Caveats 2: Off-season travel
September is what the old Vermonters would call “’taint season”, as in “’taint summer, and ’taint skiing.” This didn’t matter so much up in Pelion, in the little beach resorts, where there were always a few tavernas to choose from. Rural Arcadia is another matter.
At our hotel in Nymphasia, for example, we were literally the only guests in this huge resort hotel. There was no restaurant or taverna in Nymphasia, at least none open during the week. So our hotel had a kind of “DoorDash” arrangement with a restaurant in Vytina, a 90-minute walk (I can tell you), but only a 5-minute drive away. You can’t count on grocery stores or pharmacies in any of these villages. There might be some, but they are probably closed. Or, closed during the afternoon, when you are hiking through.
Many times we missed the freedom afforded by our rented Skoda, which was parked at the trailhead in Stemnitsa, not to be rejoined until this morning, after a 75-minute cab-ride from Lagadia.
There was only one night when we failed to get dinner—the hotel’s restaurant closed at 7:00, which is when they usually open—and feasted on two granola bars we had stashed. Breakfast at that hotel made up for it.
Season or no, tiny settlement or “major” village, breakfast was always plentiful and good fuel for the day’s walking.
The water along the trail is plentiful and wholesome!
