Epiros - There's more to Greece than the islands

[by o_xenos]

I love northern Greece, especially the mountains of Epiros in the northwest. The city of Ioannina (or Yannina) is very hospitable, full of history from the days of Ali Pasha, and is marked by a huge and beautiful lake with an island in the centre. Ioannina is close to some incredible villages, gorges and mountains and the whole area is a hikers paradise. The Vikos Gorge (deepest in the world), the Zagorian Villages (45 traditional stone villages), Tzoumerka mountains, the incredible alpine village of Metsovo are just some of the attractions of the area.

There are ski resorts near Metsovo - just try telling somebody that you're going to have your holiday in Greece to go skiing!

My point, is that there's SO much more to Greece than the islands. I want to see it ALL!

[alexis]

Hello O_xenos,

Thank you for posting a topic in this new forum.
I totally agree with you.
There are many beautiful destinations in Greece except from the Greek Islands and unfortunately not well or not at all advertised in the other contries. As Greece is a mountainous country surrounded by the sea, many contrast are offered. These destinations have kept their authenticity and natural beauty. There are also many other activities than lying on a beach: skiing, climbing. kayaking and more... Hope that this area will be discovered....

The question is: does the development of tourism in this areas will destroy this authenticity as it did in many islands? I hope not...

[by o_xenos]

Hi Alexi,

That's a hard question and I hope not as well - what makes many of the villages and the mainland so interesting and authentic is the fact that many areas are so remote and wild. If tourism can develop while respecting the natural environment and culture, hopefully the unique nature of these places can be preserved. Some places (like the Zagorian villages) are protected from development by the government, but the villages still get the benefit of tourism. And people want to go these specifically because the areas are protected - they know they will get an 'authentic' Greek experience but there will still be some level of facilities for foreign travellers (restaurants, small hotels, etc).

Tourism in certain areas could be carefully developed around themes - like hiking, kayaking as you mentioned, or traditional arts and folklore. If areas focus on what they're 'famous' for, I don't think that development means destruction. And most people will continue to do the Athens-Mykonos-Santorini packages anyway (and there's nothing wrong with that).

[by o_xenos]

I built a personal website (link below) about 2 years ago with general information on Epiros.

It's non-commerical, just has some of my opinions on the area, some travel tips, history, music, a few pictures, etc. I built the site because I wanted to learn how to make websites, and just coming back from a trip it gave me a subject to work with and practice on...this was my first attempt.

Aside from the tabbed main links, there are underlined links on each page. There is also a "Travelogue" tab that gives a day-by-day journal of my trip, which I find the most interesting since it's personal. It was written by different members of our group (we were all friends, this wasn't an organized tour), so you can see the different styles and viewpoints.

I know this forum is very "island" focussed, but I still wanted to share this...

It's a bit text-heavy and the font is a bit small, but as I said it was my first attempt!

http://ca.geocities.com/epiros@rogers.com/index.html

[by Leetheea]

Most people will keep goin to islands also because Epiros is known as BORING, and I know people at my church get joked around with alot about being from Epiros, which is bad because there is alot of potential in the mainlands too not just southern islands.

[by spartiatissa]

you guys can come to Lakwnia too!!! lol