Samos is one of the best and most varied islands for walking in Greece. Its green and pleasant landscapes provides both scenic and easy walks for those wishing a more relaxed holiday. Others might find what they are aiming for high up in the various dramatic mountain ranges. Samos is a major and slightly up-market package tourist destination, but still idyllic and almost deserted beaches exist, at least out of high season. Some are well within walking distance from the nearest bus stop. Very pretty hill villages will let you sample some excellent local food and drink. Samos is also an island for some traditional sightseeing. Several decent museums and places of archaeological interest can be found. The giant Kouros in the Archaeological Museum of Samos Town is particularly impressive.
Samos is a producer of good wine and some very decent brandies. The excellent and famous sweet muscat wines are mostly found in the stores, but can also be sampled in e.g the tiny hill village of Vourliotes (central square). Also in Vourliotes you can sample some very rare "old sweet red" at "The Natural Spring", by (you guessed it...) the water source. Always available at eateries are the nice dry white "Samaina" and the top of the range "Golden White", which is even nicer. As well as Samos retsina, of course, which is also good. The problem is just where to go to match these good wines with some food. If you are staying in Pythagorio (one of the most well known resorts, perhaps a little "touristy" but rather cosy anyway, see the small picture above), try the far eastern end of the bay (where the beach starts). Things start to feel more relaxed around there, and there are several simple and nice fish tavernas. In Samos town you can just about forget (except perhaps for breakfast) the whole waterfront. Two simple and especially good tavernas (with the "correct" price level) are "Alekos" in the tourist lane one street behind, and "Grigoris" just across the street from the post office (the latter is particularly good value for money). Restaurant "Christos" was also a pleasant spot, by a little square and a church. Especially their starters and salads were good, their main courses perhaps a little weaker, but the price level reasonable. Also very popular, so it might be wise to check in early.
If you need a nice and low priced pension with a bit of personality in Samos Town, I can recommend the immaculate Pension Trova (26. Kalomiris, 50m above Hotel Ionia which can be found two streets back from the eastern part of the waterfront), where I stayed for the whole week. If you visit, please say hi (and thanks) to Maria for me! Hardly a day went by without this nice lady inviting me in for a cup of Greek coffee (or more).
I have been lucky enough to receive a full report on the island from Christopher and Anne, continue your reading in Our Holiday in Samos. For more info on the photographs see the credits at the bottom of this page.
Selected walks:
For walks, see Landscapes of Samos by Brian and Eileen Anderson, Samos Patmos Northern Dodecanese by Dieter Graf and Trekking in Greece by Marc Dubin (now out of print). References are made these books as /Anderson/, /Graf/ and /Dubin/ respectively, and PLEASE NOTE: the walk numbers referred to below are those from the 5th edition of /Anderson/. There is also a booklet by Lance Chilton called Walks in the Kokkari Area of Samos. On the web visit Samos Holiday and Travel Guides, Walks and Photos by Foxy's Island Walks.
Samos has much to offer any walker at any level, but take care not to overestimate your energies. If you want more challenging walks than the ones I have picked (and tried) below, there are other (but less accessible) walks that should meet your demands. But they are probably unsuitable for most people in the heat of high summer. Two dramatic mountain ranges dominate Samos: The Ambelos, which has walks to the two highest summits at Profitis Ilias and Lazarus, and Kerkis, where you can struggle to the top of Vigla, the highest mountain on Samos (1440m). I preferred to just skirt these ranges myself. If you should insist on something like Vigla (the toughest walk on Samos), you must bring extra food, extra clothes, extra extra water and a compass! What you can have for free is the view up from Votsalakia, see picture above. Just a week before I walked on Samos someone had tried to tackle Vigla on his own with just one bottle of water and, apparently, no compass or decent map. So he could not find his way back down, and without the necessary equipment that could very well have been fatal. He was found on the third day. So take care, and walk safe! My safety level is like this: I DO bring a compass, but I DON'T go up there anyway... Which should keep me around for a while ;-)
Equipment lists and ratings of the walks can be found in the guide books.
◉ 1 Walk from Samos to Z. Pigis, around the Oros Thios and back to Samos: (duration all in all about 4h) This is /Anderson/'s "Walk 7 Short Walk 1" (See also /Dubin/'s "NORTH-EAST LOOP", and walk 1a in /Graf/). You can make it longer or shorter by including or excluding some of the destinations described. It is a pretty easy walk that is a nice appetizer for more demanding stuff later. It should be very easy to find and follow the route described in the book.
The old path out of Samos is easy to find, but you probably won't notice it before you are actually on it! After the path finishes, there is nothing but the road for a while... From the road, you can detour as described in /Anderson/, but I continued straight on, directly towards Kamara.
Later, to find the excellent kalderimi up to Z. Pigis: The road to Mourtia is easily spotted, as it is marked with a big sign. Make sure that you CONTINUE on the MAIN road another 100m more or so from the turnoff for Mourtia, and NOT take the very tempting path in the middle of the fork. The Kalderimi actually takes off directly from the road, so there is no doubt where to go when you actually see it. Sadly, a former picnic spot (on top of the steps after crossing the main road again) was in a messy state at my visit (1998). A large fallen tree had more or less crushed half the ceiling, leaving the place in ruins. There was still water in the tap, but it had a very metallic taste (maybe if you let it run for a while...). You may still find the place decent enough for a short breakfast or lunch. Then continue up towards the monastery, enjoy the views, and eventually get yourself back down to Kamara by retracing your steps.
The rest of the walk should be very easy to find, following newish tracks all the way. This used to be paths though...
◉ 2 Walk from Kokkari to Ag. Konstantinos via the mountain villages Vourliotes, Manolates and Stavrinides: (duration all in all close to 5h, about 4h of productive walking) This is /Anderson/'s "Walk 2" (See also /Dubin/'s "NORTH-CENTRAL VILLAGES"). Some might find it a little too tough on a very hot day, but it is a really excellent walk that for the most part is easy to find and follow. It is waymarked for the most part, and even signposted at many places. From Kokkari, at the place the where the road/track forks, the track/path towards Vourliotes is signposted, and other forks and possible diversions can be easily ignored. The path is in very good condition from here towards Vourliotes. Just follow the instructions in the book.
Also, from Vourliotes, the path towards Manolates is clearly waymarked and signposted. Just follow the instructions. You may be in doubt for a few minutes after crossing the river bed, be sure to hunt out the best possible continuation and use care to pick up the waymarks again (it was somewhat overgrown here, making things less than obvious for a moment). This leg is considerably tougher than the previous, and the path is very steep and narrow. After you have hit the dirt road beneath Manolates and picked up the waymarked path to your right towards the mentioned concrete road into the village, the path AGAIN hits a dirt track. Move ahead upward, and you will find the concrete lane in a few minutes, coming in from the right. At this point, if you look carefully, you can see some leftovers of the old cobbled path, as it used to swing into the concrete lane at this point.
From Manolates towards Stavrinides follow the newish dirt track. Turn LEFT at the fork ten minutes out of Manolates, to get on the track to Stavrinides (the right fork reunites with the the main road down from Manolates, eventually). Approaching Stavrinides, it might be possible to hunt out some remains of the older path reaching the village from the front (lower) side, as described in /Dubin/. I just followed the track (and signs) reaching it from the back (upper) side. The final leg down to Ag. Konstantinos is found by continuing in the direction in which you enter Stavrinides. After the church, a left turn will take you past the cemetery and towards Ag. Konstantinos (a right turn will take you into the lane that soon becomes what is left of an old Manolates path).
By following all the cairns (and blobs of red paint) you will be able to stitch together what is left of the (rather overgrown) Ag. Konstantinos path. For the last couple of hundred meters you are able to follow a nice kalderimi, which forks off to the right.
◉ 3 Walk from Mytilini to Platanaika: (duration all in all close to 4h, about 3h of productive walking) This is /Anderson/'s "Walk 10". A fairly easy walk for the most part, and little doubt about directions anywhere. Just stroll along the dirt roads as indicated.
Not far from the (optional) detour to Kastro Louloudes, you may find a tempting cairn leading you into a path that shortcuts the track. The path is initially good, but it soon deteriorates, and you will have to crash through some bushes and branches of large trees to get yourself out at the other end. Rather like being born again... If you did not bring a jungle knife, you might like to skip this... A few meters further you will see the approach to Kastro Louloudes, which it is clearly marked by cairns. I edged myself around the cliff to find the steps to the top. But as I am a Walker and not a Climber I was not very tempted to proceed much further. Or maybe I did not find the correct way. It should not be to much of a problem to scramble the last few meters to the top, but how do you get yourself DOWN from there without injuries? Safely back on the road you stroll further on to Moni Vroda. From Moni Vroda I found nothing but concrete road and no shortcuts.
When you reach Vourliotes, have some lunch by the spring, perhaps? The last leg down to Platanaika used to be on an interesting path, but latest reports say this is now all track.
◉ 4 Walk from Psili Ammos to Samos, via Paleokastron and Vathi: (duration 2h) This is /Anderson/'s "Walk 8 Short Walk". A very easy walk, suitable for a nice stroll home after the beach. No difficulties en route either, except for some very small diversions, described below. The bus to Psili Ammos only runs in high summer though (starts around June 25). From the beach the path is easy to find. It it also is signposted "Metamorphosis" (in Greek), which must be the name of the small church you pass in a few minutes.
After Paleokastron I used what is now a shorter alternative road return. The old donkey path down to Vathi is easy to spot.
In Vathi just follow the main street (or what excuse you might find for a main street) and after a while start winding your way down toward Samos town on the usual narrow lanes. This way you will take in as much of Vathi as possible. A very pleasant village, so much different from what lies below. Watch your step on the very narrow pavements down into Samos.
◉ 5 Walk from Karlovassi to Mikro Seitani (and back): (duration 3h, just add your beach time, and don't forget the last bus back from Karlovassi towards Samos). But add one more hour to go to Megalo Seitani, as in /Anderson/'s "Walk 17 Alternative 2", which suggests a taxi as far as Potami, to save time. In summer there is a bus service to this beach. But the walk west from Karlovassi is surprisingly pleasant in the morning, the road is wide and scenic, the traffic is low and pretty slow (imagine that!). You just get your appetite in time for a small breakfast at Potami. Just one comment: Karlovassi is rather big, and when you have walked from the bus terminal to the harbor, you are actually already half the way there!
The dirt road going west from Potami is reached in just about an hour from the bus terminal. But if you want to go as far as Megalo Seitani, walking the whole stretch won't leave as much time on the beach as you would probably desire. And believe me, when you have reached Mikro Seitani, you will probably stay... Carefully read the instructions to find the correct waymarked path towards this beach. It should not be a problem to find it. When you reach Mikro Seitani about half an hour from Potami, you will be at the most unbelievably beautiful little beach. Only two people there when I arrived, two more arrived a short time before I was to head back. More than suitable for nudism.
◉ Good starting points: • Samos Town - good bus connections to most relevant places, some walks directly out of and/or into town, the ideal base camp • Pythagorio - a tourist resort, but very good bus connections • Kokkari - another tourist resort, also very good bus connections • Karlovassi - not the nicest of places, but good for exploring the north-west • Votsalakia - a small tourist resort in the south-west, you will need to stay here to do Vigla from the south, the bus connections are terrible
◉ How to get there: • By air • By ferry from some islands • By ferry from the mainland • By hydrofoil from some Dodecanese and North-East Aegean islands
◉ More info: • Our Holiday in Samos by Christopher and Anne • Samos - more info about walks, as well as many pictures • Samos Island Information - local travel site with also an extensive list of walks • Samos Holiday and Travel Guides, Walks and Photos by Foxy's Island Walks.
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