Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
You're more likely to take a driving tour through the interior than to spend much time
in any one place. Villages to look out for include
ÓTHOS
, which is the highest (around
400m) and the chilliest, on the flanks of 1215m Mount Kalilímni, and is noted for its
bread, sausages and sweet, tawny-amber wine.
VOLÁDHA
, downhill to the east, cradles a
tiny Venetian citadel, while the most attractive,
PYLÉS
, faces west atop a steeply
switchbacking road that branches from the main west-coast road 6km north of Finíki.
The north
Northern Kárpathos
still feels very much a world apart. Despite repeated promises, the
road north from Spóa has not been fully paved, and remains a hair-raising prospect for all
but the hardiest mountain drivers. Most visitors therefore still arrive by boat at the little
port of
Dhiafáni
, and then take a bus up to the traditional hilltop village of
Ólymbos
.
Spóa
The gateway to northern Kárpathos, where the unpaved road to Ólymbos branches off
the main circle-island road, is the village of
SPÓA
, just east of the island's central spine.
No road enters the village itself.
If you're heading this way along the east coast, you might prefer to take a break at the
best beach in these parts, down at
Ápella
, though from the taverna at the road's end
you still have to walk a short pathway to reach the scenic 300m gravel strand.
Dhiafáni
The sleepy seafront village of
DHIAFÁNI
only springs to life twice a week, when its rare
mainline ferries - one heading towards Rhodes, the other towards Crete - call in.
Otherwise, the daily excursion boats from Pigádhia (see p.539) keep a low-key tourist
industry, including several tavernas and lodging options, ticking along.
All the
beaches
in northern Kárpathos are made of pebbles. Dhiafáni itself has a
reasonable fringe of shingle, or there's a quieter alternative at
Vanánda
cove; follow the
pleasant signposted path north through the pines for thirty minutes, short-cutting the
road. Naturist
Papá Miná
, with a few trees and cliff-shade, lies an hour's walk distant
via the cairned trail taking off from the road to the ferry dock.
8
Ólymbos
Founded in Byzantine times as a refuge from pirates, the windswept village of
ÓLYMBOS
straddles a long ridge below slopes studded with ruined windmills. Isolated
for centuries, the villagers speak a unique dialect, with traces of its Doric and Phrygian
origins. Their home has long attracted foreign and Greek ethnologists for
traditional
dress
,
crafts
,
dialect and music
that have vanished elsewhere in Greece. Here too the
traditions are dwindling by the year; only older women, or those who work in the
tourist shops, now wear striking, colourful clothing - while flogging trinkets imported
from much further afield.
Women still play a prominent role in daily life, however: tending gardens, carrying
goods on their shoulders or herding goats. Nearly all Ólymbos men historically
emigrated to Baltimore or work outside the village, sending money home and
returning only on holidays.
Live folk music is still played regularly, especially at festival times (Easter and Aug
15), when visitors have little hope of finding a bed.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
THE NORTH
Ì
Gorgona
Dhiafáni
T
22450 51509,
W
gorgona
karpathos.it.
Behind the seafront fountain, this Italian-
run place is a favourite local rendezvous, featuring light
dishes, wonderful desserts, proper coffees and
limoncello
digestif.
Daily 9am-late.
Hotel Aphrodite
Ólymbos
T
22450 51307.
Little hotel,
run by the same management as the nearby Parthenonas
restaurant, with just four spacious double rooms, one of
