Ithaca Trail 14A

This mountain hike offers impressive views, changing scenery and a unique sense of conquest. You start from the square of Exogi, next to the church of Agia Marina, and cross the settlement uphill. You pass in front of the beautiful door of the church of Panagia and head to the church of Agios Nikolaos, at the highest point of the settlement. Before reaching the church, observe below, on the mountainside, the innumerable, amphitheatrically constructed stone walls - monuments to the toil of the old inhabitants - that reach to the sea.

You cross the passage immediately after the cemetery and begin an exciting climb up the ridge of the mountain, which will reveal to you the whole of the central Ionian sea. Initially you will see the sea and the islands to the east and north of Ithaca and, when you arrive to the top (altitude 519m.), you will see the view to Kefalonia and the open sea opening up in front of you, to the west! Smells of thyme, and other wild herbs and, next to you, the remnants of the life of the old inhabitants: the sheepfold, the cistern, the windmills, the small church of Agios Andreas and everywhere stonewalls, until you reach the monastery of Panagia at the top of Pernarakia (altitude 506m.)

The view from here is something unimaginable. When the weather permits, you can even see the mountains of Zakynthos! You're going downhill. You pass the ancient settlement of Agia Kyriaki, cross a cypress forest and arrive at Roussano. On the highest part of the plateau you see a large threshing floor and terraces, one under the other, overgrown with olive trees. Here is Santa Marina and a little lower, Paleokastro. From there, a steep downhill path brings you quickly to the small village of Kalyvia. You continue towards the ravine, cross the stone arched bridge and from a shady cobblestone you easily climb to Stavros square.