrases that you may find useful along the route.
For the most important route, the one that gives this book its title, we have used the traditional English name for the Peloponnese and the compromise, Píndos, for what used to be known by the Latin name of Pindus. The Greek for Peloponnese, spelt kind of phonetically, is pelopóneesos and for Píndos it is peéndhos, the English ‘d’ being pronounced like ‘th’ in the word ‘then.’
Road sign near Vamvakoú (Peloponnese Way, Stage 10)
PART 1 THE PELOPONNESE WAY
