Dodecanese Island Hopping: Hike and Kayak in Greece

Arrival in Rhodes and transfer to the port where we will embark on the boat to Tilos! We will start our adventure, enjoying a delicious welcome dinner.

Overnight in Tilos

We start from the beautiful seaside village of Livadia and the trail leads us along the coastline to lovely beaches, including a red beach – due to the color of its sand. Once we reach Lethra Beach, a green tree-lined paradise, we begin the ascent towards Mikro Chorio(meaning small village in Greek). Once a highly populated village, it is now deserted. Houses have been abandoned and they remain along with the narrow alleys, green courtyards, and its few present inhabitants – goats. During the summer months, a bar operates here from which customers can stroll around this unique “ghost” village.  After, we will return to our starting point in Livadia.

Distance: 7 Km

Actual Hiking Duration: 3 hours.

Overnight stay in Tilos

Today we start from Livadia village, and follow the coast line, walking by the beach, towards the end of the gulf, to the main port of Tilos.

The trail was once built at the ridge of the mountain slope and connected the port with the now abandoned village of Gera, where a few houses and some threshing floors remain, overlooking the endless Aegean Sea. We continue our walk, and go up a riverbed full of trees to reach the highest point of our hike. With great views of the nearby islands, we then descend again towards Livadia.

Agios Panteleimonas is a monastery built on 1531 AC by a sailor, who survived a shipwreck and had a vision of Saint Panteleimon in his dreams. He decided to build the monastery in the favour of the saint that saved him and as the myth goes, at the milestone of the building, he discovered a fountain! Nowadays, Agios Panteleimonas stands proudly on the harsh environment of a mountain slope surrounded by maple trees – a rare thing for an island. The trail starts at the outskirts of the Monastery and leads to Agios Antonios – the second port of the island, offering fantastic views of nearby Nisiros.

We arrive at Agios Antonios, and we ascend to Megalo Chorio (means in Greek: Big Village) the nowadays capital of Tilos. Built under the shadow of a medieval castle, Megalo Chorio stands proudly overlooking Eristos, the biggest and most famous beach on the island.

We start from the capital of Halki, Nimporios which is also the main village and port of the island. We walk uphill gradually from a fertile valley that leads up to the Medieval Castle of Chorio. The village of Chorio, west of Halki, once the only settlement on the island, is built around the hill upon where the fort stands with its old style stone houses. The village of Chorio was abandoned gradually and today is deserted. The views from the Castle are magnificent, and on a clear day, Rhodes, Nisiros, Karpathos and Tilos are visible into the endless blue of the Aegean sea. On the way back, we stop to Pondamos Beach for a refreshing swim and a homemade nutritious lunch at a seaside tavern.

Today we explore a deserted island, called Alimia. We set off from the port of Halki, and sail till we reach its first wide bay, where the main town once stood. This village was declared a protected settlement in 1978. We disembark there in order to hike through its untouched treasures. We will wander in forgotten trails, since the island is uninhabited since the 2nd World War. In the Hellenistic times, Alimia was used as an anchorage and observatory for the Rhodian fleet. A tower was constructed that survives till today on the eastern side of the tallest peak of the island. Part of this Hellenistic tower was used for the construction of a Medieval Castle in 1475 by the Knights of Saint John, who had conquered the Dodecanesse that time. We arrive to the second significant bay of the island, where we have the chance to swim to its crystal clear waters, and then enjoy a BBQ on the beach. At the early afternoon, we sail back to Halki.

Trip Finishes.