If you’re visiting Zagori and Vikos you’re probably likely to hear about the short walk to the Beloi lookout. The views are spectacular. You can see almost the entire length of Vikos gorge. The only problem is that this is the one viewpoint of Vikos that most people know about. Unless you go at dawn, you’re unlikely to have the view to yourself.

The last time we visited the Vikos National Park, we discovered Megas Lakos almost by accident. Megas Lakos is a gorge that branches off from Vikos. Even though you can’t see all of Vikos gorge from Megas Lakos, the views from the Kakia Skala steps are a great alternative (or addition) to the Beloi Lookout. They're harder to get to, but there are no other visitors and the views are wonderful. There’s also a little thrill about the whole experience as there are no barriers or walls to protect you from the sheer 600-metre drop.

We visited in July when wildlife was everywhere - we found many beautiful orchids, wild strawberries and the meadows were filled with butterflies and the buzzing of bees.

The walk is relatively easy, although the path can be quite hard to follow at times, and it was very overgrown for us. In fact, I wasn’t able to find any other references to this lookout spot online, so I don’t think it’s a well-trodden path at all!

The start point is where a farm track branches off from the road to Vradeto. We followed the track for a short while before reaching a very decrepit looking paddock. At this point, the path follows along the side of the mountain. The path is reasonably well defined at the point, just make sure you don’t follow the other path towards Vradeto.

The path continues to hug the hillside, with varied scenery and increasingly large rocky outcrops.

Eventually, the path reaches a hanging valley. To the left is a well-defined peak (with good views), and to the right a ridge. Even though the path isn’t well defined, the route descends into the valley through a lush meadow. At the bottom of the valley we kept to the right, and then right again up to a small ridge with a sign and a small cairn. This is the start of the Kakia Skala steps!

Even though the Kakia Skala stairway is called a “stairway”, it really isn’t a stairway. It’s nothing like the better-known (and engineered) Vradeto steps. In fact “Kakia Skala” roughly translates to “bad/hard stairway”. It is simply a path created by farmers and animal herders as a means of getting animals down to the valley for grazing, and for collecting firewood.

The descent from here was steep, overgrown and relatively difficult. Even though progress was slow, the views were wonderful. Luckily there wasn’t too far left to go. After descending for a few minutes we found a nice rock to in on to take in the view and eat some lunch.

The views

Route details

The route back was straightforward, and much faster now that we knew the route! If you’re interested in exploring Megas Lakkos and the Kakia Skala stairway for yourself, the walk is roughly a 7km return and I’ve mapped the route on AllTrails. You can walk the return route in around 2 hours, although we were much slower as we kept stopping to take in the scenery.

Route map on AllTrails

Forget the island hopping and hordes of tourists; we decided to head to Zagoria, an unspoilt mountain wilderness tucked away in northwestern Greece.

When you hear about trips to Greece the most obvious destinations are islands such as Crete or Corfu, or perhaps city breaks to Athens or Thessaloniki. For the most part, mainland Greece is largely ignored by foreign visitors.

Recently, Joe and I embarked on a road trip hoping to explore some of Greece’s less travelled roads. For the first leg of this trip we spent 4 nights in the Vikos-Aoös National Park (map) in the Zagori region of Northwestern Greece. We spent our days hiking in the mountains, and swimming in remote rivers and eating delicious local food.

We flew into Thessaloniki and spent a night there before hitting the road in our battered Peugeot convertible. Getting to the Zagori region from Thessaloniki is a relatively uncomplicated three to four hour drive. Within an hour of leaving Thessaloniki the traffic had thinned out and we were leaving the expanse of a vast plane and heading into the mountains.

Metsovo

It’s possible to reach the Vikos-Aoös National Park in three hours if you choose to drive non-stop, but we stopped off in the small alpine town of Metsovo (map). Sadly on the day we visited, Metsovo was blisteringly hot and overwhelmed by vast crowds of Greek and Balkan coach tours. I really hoped this wasn’t a sign of things to come! After a brief lunch of souvlaki and salad we decided to skip Metsovo and press on to Zagoria.

Dilofo

We stayed in a small guesthouse named Aithrio with our wonderful host, Olga in the tiny village of Dilofo (map). Dilofo is without a doubt one of the most charming and well preserved villages in the Zagori region. This is partly because it’s impossible to drive a car through it’s extremely narrow cobbled alleyways, and partly because almost everyone who was born in Dilofo seems to have deserted it. An ex-local who had returned for the summer told us over a carafe of local (and surprisingly palatable) wine that there are now only six full time residents in the village. Sadly, most residents have left for work, and only return for the summer. This lends the village an eery, slightly ramshackle charm.

At the centre of Dilofo is a giant sycamore tree surrounded by a paved square and a wonderful taverna. We ate there most nights. The BBQ spit roast mutton was just too good to pass up, and the tzatziki was the best I’ve ever tasted. Thick, creamy, and properly garlicky. Dinner always evolved into drinks with the owners and other locals. By the end of our stay we knew pretty much everyone living or in the village, (as well as the feral horses which passed through the square each evening). Even though we were there for less than a week, we felt like we were part of the community.

Bridge of Kokkori (map) - one of Zagoria's many traditional arched bridges.

Hiking Vikos Gorge

The main focus of the Vikos-Aoös National Park is the vast, world-record-holding, twenty kilometre long Vikos Gorge. It’s utterly mesmerising.

While it is possible to walk the entire length of the gorge, it’s an 8 hour one way hike with no transport links at each end, so we opted instead to walk a portion of it. We set off from the village of Vikos (map) at the head of the gorge. The walk starts with a steep descent into the gorge. The views are simply spectacular, and it’s easy to miss the incredible views walking down a valley covered in wild herbs. sage, oregano and lemon balm. We made slow progress as Joe kept stopping off to pick figs from precariously hanging fig trees.

At the foot of the valley there is a small disused monastery perched on the banks of a deep azure coloured river which appears from nowhere out of the river bed around two hundred metres upstream. We spent a few hours lounging on the riverbank and daring each other to jump into the icy cold water before continuing our hike.

On our return we met a badly prepared Australian couple in their fifties, who had decided to walk the eight hour one way hike in trainers with a single bottle of water. At the top we shared a beer with them and discovered they were also staying in Dilofo. We offered them a lift back to Dilofo before remembering our Peugeot only had two seats. Somehow though, and with a lot of contortion all four of us managed to cram into the tiny car. When we arrived back in Dilofo they invited us to dinner at Dilofo’s more upmarket restaurant. The food was superb, and the views beautiful, but the cheaper taverna is better and more authentic.

Beloi lookout and waterfalls at Iliochori

If you don’t fancy a day long hike, there are still plenty opportunities to take in the incredible views of Vikos gorge. Beloi lookout (map) is around a two kilometre walk from the small village of Vradeto and offers some of the most spectacular views of Vikos Gorge (provided you don’t suffer from vertigo).

sitting on the edge at beloi look out vikos

The village of Vradeto is also home to one of the best tavernas in the area. As far as the internet is concerned, it doesn’t seem to exist. If you do find it, I’d recommend the stuffed baked peppers and filo pasty pies with local ‘horta' herbs (wild mountain greens).

After lunch in Vradeto, we drove North, towards Albania in search of a waterfall our host Olga recommended to us. As we drove North the landscape gradually transitioned into a mountainous, forested wilderness. It didn’t feel like Greece at all.

The waterfalls at Iliochori (map), a sleepy, all but deserted mountain village, are not easy to find. You have to follow a steep path down through the villages vegetable gardens, past a precariously perched monetary and down a trail which is more of a landslide than a path. The waterfalls are worth it though, we spent the rest of the day cooling off in the pool underneath the waterfall. It was the perfect way to cool down after a hot day.

Zagoria, (and specifically Dilofo) was an incredibly difficult place to leave; because of the wonderful hospitality, great food and wonderful views. As we left Olga gave us local wine and a packed lunch to take with us - we then headed off to Meteora.

If you visit, my only advice would be to stay for longer than 4 days!