British people dream of holidays on “sun-baked” Greek islands, said Dana Facaros in The Sunday Times. But during their long summers, Greek islanders themselves often dream of Pelion: a lush, mountainous peninsula jutting into the Aegean 200 miles north of Athens, with its bucolic woodlands, springs, waterfalls and orchards criss-crossed by cobbled mule paths.
“In summer, the Pelion and its gorgeous cliff-backed beaches get very busy; in winter, when there are far fewer people to share it with, it’s outrageously romantic.” For some Greeks, it’s the only time of year they come. “Tendrils of mist curl up from gurgling streams; fog, something they hardly ever see in the cities, adds a veil of mystery.”
Most of all, winter visitors hope for snow – and thanks to the “Aegean effect”, when cold air moves over warm water, it’s more or less guaranteed. Up to 16ft falls annually on the Pelion’s higher altitudes. At only 1,471m, the local ski resort is “hardly the Alps”, but it has wonderful views of the sea. Pelion’s 20-odd villages are also “some of the most beautiful in Greece”. They are usually overlooking the sea, with a “beautiful stone-flagged square”, a pretty late-Byzantine church and a huge plane tree or two.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A “perfect winter day in Pelion” might start with a morning in the village of Makrinitsa, the “Balcony of the Pelion”, to take in the amazing view from its main square and a coffee at the Theofilos Café. Followed by an afternoon on the ski slopes, or walking along one of the mule paths. As darkness falls, you might return to the hotel to put your feet up by a crackling blaze while sipping a rakomelo, the Greek version of a hot toddy.
Finally, to dinner at one of the peninsula’s “superb family-run tavernas” to eat the Pelion’s “spicy speciality”, spetsofai (fried green peppers, aubergine, goat or lamb sausage, and tomatoes).
Seven nights’ b&b at Santikos Mansion in Vizitsa from £696pp, including flights to Thessaloniki and car hire (sunvil.co.uk).
-
The environmental cost of GLP-1sThe explainer Producing the drugs is a dirty process
-
Greenland’s capital becomes ground zero for the country’s diplomatic straitsIN THE SPOTLIGHT A flurry of new consular activity in Nuuk shows how important Greenland has become to Europeans’ anxiety about American imperialism
-
‘This is something that happens all too often’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Arcadia: Tom Stoppard’s ‘masterpiece’ makes a ‘triumphant’ returnThe Week Recommends Carrie Cracknell’s revival at the Old Vic ‘grips like a thriller’
-
My Father’s Shadow: a ‘magically nimble’ love letter to LagosThe Week Recommends Akinola Davies Jr’s touching and ‘tender’ tale of two brothers in 1990s Nigeria
-
Send Help: Sam Raimi’s ‘compelling’ plane-crash survival thrillerThe Week Recommends Rachel McAdams stars as an office worker who gets stranded on a desert island with her boss
-
Book reviews: ‘Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind’ and ‘Football’Feature A right-wing pundit’s transformations and a closer look at one of America’s favorite sports
-
Catherine O'Hara: The madcap actress who sparkled on ‘SCTV’ and ‘Schitt’s Creek’Feature O'Hara cracked up audiences for more than 50 years
-
6 gorgeous homes in warm climesFeature Featuring a Spanish Revival in Tucson and Richard Neutra-designed modernist home in Los Angeles
-
Touring the vineyards of southern BoliviaThe Week Recommends Strongly reminiscent of Andalusia, these vineyards cut deep into the country’s southwest
-
Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency – an ‘engrossing’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends All 126 images from the American photographer’s ‘influential’ photobook have come to the UK for the first time
