We started our three-week trip to Greece on Saturday, at the end of April 2024, by driving through Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. On the first day, we arrived, had dinner and slept in Leskovac (we booked a guesthouse). We waited about an hour at each border. We had no problems at customs, although the customs officers were interested in what we were carrying on the roof. Thank God, we didn't have to open and show (because then we would have had to put it away for a long time) the tent and the trunk. We saw Welcome to Hellas around one in the afternoon.
We dedicated our entire trip to exploring natural and historical attractions : hills, hiking trails, walking paths, smaller towns, beaches, castles, forts, and archaeological sites.
We spent the first afternoon and night at the Sylvia campsite on the coast near Lithochoro , below Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus was inaccessible to our family (it is a long and exposed hill). Mount Olympus rises to an impressive 2,918 meters above sea level, making it the highest mountain in Greece. For the Greeks, Olympus is an important symbol, as according to mythology it was the home of the gods, including the mighty Zeus.
We still wanted to get a taste of at least some of the Greek hills. But what if we had to go to the pharmacy before that. We found out that Klara had lice. Yes, lice in the roof tent . HORRIBLE. Our first experience with these little critters , what good timing they had chosen... And I found out about this quite by accident, some maternal instinct . We spent the first morning removing them, exposing the infected clothes to the sun, but not washing everything. We then left for the hills only at eleven.
Hiking trail from Prionia hut to Spilos Agapitos hut
A forty-minute drive along a forest road that climbs all the time brought us to the Prionia hut . There we started walking along a very well-trodden, shady and wooded mountain path that climbs all the time. Only towards the end of the path did the forest thin out and we caught some views. We covered 10 kilometers (up and down), but did not reach the Spilos Agapitos hut. We turned around about two-thirds of the way, after asking the returning hikers about the conditions. There was still quite a bit of snow visible higher up, and fog was gathering. For these two reasons, we did not continue walking. But we still felt the pulse of the Greek highlands. Unfortunately, the paths around and to Olympus are difficult to reach for families with small children (long and steep hikes). We will return sometime when the little ones' legs have grown a little longer.
We greeted Olympus and drove to the beautiful Meteora ...