Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
over the gorge en route are spectacular from a natural balcony, with all of Víkos spread
vertiginously at your feet.
The Pápingo villages
MEGÁLO PÁPINGO
is the larger of the two paired
Pápingo villages
, comprising
two distinct quarters of 25 or so houses each along a tributary of the Voïdhomátis.
It has served as the location for Jonathan Nossiter's 2000 film
Signs and Wonders
,
starring Charlotte Rampling, plus countless Greek advertising shoots. Even before
this, Megálo was a haunt of wealthy, trendy Greeks, making it a dubious target in
peak season, though it is still delightful at other times. The fact that large coaches
can't scale the steep hairpin road from the Voïdhomátis valley has made all the
difference between here and Monodhéndhri; in peak season you must leave cars
at the outskirts.
Megálo Pápingo is linked to its smaller namesake,
Mikró Pápingo
, by a 3km surfaced
road; walkers should take the marked path off the road, via a historic bridge, which
short-cuts the journey to half an hour. If you do take the road, just before the bend - at
an obvious spot adorned by low masoned walls - you can detour to some natural
swimming pools. Just below the church, in Mikró Pápingo, the WWF maintains an
information centre
(Mon, Tues, Thurs & Sun 10.30am-5.30pm; Fri, Sat & hols
11am-6pm; free) with worthwhile exhibits on the human and natural history of
Pápingo and environs.
3
Vítsa and the Skála Vítsas
VÍTSA
(Vezítsa), 2km below Monodhéndhri, is to many tastes less claustrophobic and
more attractive than Monodhéndhri. There's also access to the gorge via the signposted
Skála Vítsas
, a half-hour's gentle descent from the platía along the
Z9
- mostly on
engineered stair-path - to the handsome single-arched
Misíou bridge
; from there one
can continue upstream to Kípi village via the O3 path, or downstream along the heart
of the gorge.
Dhílofo
From either Vítsa or the Misíou bridge, the
Z15
leads south to
DHÍLOFO
, one of the
most handsome Zagorian villages. The village has road access (though cars must be left
at the outskirts). Alternatively it makes for a rewarding hike. The path-start in Vítsa is
trickier to find than the branch leading from the bridge, but once done it's a twenty-
minute descent to a stream bed, where the Misíou branch links up, then a climb along
a crumbled
kalderími
which peters out in flysch badlands. After another stream
crossing, the path resumes before becoming a track to the outskirts of Dhílofo, just
over an hour along.
Eláti
The village of
ELÁTI
(Boúltzi)
is rather distant from the gorge, but there are fine views
north to the peaks of Gamíla. From Dhílofo, walkers can continue down to Áyios
Minás chapel on the main road and thence to Eláti on the
Z24
, but nearly half the way
(90min) is along asphalt or bulldozer track, so you may as well come by car.
Dhíkorfo and the Kaloutás bridge
DHÍKORFO
(Tzódhila) proves a beauty with its grand houses and unusual, minaret-
like belfry of Áyios Minás church. Beyond the village the chief attraction is the
enormous
triple-arched bridge
below
Kaloutás
, about 250m off the paved road by
dirt track. All villages past Kaloutás were destroyed during World War II, but the
road continues paved to Miliotádhes and thence the old Ioánnina-Métsovo highway
- a useful short cut.
