In Partnership with Visit Greece

As much as I love sea and sunshine I truly believe the best season to travel and explore new countries, their culture and food is off-season. Of course, if you’re looking for a beach holiday, Greece is one of the best destinations from May to October, but if you’re willing to explore beyond the seaside, plan a visit to Mount Pelion Region any time between November to April. The temperatures might get low but the best perk is no crowds. You can enjoy slow way of Greek life, wintery mountain air and if visiting in December - Christmas spirit.

Save this 4-day itinerary for the best experience of the region.

Day 1

Fly to Thessaloniki Airport and take public transport to the city of Volos (2-3h from Tsessaloniki depending on traffic)

Check-in to your accommodation. We stayed in KoKoon apartments in the city centre. Great location and it was very handy to have washing machine and kitchen available - luxuries that don’t come with a hotel stay.

Greeks eat their dinner late, so even if you arrived late, don’t worry, the usual local dinner time is 9-9.30pm. For our first dinner we headed to MeZen for an introduction to Tsipouro experience. Traditionally this kind of restaurants (Tsipouradika) serve Tsipouro spirit accompanied with mezze, you pay for a drink and small sharing plates of food arrive to the table.

Day 2

Have a light breakfast at any local coffee spot, all little coffee shops we popped into serve great coffee and amazing little pastries called petaki. Choose from a wide variety of fillings - delicious!

First stop of the day - Vyzitsa village. It is a very pretty ancient traditional village with views over Volos and a few great tavernas. While here, visit “Esperides” Cooperative of Greek grandmothers making traditional pies and conserves. A great place to stock up on jams and pickles to bring back to London. Walk around the village and finish with a coffee on the village square

Next stop - The Pelion train station where we booked a horseback riding to De Chirico bridge, along the train tracks on a beautiful route. Trust me you don’t want to miss this experience. I didn’t take my camera to the ride but check my Instagram for the breathtaking views.

After the horseriding we stopped at Milies village to visit the church with unique frescoes and have lunch at Salkimi, they serve traditional Pelion cuisine which suprised me with some similarities to Lithuanian cuisine!

No visit to Greece should go without a visit to an olive mill. Learn how olive oil is made at Voliotis olive mill in Ano Lehonia. Also a good place to get a couple of bottles of freshly made oil to take home.

After a full-on day we were back to Volos for a couple of hours rest and off for dinner with live Greek music and dances at Avlaia - a famous among locals venue where old and young dance away until wee hours of morning.

Day 3

In the morning we put our hiking shoes on and were off to Tsagarada. Here, at Agia Paraskevi square you will find the thousand-year-old plane tree, the oldest in Europe. Quite a site to see!

Now was time for a hike to Damouchari. It is 4km descent, starts with village cobblestone path, crosses forest and continues with cobblestone descent (Kagkiolia position) ending at a wooden bridge on Damouchari beach, 200m from the port where Mamma Mia was filmed. You can do it by yourself but I do recommend to get a guide.

For lunch we were back to Tsagarada and had soma traditional snacks at Aleka taverna.

On the way back to Volos, the essential stop is the village of Makrinitsa, my personal highlight of the trip. It is called the balcony of Mt Pelion and it lives to the expectatoins. Walk on the paved street with shops selling herbs and enjoy a coffee with the breathtaking views over harbour.

As our Day 3 was a Saturday, after the return to Volos, it was time to explore the city’s buzzing night life. One of the trendiest places is Grappa, enjoy local wines and delicious food with great atmosphere and live DJ.

Day 4

This part of Greece is great for agrotourism and we were very excited to visit Karaiskos farm in Portaria for a cooking class and a rich Greek traditional breakfast with farm products. You can also stay on the farm in a cosy Airbnb.

Our last stop was Portaria, a lovely cobblestone village.

For the last lunch we went for a traditional Greek family Sunday meal ( Tsipouro and meze) at a seaside tavern “Lepi”. It was an epic feast!

Drop me a DM on Insta if you have any questions about travelling in Greece and if use this itinerary!