By car from Pantheon Apartments & Studios, at the end of June before sunrise, we drove through Votsalakia, turned right towards the cave of Pythagoras and then left up towards the monastery Evagilistria. A rather steep and difficult to access road for the last bit.
Keep in mind that only 4-wheel drive vehicles will work if you want to do this lovely hike starting higher up on Kerki’s slope.
Of course, it works perfectly well not to drive that far up but, for example, stop right after Votsalakia and walk from there instead, or why not cycle as far as you can and then walk the rest of the way or start your hike from the Pantheon.
If you choose to go from the Pantheon, the walk takes a total of about 3 hours longer there and back, i.e. a total of about 5-6 hours for the whole walk.
The relatively steep slope meant that we quickly came up to fantastic views overlooking the valley where “Ormos” is located and also towards the islands of Fourni, Ikaria and further away also towards Patmos and Arki.
After about 45 minutes of quite physically demanding hiking, we arrived at the small monastery which is now not used continuously.
We walked a short distance into the forest and found a lovely place to eat our packed lunch while we recovered and looked at the wonderful view.
The way down felt much easier but a little warmer as the sun now warmed much more than at sunrise.
We finished with a refreshing bath in Votsalakia before heading back to the Pantheon.
As previously said, there are several different possible plans if you want to complete this wonderful hike yourself. Everything from driving a car as far as possible to do a shorter hike to doing a longer hike without a car. Or why not combine the hike with a longer stay at Votsalakia beach afterwards.
This hiking tour is part of hiking tour #9 Samos Hikes, read more about this trail here, Samos Hikes – Votsalakia – Vigla peak.
