You can break this trail up into "do-able" parts. I walked one section with my very informative guide from Explore Menalo, guide highly recommended, but you can also explore independently.... read more Lovely river valleys fir forests and storybook villages it is a 70km trail, and it took 4 hours to walk 9 kilometers.

  We have just finished the full 8 sections of the trail. Like many of the reviewers we enjoyed the fir forests, the rock perched monasteries, the picturesque villages and the... read more hospitality of the villagers.
The late season had its effect so some villages were practically vacant. This includes Zygovitsi, Elati, and Magouliana, with Nymphasia just a bit more lively. So when preparing accommodation better check availability beforehand. Luckily you can always call for a taxi from a neighboring village. People are very friendly - one time we were offered a ride to the guesthouse in the larger village, and in another the guesthouse owner took us to the next village to continue the trail.
Autumn proved to be very welcome for hiking. Except for few raindrops in the first two days the weather was shiny, with few clouds, and with just the right temperature, around 20c. The autumn also offers the special golden colors of the poplars and plane trees in the river beds.
Other memorable pictures are the great plane tree in the village square of Magouliana, and the clear quiet stream with moss-covered stones in the narrow shady creek before Elati.
Transportation from Athens should not be a problem. For access to and from the area we used KTEL Arcadia bus service. They have a quite regular line between Athens and Tripoli, few times a day from Tripoli to Stemnitsa and twice a day from Lagkadia back to Tripoli.

  There are so many paths to take on the Menalon Trail, you cannot be bored. The trail I took was Stemnitsa - Dimitsana. It was rigorous and wonderful. I loved... read more all the water - the river, the waterfalls, the fountains. The Lousios River Gorge was tremendous. The water was so cold and refreshing. I absolutely loved it. And there were several monasteries that were so beautiful, especially in the pristine setting of the gorge.

  We hiked just section 4 between Elati and Vytina. Few things to know before you hike: if you hike in summer better do it early in the morning. Download... read more an android app which works offline, it will save you time and energy, don't 100 %rely on signs. For section 4 stay in Vytina (we stay in Art mainalon hotel), take a taxi to Elati, main Square about 13-15 euros. You will be tired , so when your hotel is in the main street, it helps. One more comment about the route, it is not easy, so don't take kids with you, maybe adolescents will be o.k.

  We hiked the Menalon Trail in March from Stemnitsa to Vytina over four nights. We could have maybe made it three, but we wanted a day in the middle to... read more rest (which we did in Dimitsana in the Amanites Guesthouse, which I highly recommend). It was a beautiful trail but in March be warned - it can get quite warm in places but also quite foggy, rainy, and cold! We started off in the beating sun, but eventually on the Dimitsana - Elati route we ran into snow several feet deep! The first leg, going along the gorge and the monasteries was beautiful. We saw turtles and donkeys as well along the way. Nearing Dimitsana, we ran into some flooded areas of the trail and had to climb around and get our feet quite wet for a bit of it due to recent spring rain. There were some marked detours but we did lose the trail at one point and regained it later on. Dimitsana itself was a lovely quiet town, a great place to rest off the first day and we were lucky to see it snow-covered in the morning. The museum in town was unfortunately closed because of the holidays, but as we walked past it, it looked interesting. After resting, we did two legs in one day from Dimitsana to Zygovisti and then on to Elati. Because of recent snowfall, this third leg started out okay but quickly became a challenge as we had to walk up and down steep snow-covered icy trails which we hadn't quite been prepared for. Luckily some proper hikers were ahead of us, so we followed their footsteps and were fine. They had hired the services of a Menalon Trail guide, which you can do by email or calling the number for the trail (I recommend this if there's any sign of inclement weather). In Elati we stayed at Vanna's House (the contact you can also get from emailing Menalon trail), who provided a beautiful dinner and breakfast in their lovely self-built farmhouse. From there we did the last leg at a leisurely pace to Vytina. Vytina is a bigger town which probably gets more tourists, but we didn't feel as welcome there as in the earlier few towns along the trail - but it's a gorgeous town nonetheless.

The whole trail is pretty clearly signposted, however due to aforementioned inclement weather (rain and snow), it might be not so easy to find during early spring. The only time we walked near other people was during the first leg, as there are people going between the monasteries. In the snow covered areas, we saw hints of other travellers, but for the most part the whole trail felt like it was just for us!

To get to the trail, we took a bus from Athens to Tripoli (€16.50 each) and had been planning on taking a local bus from Tripoli to Stemnista, but we found there was a holiday on that day, so we had to pay for a taxi (€40). On the way back to Athens, we took a bus from Vytina back to Tripoli which carried on to Athens. I found there wasn't so much clear information on getting to/from Menalon trail that you can find online... But it's not really a big problem because, unless there's holidays, you can probably make it to and from Athens OK.

  We walked from Stemnitsa town & saw two old monasteries along the way. However we had a bit of trouble getting a trail map. Before we left Australia, we bought... read more a map via Menalon Trail site, but no matter how I tried, I just couldn’t download the map they sent on the email. We just loved the look of Stemnista town as we drove through & rang Mpelleiko Guest House that afternoon & got a room there. Luckily the owner Nena was very knowledgeable about the trail & lent us a map & explained the good trail to walk. Anyway the first Monastery was called Prodromos in the cliff!!! Two monks greeted us with Greek coffee, water & some sweets. Saw some interesting frescos in a small chapel. The view from the verandah was so beautiful, but if I saw myself from the bottom of the cliff, I would be so scared to death!
Then we saw the other monastery was called old Philosophou(not in use) & also the new one. At the new one, a very friendly monk greeted us with some cold water & sweets & showed us the inside of the church full of beautiful frescos. Must shut the door of the church after you walk in or else, so many cats will follow you inside. Then we went down to Lousios River to swim, but the water was so cold & my husband did swim for 5 mins & I could only walk in for 1 mins & left. All this took 8 hours & that was one of the best memories of Greek holiday. Also we could easily drive to each monastery, we are so glad that we walked to find some interesting plants & great sceneries. We would like to do all 75 km of 8 sections one day.

  A bit rugged with difficulty finding trail markers at times. Scenery is gorgeous with a deep gorge, an ancient bridge and spring along the way. We were alone the entire... read more hike. Well worth the effort.

  Easy 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)