Afetes – Afyssos

The route stating at the semi-mountainous settlement of Afetes to the coastal village of Afyssos follows the ravine named Chalorema. This small canyon offers the shortest connection between these two villages and it is the most well-known trail of Southern Pelion moving in such a terrain. In the past, the name of the village was Niaou which stands for the Greek vocalization of cats. Moreover, this route used to serve as the most preferable way for the inhabitants of Afetes to reach the small port of Afyssos.

The traversing of Chalorema canyon begins at the town square of Afetes where we can see the church of Timios Prodromos. We follow the well-maintained cobbled street until we reach the nether end of the village. A next stone trail, old and destroyed for almost its entire length, takes us to a wooden walkway following the steep downhill. Although the bad condition of the bridge, it is stable and safe for the hikers to cross over.

Very soon we find ourselves walking in the heart of the riverbed and finally we arrive at the exit of the canyon. At the first section of Chalorema we see the sharply sloped walls which immediately after we pass through the distinctive narrows become almost vertical. All along the river bed there are scattered plane trees while other tree species of the riparian zone, such as the willow, birch and ash, grow even on the steepest upper part of the walls struggling to find the sunlight.

When we arrive at the altitude of 60m we should find a barely distinguishable path moving very close to the riverbed. We follow it and finally we meet a concrete road which takes us to the beach of Ampovos, an ideal swimming spot. The coastal asphalt road leads to the centre of Afyssos.

The route is indicated with red marks and with some among the typical circular signs of the organization Friends of Kalderimi of South Pelion. At the beach of Ampovos we can find a bigger sign pointing out the entrance of the canyon.

The overall length is 2.9 km and the difference in altitude is 220m (downwards). The estimated duration for an experienced team with rocky terrain is 1h30m.

Moderate

Length

3.1 km

Ascent

20 m

Descent

250 m

Duration

1:05

Navigation

Starting point

Afetes ➜

Destination

Afyssos ➜

Downloads

Route map

Pelion Routes guide

Pelion Routes app

Tips

This hiking route has no technical accessibility requirements. However, the terrain is rough and rocky and we move continuously on partially unstable ground with pebbles and fallen branches of different dimensions. Constant caution is required and a moderate level of flexibility.
The distances between the markings are not always exactly defined, which is a similar problem is other trails of Pelion too. Nevertheless, there is only one way to go and this is to follow the riverbed until you finally detect the next paint mark.

Warnings

The movement in the ravine should be avoided in case of heavy rainfall due to the possibility of sudden debris flow and landslide. Make sure the wooden bridge is stable enough before crossing.

Koropi – Afetes

Afyssos – Lefokastro