Skip to content
The sheer grey walls and wooded floor of the Vikos Gorge in Vikos–Aoös National Park

Sample journey · 7–9 days

Stone villages above the Vikos Gorge: walking Zagori and Epirus

Ioannina, Monodendri, Papingo, the Vikos Gorge, Metsovo & Parga

Photo: Christos Vasileiou / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Epirus is the Greece most travellers see only from a plane window. In the north-west, the Pindus mountains create a different country altogether: dense oak and pine forest, deep limestone gorges and more than forty Zagori villages, their houses, churches and lanes all built from the same grey stone. Old cobbled paths and stairways link the villages, and arched bridges, built in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by local masons with merchants' money, cross the streams. The whole area was recently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural landscape.

The heart of the journey is the walk through the Vikos Gorge, among the deepest in the world in proportion to its width, from Monodendri to the foot of Papingo. Around it come the lake and old town of Ioannina, a day of bridges in central Zagori, a swim in the icy rock pools of Papingo, the mountain town of Metsovo with its cheese and wine and, to finish, a few days by the Ionian Sea in Parga. It's a journey for active couples and experienced travellers who love to walk: the stays are stone guesthouses with fireplaces, and luggage can travel separately between the villages.

The route

The journey

  1. Ioannina
  2. Monodendri & central Zagori
  3. The Vikos Gorge
  4. Papingo & the Voidomatis
  5. Metsovo
  6. Parga
  1. Calm Lake Pamvotida and mist-covered mountains near Ioannina

    01Days 1–2 · Ioannina

    A city by the lake

    The first night is in Ioannina, the capital of Epirus, on Lake Pamvotida. The old town sits inside the fortress walls: narrow lanes, a mosque with a minaret above the water, a reminder of Ottoman times, and a Byzantine museum. In the evening, a walk along the waterfront as the lake grows still and the mountain shadows fall across it. The next morning, a short boat ride to the small island in the middle of the lake, whose car-free village holds frescoed monasteries and the house where Ali Pasha, who ruled Epirus for many years, was killed in 1822. Ioannina is known for its silversmiths, and the craft lives on in a few workshops. In the afternoon, about forty-five minutes up into the mountains of Zagori.

  2. An arched stone bridge among the mountains of Zagori

    02Days 2–4 · Central Zagori

    A day of bridges and stairways

    Two nights in Monodendri or a neighbouring village, in a stone guesthouse with a fireplace. The first evening, a walk to the monastery of Agia Paraskevi on the very edge of the gorge and the Oxya viewpoint, where the Vikos Gorge opens up to its full depth. The next day, a loop of bridges around Kipoi: the three-arched Kalogeriko bridge and the single-span Kokkori, or Noutsos, bridge, where the path drops into stream valleys under the plane trees. For more, climb the Vradeto steps, an old stone road zigzagging hundreds of times up a rock face, to the Beloi viewpoint, which looks into the gorge from the other side. Dinner in a village taverna, with the savoury pies Zagori is known for and local wine.

  3. The deep green Vikos Gorge with steep cliffs and low cloud near Monodendri

    03Day 4 · The Vikos Gorge

    Through the gorge from Monodendri

    The longest day of the journey, and the reason for it. From Monodendri the path drops down stone steps to the floor of the gorge and winds on between rock walls rising hundreds of metres overhead, beside a dry riverbed in the shade of planes and maples. In summer the riverbed is often dry; in spring it fills. About halfway, the springs of the Voidomatis appear, where water bursts suddenly out of the ground, icy and emerald. The whole walk to Vikos village or the foot of Papingo takes about six to seven hours, so we set off early, with water and food. Your luggage goes ahead by car, and in the evening two nights in Papingo await, one of the loveliest villages of Zagori, beneath the cliffs of Astraka. It's a demanding walk that depends entirely on the weather.

  4. A stone bridge over a clear river among green trees near Papingo

    04Days 5–6 · Papingo & the Voidomatis

    Icy water and stone pools

    A rest day after the walk, though not without movement. Right by Papingo, a stream has carved a chain of natural pools into the rock, where on a hot day you can wade into icy water. Further down, by the old Klidonia bridge, the Voidomatis runs so clear you can see every pebble on the bottom: walk the banks under the plane trees or, in season, kayak or raft with a local guide. In the evening, coffee in the little square of Mikro Papingo and dinner in a stone house. For strong, experienced walkers there's an alternative: a full day up to the Astraka mountain refuge and Drakolimni, the 'dragon lake', at around two thousand metres, but it's a mountain route that needs good weather and proper equipment.

  5. The mountain town of Metsovo among autumn forests, seen from above

    05Days 6–7 · Metsovo

    A mountain town with its own cheese

    About an hour and a half east over the mountains lies Metsovo, a town high in the Pindus whose people are partly descended from the Vlachs, who once moved with their flocks across the mountain pastures. One night here: stone houses with wooden balconies, a central square under the plane trees where older men still meet for coffee, and an art gallery left to the town by a family from here. Metsovo is known for its smoked cheese and for wine grown in one of Greece's highest vineyards, so a tasting is a natural part of the evening. In the morning, a short walk to the monastery of Agios Nikolaos in the valley, with its eighteenth-century frescoes. Metsovo is at its cosiest in autumn and winter, and in summer it stays cooler than the valleys.

  6. Parga and the islet of Panagia in the Ionian Sea, seen from above

    06Days 7–9 · Parga

    From the mountains to the Ionian Sea

    About two and a half hours west, and the mountains give way to the sea. Two final nights in Parga: brightly painted houses rising like an amphitheatre from the harbour to the Venetian castle, and the little islet of Panagia with its chapel just a few hundred metres offshore. After the mountain days, this is for resting: swims in coves reached by small boat and evenings on the waterfront. Give one day to the Acheron river near Glyki, which the ancient Greeks believed led to the underworld. You can wade upstream between rock walls towards the springs, and nearby stand the ruins of the Necromanteion, the ancient oracle of the dead. On the last day, about an hour's drive to Preveza airport.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    The Vikos Gorge on foot

    Six to seven hours between rock walls hundreds of metres high, to the Voidomatis springs and Papingo.

  2. 02

    The bridges of Zagori

    The three-arched Kalogeriko bridge, the Vradeto steps and paths along the stream valleys between villages.

  3. 03

    The waters of the Voidomatis

    An icy, astonishingly clear river, the stone pools of Papingo and, in season, kayaks with a guide.

  4. 04

    Ioannina's island

    A car-free village in the middle of the lake, monastery frescoes and the story of Ali Pasha.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • A gentler version

    Instead of the full gorge, shorter sections from Monodendri or Vikos village and the viewpoints, with more time for bridges and villages.

  • More mountains

    Experienced walkers can add a night in the Astraka refuge and climb towards Gamila or Drakolimni, or explore the Aoös gorge near Konitsa on the eastern side.

  • In autumn

    In October Zagori's forests turn gold and red, the paths are cool and the rivers still clear. In winter the villages are cosy, but the gorge is often impassable.

  • With the Ionian islands or Meteora

    From Parga, Paxos and Corfu are easy to reach by boat, and from Metsovo Meteora is barely an hour and a half away, so the journey can carry on in either direction.

Practical considerations

  • The best time for walking is roughly May–June and September–October. In summer the mountains are cooler than the coast, but the gorge floor can be hot; in spring and after heavy rain the riverbed can fill and sections of the path become dangerous.
  • We check the Vikos Gorge path and water levels before you travel and on the ground: after heavy rain the path is sometimes closed or impassable, so the route keeps a spare day.
  • Mountain weather changes quickly even in summer: you'll want sturdy walking boots, a waterproof and plenty of water. In winter some village tavernas and guesthouses keep shorter hours, and higher roads may be snowbound.
  • The journey is planned as a self-drive; mountain roads are narrow and winding, and the luggage transfer between villages on the walking day is arranged in advance.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

Keep exploring

Destinations

Ways to travel

Related articles

More journey inspiration

Plan your journey

Shape a journey like this

Drawn to mountain Greece? Tell us how much and how you like to walk, and we'll shape a route through Zagori together.

Shape a journey like this

This journey becomes the starting point of your enquiry — you can change or remove it.

All journey inspiration