The Kastania Gorge Walk

This should present no problem to walkers of reasonable fitness but does involve a fair amount of clambering over boulders in the gorge. This walk is totally different from anything else on Alonissos and you will walk through countryside covered with judas trees, tree heather, Montpelier Maple and wonderful olive groves. Along the way we will almost certainly see Eleanora’s Falcons and where the gorge meets the sea at Strovili, a pair of Bonelli’s eagles’ nest in the cliffs every year.

We start the trip by bus, driving up the southeast coast of Alonissos to the beach of Agios Dimitrios. The beach is the largest in Alonissos and unlike all the other beaches on the island, it forms a convex point that sticks out into the sea like a white arrow.

From here we continue on foot along the steep slope alongside the coast. Jason leads you into the gorge of Kastanorema and you walk along a winding path surrounded by vertical rocks. The gorge ends at the location of Kastania where there is a technical lake. We continue up to the plateau of Koumarorahi where we eat our own lunch, enjoying the impressive view over the sea and the Marine Park. After the break the tour continues down the slope back to the beach of Agios Dimitrios where you can have a swim in the clear water. Return to Patitiri by bus.