A hiking trail linking 46 ancient Greek villages

For centuries, dozens of stone-built communities have been linked by a series of cobblestone paths and rock-hewn bridges. Now, travellers can embark on these time-worn trails.

On a sunny May morning, I met Michális Georgaras, a Greek trekking guide, in Athens. Armed with backpacks and hiking gear, we embarked on a six-hour drive to reach the northernmost region of Western Greece, Zagorohoria, for a week-long exploration. As we left Athens behind, the landscape shifted from rows of rolling olive trees to thick pine forest and steep ridges.

“Most people don’t think of Greece as a mountainous place,” Georgaras said. “But 80% of our land is made of mountains.”

To many travellers, Greece is synonymous with the ancient history of its cities and the whitewashed houses of its islands. Yet, the nation’s deep ravines and seldom-explored mountainous landscape is where much of its traditional culture still endures, and Zagorohoria (sometimes called Zagori) is one of its most surprising – and stunning – corners.

Nestled in the Pindus mountains near the border with Albania, Zagorohoria is comprised of 46 remote stone-built communities separated from the nearest region by the Mitsikeli mountain range. In fact, the name Zagorohoria itself means “the villages behind the mountain”, and because of its far-flung location, the region has remained isolated until relatively recently.

Paved roads only arrived here in the 1970s, but in the centuries prior, residents travelled between villages via a series of arching stone-built bridges, cobblestone paths and stone-hewed staircases that still connect these 46 communities today. The unique stone network linking these ancient rock towns led Unesco to inscribe Zagorohoria as a World Heritage Site in 2023.

Nowadays, it’s possible to explore this remote region by car, but the best way to experience it is by hiking along the ancient kalderimia footpath network, built in the 15th Century to serve nomadic shepherds, tradesmen, pilgrims and farmers and still used by residents today.

“You can find these kinds of footpaths in many parts of Greece, but Zagori definitely has one of the largest kalderimia in the country,” said Stephanie Contomichalos, who designed a five-day hiking excursion with Georgaras that allows visitors to explore the region’s ancient stone paths and stay in traditional stone homes-turned family-run guesthouses.