Το Μονοπάτι του Μαινάλου
Καλώς Ήλθατε στην Επίσημη Ιστοσελίδα του Menalon Trail.
Το πρώτο πιστοποιημένο μονοπάτι στην Ελλάδα από την ERA είναι πραγματικότητα και έτοιμο να εξυπηρετήσει ακόμα και τον πιο απαιτητικό λάτρη της φύσης από όλο τον κόσμο.
Ξεναγηθείτε στην ιστοσελίδα μας για να δείτε και να μάθετε για την περιοχή, τα χωριά, τη χλωρίδα και την πανίδα του Μονοπατιού του Μαινάλου.
75 χιλιόμετρα στη φύση και την ομορφιά της, σας περιμένουν μαζί με τους οικολόγους φίλους σας να “περάσετε” ευχάριστα τον χρόνο σας και να “ζήσετε” αξέχαστες στιγμές σε μία από τις υψηλά βαθμολογημένες διαδρομές της Ευρώπης. Το Μονοπάτι του Μαινάλου, στην Αρκαδία, στην Πελοπόννησο,στην Ελλάδα είναι γεγονός.
Ελάτε να μας γνωρίσετε…
Το 1ο Πιστοποιημένο Μονοπάτι στην Ελλάδα
Το Μονοπάτι του Μαινάλου βρίσκεται στην Αρκαδία, στην Πελοπόννησο, μια περιοχή πλούσια σε ιστορία και τοπία στην Ελλάδα. Μάθετε για τη γεωγραφία, την χλωρίδα και την πανίδα, τα χωριά, το θησαυρό της γαστρονομίας μας και ό,τι εκδηλώσεις εδώ.
Το Μονοπάτι του Μαινάλου, μήκους 75 χλμ, περνά μέσα από τα χωριά Στεμνίτσα, Δημητσάνα, Ζιγοβίστι, Ελάτη, Βυτίνα, Νυμφασία, Μαγούλιανα, Βαλτεσινίκο, Λαγκάδια, βοηθώντας στο δυνάμωμα του τουρισμού και των υπηρεσιών της Γορτυνίας.
Ξενοδοχεία, ξενώνες, ενοικιαζόμενα δωμάτια, καφετέριες, εστιατόρια, παραδοσιακές ταβέρνες, καταστήματα με σουβενίρ, παραδοσιακά τοπικά προϊόντα, Mini Markets, Ταξί & Εταιρίες Μεταφορών για το Menalon Trail είναι εδώ και έτοιμα για εσάς.
Που βρίσκεται το Menalon trail
& Πως να Έρθετε Εδώ
The Menalon Trail is in Arcadia, the center of Peloponnese. It unfurls through the Lousios River gorge, the western slopes of Menalon Mt., the valley of Mylaion River & the Northeast Gortynian Mountains.
The Menalon Trail is just 200 km from Athens center, the capital city of Greece. It is an easy and interesting route, full of small villages and places to visit and fortunately it needs only your basic driving attention to reach on time. Have a nice trip.
The Menalon Trail is just a highway of 245 km from Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos) and only 110 km from Kalamata Airport. You can check flights for both of them and pick the best one for you and your hiking team.
There are 2 ports close to The Menalon Trail:
1) the one is the port of Piraeus and
2) the other one of Patra. From there you can have your car or rent one and come to us and start your adventure.
Εκδηλώσεις & Νέα
Ανακοίνωση – Πρόσκληση Κυριακή 21 Ιουνίου 2020 Πεζοπορία 6 χιλιομέτρων […]
Η ΜΑΙΝΑΛΟΝ Κοιν.Σ.Επ απέσπασε την κορυφαία διάκριση του Platinum βραβείου στην κατηγορία Specialty Travel (Ειδικές μορφές τουρισμού) και το Silver βραβείο στην κατηγορία STRATEGYQ "Τουριστική ανάπτυξη / Συνεισφορά στην τοπική ή εθνική οικονομία"
Τιμητική βράβευση από το Ευρωπαϊκό Ίδρυμα Friedrich Naumann για την Ελευθερία. “Menalon Trail – Ένα καινοτόμο, επιτυχημένο και πολλά υποσχόμενο εγχείρημα”
Ανακοίνωση – Πρόσκληση Κυριακή 21 Ιουνίου 2020 Πεζοπορία 6 χιλιομέτρων […]
Η ΜΑΙΝΑΛΟΝ Κοιν.Σ.Επ απέσπασε την κορυφαία διάκριση του Platinum βραβείου στην κατηγορία Specialty Travel (Ειδικές μορφές τουρισμού) και το Silver βραβείο στην κατηγορία STRATEGYQ "Τουριστική ανάπτυξη / Συνεισφορά στην τοπική ή εθνική οικονομία"
Τιμητική βράβευση από το Ευρωπαϊκό Ίδρυμα Friedrich Naumann για την Ελευθερία. “Menalon Trail – Ένα καινοτόμο, επιτυχημένο και πολλά υποσχόμενο εγχείρημα”
Είπαν για εμάς
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I did the whole trail from 14-08-2020 till 21-08-2020. It's a great hike! A large part leads you through fir forests. The villages are small and beautiful. You need definitly... read more a walking stick. Mind that there is only an ATM in Stemnitsa, Damitsana, Vytina and Lagkadia. At many accomodations you can only pay with cash. In summer the bus leaves from Lagkadia to Tripoli at 15.00 h. The Menalon trail map helps you to understand the courses of the trail.
25 Αυγούστου, 2020Easy access...landed Athens.. train direct to Korinthos.. great value car hire with Vasilopoulos car hire including pick up and drop from station.. 90 min easy drive to Stemnitsa for... read more overnight guest house then walk in 5 stages ..not 8. Trail times are very ambitious especially with backpack and gradients. Mountain and forest areas are stunning with numerous historic sites reroute. Villages are very hospitable with Stemnitsa ( Gartagani Guesthouse) and Nimfasia (Acropolis Guesthouse) our most memorable. We arranged a lift back to our car with guest house host in Valtesinisko (V/studios) at our arrival in Lagkadia which is a very charming village ( taxis are expensive and few).
Drive on to Vouraikos Gorge track train walk...another must.
An easy very rewarding waking week all round.
Great buys in jewellery ( Stemnitsa) and honey (Lagkadia)
4 Μαΐου, 2017i traveld whit giannis. a nice guid. he took us for a nice wallk over the melnia wallk. He knows all the trails in the area. It's worth a stroll... read more through the villages along the river that connects them. On the way to see monasteries hanging. You can also ask him for a bike ride. jonh942003@gmail.com.
12 Οκτωβρίου, 2019This is a bit of an undiscovered gem and one of the best walks I have done. We walked four sections of the trail with rest days in between. One... read more section is probably a day's walking although some sections you could do 2 in one day. Firstly it says the walk is moderate difficulty. I would agree but would clarify it: there are some steep uphill climbs and some long ones. You really do need a good level of fitness. Some sections there have been landslides and the paths are a little treacherous. Most of the paths we walked was well marked, but we did go wrong a few times and the section from Dimitsana to Filosophus we lost the trail completely. Lots of people walked Stemnitsa to Filosophus Monastery and it is really well marked but steep. All the other sections we walked we barely saw anyone. It is extraordinarily beautiful. I would say you need a good level of fitness. My biggest disappointment is that you can't easily hike with your things and then stay a night as some of the villages don't even have hostels. I had to stay in larger villages, get a taxi to the start point of a section, and then get a taxi back.
24 Φεβρουαρίου, 2018 -
We walked parts of the menalon trail early October. We had planned to do all the sections but couldn’t find accommodation in Elati so decided to just do stages. However,... read more we have since found out if you contact the people from the menalon trail directly, they have info for Airbnb in Elati, whilst the Chalet is closed.
We hiked from Stemnitsa to Dimitsana (amazing stay in the Archontiki Deligianni!!) which was a wonderful hike. Very varied, with wonderful monastery visits and great views. It is a well trodden path and well signposted. Took us 6 hours including breaks at each monastery etc.
We left the car at Stemnitsa and having bought the map for the menalon trail (highly recommend it, available in local shops) we took a different path back to Stemnitsa from Dimitsana the following day to retrieve the car. This is also very well signposted and goes through some beautiful forest. Takes a similar time.
We were also very fortunate to meet the man who initiated the menalon trail in Zygovisti, which was a delight. We got good tips on which sections were particularly stunning this time of year, and on his advice also hiked the section Elati - Vytina as an out and back, having left the car at the Nymfasia resort where we stayed (also highly recommended). Vytina is a lovely town and well worth staying at as a base. We wished we’d done that. It has good restaurants and lots of lovely shops selling special Vytina fir honey and wood products.
All the villages en route will at least sell you a frappe so it’s a pretty lovely way to spend a day if you linger and do it all slowly!
The trail is definitely worth doing, and fitness wise if you’re used to exercise you’ll be fine.
If you are planning to do the whole thing, it is definitely worth asking the nice guys from the menalon trail re recommendations. The lovely man we met side in a little office in Stemnitsa when it’s open, but you can always email.
Apparently hey are planning to connect all the ancient Peloponnese sites over the next years- ambitious, but we can’t wait!
The trail has been set up entirely by volunteers, who also maintain it. So it’s well worth buying the map and the beer (!) to support them. Enjoy!
21 Οκτωβρίου, 2018We split the trail into 4 days walking 2 stages each day starting 15th October. Stayed at Lagkadia, drove to the end of the stages each day and got a... read more taxi to the start to walk back to the car. Excellent scenery, fairly strenuous walking in places. Trail mostly well signed, took a couple of wrong turns. We had a map but didn’t bother to download the app.
We stayed at Agnantio Studios with wonderful hosts Takis and Dora and their son Demetri. Accommodation and breakfast was excellent and Dora arranged our taxis for us each day as we don’t speak Greek.
Would recommend both the accommodation and the trail. We had excellent weather as well!
Saw a tortoise, numerous lizards, a few small snakes which soon disappeared into the undergrowth, lots of goats but very few people.
21 Οκτωβρίου, 2018I have lots in four continents, and I find that the Menalon trail was well designed, with changing landscape, connection to culture and people, and ease of navigation/logistic. If you... read more have the time to do the whole thing I highly recommend doing the whole thing but if you just do a part then the Stemnitsana-Dimitsana section was really nice for the monasteries.
I did it in 5 days in July. The heat was bearable since I left early morning, stopped mid-day, and walked again from 2-3 pm until the next village.
I did (1) Stemnitsa-Dimitsana, (2) Dimitsana- Zygovisti -Elati, (3) Elati - Vytina - Nymphasia ; (4) Nymphasia - Magouliana - Valtesiniko; (5) Valtesiniko - Lagkadia.
Day 1: Stemnista is a cute village, Dimitsana has everything you need. In Stemnista I asked the B&B owner and he helped me arrange transfer of my stuff to Lagkadia. Lots of culture in the trail with several monasteries. Really interesting! A monk explained the history of the monastery to me (in perfect French). I had snacks for that day
Day 2: Long day, I ran out of water. I usually carry 2 liters and refill during the day but on that day 3 liters would have been necessary since some water streams/sources are dry in July. I did not stop in Vytina. In Elati there is no guesthouse, so I rented an apartment from a local person. I got the contact by emailing the Menalon trail people. Elati has one taverna - shout out to John the 13 years old son of the owner for speaking good English! Great, hard hiking day, beer tasted great!
Day 3: Nice walk in the valley. In Nymphasia I stayed at the Nymphasia Resort Hotel, 20 minutes from the village. I stayed 2 nights, did not do much, ate a burger, went to the swimming pool, and had a massage because I'm worth it haha! The staff is great and will work hard to make you happy (including yogurt for supper brought to your room). Shout out to the receptionist guy who seems to work every day from 7 am until midnight, and still found the energy to worry that I was "relaxed ok"!
Day 4: Great hike in forest and open scrub. Stopped at the ermitage and was able to toll the bell several times as I was the only one. Neat experience! Had lunch in Magouliana before the main square. The taverna was busy and people all said hi and smiling. Nice, welcoming experience! That day was particularly hot as the afternoon walk is in open land (not forest) so take you time. Valtesiniko is my favorite village: small, authentic, beautiful, clean, well organized. The priest kind of walks around the village entering cafés and tavernas saying hi! Moussaka was great! From the top of the village you can see the mountains stretching and the churches down below lighted in blue and white. Shout out to the owners of Thea Valtesiniko who were super welcoming and caring.
Day 5: Wonderful walk in varied fir forest. Felt elated walking and stopping in the deep forest moss. I had snacks as this day there is no village between start and end. The weather was nice and the walk easy. Towards the end of the walk I was sad it was already over! There was a bus back to Tripoli at 8 am the day after. (Check schedule at your hotel).
1 Αυγούστου, 2022I hiked the trail solo in the last week of June and it was fantastic. I did it in four sections and walked to a village with accommodation every day.... read more I want to share that it is possible because I couldn't find any other reviews where people did it this way before I went. (I’m a 35 year old female, pretty confident hiking).
Tip: FOLLOW THE SIGNS. They are frequent so if you haven’t seen one for a while, consider backtracking. They are visible but it only takes a minute to miss a turn into the forest. Sometimes the trail has to be changed due to conditions, so there are handwritten notes on the little signs.
My recommended alternative shorter adventure would be to walk day 1 and day 4 and spend more time relaxing in the villages.
My route:
Day 1: Stemnitsa to Dimitsana
Short day, about 5.5 hours including stopping to explore old monasteries.
Day 2: Dimitsana to Vytina (via Zygovisti and Elati)
It is admittedly a big day, up to 10 hours, but if you are reasonably fit and experienced and set off early it's achievable.
Day 3: Vytina to Valtesiniko (via Magouliana)
This is a long pants day, lots of scrub. Took about 8 hours with stops.
Shout out to my hosts at Petra & Elato Hotel and to the family that runs Taverna Vasilikos (Ταβέρνα Βασιλικός), they were so friendly and made me a superb pizza.
Day 4: Valtesiniko to Lagkadia
Definitely one of the nicest scenery days, and some of the best walking. About 5 hours. Glad for my leftover pizza.
11 Αυγούστου, 2019