Walking with Anna
One of the best ways to truly escape the demands of everyday life is to immerse oneself in the atmosphere and scenery of a place with a culture different to our own. A walking holiday offers the chance to become intimately acquainted with and enjoy every element of Greece’s local beauty and history. Trekking from one place to another lets us discover places which are largely unseen by most people, and to experience the beauty and silence of more remote corners of the countryside. It also gives an immense sense of achievement, and the kind of satisfying tiredness at the end of a walking day that brings deep relaxation.
One of the beauties of Greece is that many of her treasures lie hidden in olive groves or on steep mountainsides: crumbling Byzantine chapels, fragments of Mycenaean temples, caves, tiny bays without a soul in sight – all there waiting for the more intrepid traveller to discover.
Anna Butcher has worked as a freelance mountain guide in Greece for over a decade. Her walks aim to combine the most magnificent scenery with any unexpected jewels of history that might be hiding in the undergrowth or around the next headland. Add to that the opportunity to stay in unusual, unique and characterful guest houses (towers, Ottoman mansions, mountain lodges), excellent and unusual Greek cuisine which is often prepared especially for the group, with some fine wines, and you have a recipe for a deep insight into the ‘real’ Greece.
We offer three different walking holidays that take place in some of the most beautiful areas of Greece:
Peaks of the Pindos and Jewels of Ioannina (11 day trip) >
19 - 29 June 2009
The Mountains and Monastries of Amorgos and Naxos (2 week trip) >
14 - 27 September 2009
Towers, Caves and Mulepaths of the Mani (13 day trip*) >
29 September - 11 October 2009
*day walks are also available here at certain times of year
Please note, flights are not included in the cost. Flights should be booked to Athens (plus domestic flight to Ioannina for the Pindos trip). Pretty much everything else is included in the price - nearly all meals, entrance fees, accommodation etc. See individual itineraries for further information.
Walking with Anna Booking Form >
Anna's update on last years fires in the Mani region:
After the fires last summer, both the landscape and the mood in Mani
were rather blackened, but things returned to normal remarkably
quickly in the autumn, due to the community spirit and determination
not to fall into despair because of these tragic events. In the Deep
Mani tourism continued to thrive throughout the winter, if at a
slightly slower pace. Now that spring has arrived, and the
unexpected snowfall of last month has melted, watering the parched
earth, the flowers are even more glorious than ever - maybe due to
the fact that they are more immediately visible and not swamped by
the usual dense maquis. The mountains are carpeted with red
anemones, mauve aubretia, yellow leopards bane and numerous varieties
of orchids, and the scent is overwhelming.
Summer fires in this part of Greece are part of the course, and
nature regenerates very fast - the acidic soil of a limestone
environment actually benefits from burning sporadically. Spring this
year appears even more startlingly beautiful due to the contrasts,
and for someone wishing to follow the ancient rocky mule paths, the
fact that the dense and prickly foliage has burnt makes it much
easier to find one's way through the countryside. The only places
around here that have really suffered are the pine-forested mountains
in the Taigetos range, which have in some parts been stripped bare
and will take many years to come back to life.
For anyone wishing to come to Mani to walk/swim/enjoy the landscape
of this spectacular peninsula, it is unlikely that they would notice
much change from any other year - nature has worked miracles!
Please click here to view a selection of photos taken recently in the area >
