Trips and Tips: Vargiani - A village lost in the forest of Mountain Parnassus in Fokis

What do you do when it is so hot and you still haven’t started your summer vacation near the sea? Well, one of the crazy options is to visit a beautiful mountain; how about Parnassus!

The past weekend, we hit the road to Parnassus, one of the most impressive mountains, near Athens. We took the E75 highway heading north; after approx. 1hour, we took the provincial road (Exit Kastro/Orchomenos) and we followed the signs to Delphi, Amfissa, Gravia and up to the mountain to Village Vargiani.

Vargiani is hidden in the trees and enjoys the beauty of numerous streams and fountains. The whole village is built in stone, has nice gardens where various vegetables, are grown.

People make everything by themselves; there is no store in this village: they grow their vegetables, they have their goats and chickens, and thus eggs, while everything they eat is homemade. The main square, which is quite popular in these small places as everything takes place in the square (!), is where the church (St. Paraskevi) is situated; there, you will also find a tavern and a cafeteria.

If you walk 700 meters from this square to the fountains, there is an amazing tavern! There, you can have one of the most genuine meals you can ask for in Greece, as everything is made by the owners: the milk, the cheese, the pies, the bread, the tomatoes, the potatoes, the eggs, and the meat; literally everything (ok, apart from the rice!)! The flavours are full and simple; in this place nothing is artificial. The water comes from the fountain and is generated from the mountain right above you!

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to spend the night over, but I have found a few nice hostels in nearby villages, like Gravia, Eptalofos or else Agoriani, Pavliani and Athanassios Diakos. The entire area is well known as it was one of the first spots wherefrom the revolution against the Ottoman Empire began in 1821. I learned from the internet that there is also a cave you can pay a visit to, the Fairy-cave (Neraidospilia) which is very interesting due to its stalactites and stalagmites aged thousands of years.

On the way back, apart from the villages I referred to above, and which are magnificent (therefore I will dedicate to them another article here on Steemit), there is an extra tip. If you take the road from Vargiani, to Lamia, there are some hot springs outside Lamia, in Thermopylae, where you may take a warm bath. These springs are known from antiquity, they soothe various kinds of pains and, mostly, they are free! The waters’ temperature is around 40C. I will not discuss the historical meaning of Thermopylae in this post, as it is a very important landmark in our ancient history to discuss hand in hand with the hot Springs reference! Nevertheless, it is worth paying a visit to this area, for both cultural and health reasons.

On the other hand, if you prefer a cool swimming in the sea (which of course is non counterintuitive during these summer days) and if you want to follow the road back to Athens, I recommend that you visit the sea in Theologos. The landscape is beautiful, as there is a nice forest of pine trees and the sea is very nice.