So my Turkey trip has turned into a Greece trip, because I couldn't resisit $70 return flight from Baden-Baden to Thessaloniki. We'll spend a couple days taking in the culture of that city, but for the rest of the trip we want a relaxed village beach trip, don't need much to do, beaches and scenery/hiking will be plenty for us. So in looking for a gorgeous area not too far from Thessaloniki, I stumbled on the Pelion region. It looks gorgeous. But there's not a ton of tourist information about it, particularly from RS (who doesn't seem enamored of mainland Greece in general). I know there are other guidebooks, but the region is small and I don't want to buy a whole guidebook where 95% of it will be irrelevant to me on this trip. So I'm just wondering if any intrepid RS board members have been to this region, and their opinions on it. Or other option is doing Skiathos or Skopelos in the northern Sporades, but since we're going at the end of tourist seasons (last week in September) getting to and from the islands seems like a bit of a headache with ferry schedules and whatnot. Anyway, I'd love to hear advice, opinions, etc from anyone familiar with Pelion or Skopelos!
Posted by
Brighton, UK
1419 posts
Sarah I've been there twice but the most recent occasion was around 10 years ago. Overall, at that stage, it was less developed than a lot of places in Greece and so good for a laid back holiday. It seemed more old fashioned than a lot of places in Greece at the time. Volos, which is the access point for the area, is now a lively little town with a good range of restaurants. The speciality is a strong spirit called tsiporou and in a lot of places you get a little meze with each glass. Fiery stuff, be careful! On one occasion we stayed in Chorefto on the east coast. Nice sandy beaches and just under the attractive mountain village of Zagora. The second time we stayed near Koropi on the west coast. The beaches weren't so good but the place itself was interesting. My overall impression of the Pelion is that it's very green because it rains a lot! Both times we were there we had several wet days. Both occasions were in September though so if you are going more in season that may not be a problem. Cheers Alan
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
I haven't been but Matt Barrett has a section on his website for Pelion: http://www.greecetravel.com/pelion/