Excursions and Sights around Parga

Paxos Trip Option A - Full Day

A short boat trip takes you to the smallest islands in the Ionian.
Antipaxos has a wonderful beach and crystal clear waters, perfect for swimming, then to Paxos with its sleepy fishing village and also the capital, Gaios.

PAXOS (incl. a tour around the island), ANTIPAXOS AND THE BLUE CAVES

Paxos Trip Option B - Full Day

Arrive at PAXOS where you will tour around the island visiting the bays of LOGOS, LAKKA and the CAVES.

• Sail to Lakka and stop for a short time.
• Depart from Lakka and a chance to swim at the caves
• Sail to Antipaxos
• Sail back to Paxos for some free time
• Depart from Paxos
• Arrive in PARGA

The possibility of spotting dolphins is very good as the boat tours around the back of the island.

RECOMMENDED - Our 1 day trip will take you inland where you will experience fantastic scenery, see views of the wondrous Monasteries at Meteora and visit the main monastery .

Meteora are natural rock pillas crowned with monasteries in north-east Greece on the edge of the Pindus Mountains. They were started in the 15th century as places of refuge in troubled times and access to them was extremely difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or a windlass and rope pulling up a net, for goods and humans.

In about the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut in the rock that could be reached by rather flimsy bridges from the nearest solid rock. It is difficult to imagine how the monasteries were built on their pinnacles in the first place. Only a few of them are left now, tended by a few monks and nuns and visited by many tourists, hence the monastries now serve as museums.

The Agia Triada or Holy Trinity monastery was used in the final scenes of the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
The monastery Agiou Stephanou (Holy Stephen's) is inhabited by nuns only.
The monasteries are included in the UNESCO "World Heritage sites" list.

Good comfrotable walking shoes required and shoulders to be covered on entering a monastery.

The Welcome and Information Center is to be found in the former school of Stroggili village. Visitors will find there an exhibition designed to tell them about the monuments and history of the area, its churches and monasteries, the importance of the wetlands, the species of birds and other wild-life that live in them, and also about the traditional methods of eel-fishing which constitute a non-detrimental way of making use of the aquatic bounty of the wetlands. Finally they will learn about the life and customs of the people who live in the wetlands.

The guided excursion begins after the visitors have been equipped with this information about the region. A walk to the top of the hill of St Catherine(outside Strongili) takes them to the Observation tower, from which they can enjoy a panoramic view of the Rodia-Tsoukalio lagoon, and of the marsh of Rodia with its boundless expanse of reeds.

Visitors are taken to see the ancient olive-mill, with its press, recently discovered by archeologists, and the water-buffalos, recently re-introduced into the region after becoming extinct in the 1950s.

All then proceed to the Chatzara quay-side at Strongili and embark in traditional fishing-boats, before setting out accross the reed-beds and islets.

Here the visitors get an opportunity to get acquainted with the feathered inhabitants of the marshes: The gulls, herons, kingfishers, plovers, and wild pelicans who live here, along with many other rare species of birds, which vary in accordance with the seasons

Boutrinti is an ancient city, a very interesting and large archeological site with over 2600 years civilization.
The different cultures of Butrinti , Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian periods are perfectly harmonized with beautiful nature.

The tourists walk the ways of Legendary Aeneas who while sailing from Troy to Rome sacrificed an ox for a safety entrance to Epirus.
Visitors walk in the paths of Julius Caesar, Edward Leer, William Martin League, Puqueville, Musolilis Daugther, Eda, Kruschev, George Soros, Stipe Mesic, Silio Berlusconi and other personalities have walked.
When guiding is finished ( the guiding lasts app. 1 hour and 15 minutes )we will take a short break for refreshments just outside the Butrint site . (drinks and lunch are not included )
We leave Butrint and head for the seaside resort of Saranda for some free time to wander the streets of Saranda. Good comfortable walking shoes required.

 some of the most interesting sites & monuments in the local area. The day combines of historical sites like Necromantion, Zalongo and a walk through the cooling waters of the river Acheron.
Necromantion: Near Kanalaki, in Messopotamos village, on the top of a hill, lies the most important and ancient oracle "NECROMANTIO" necromantic oracle. It is near the ancient mycenean colony of Efyra (14th century B.C.) and many people of ancient times thought the Gates of the Under World were here, which led to the Kingdom of Hades (or Plouton) - the son of Rea and Kronos, brother of Zeus, Ira, Poseidon.

The silts of rivers Acheron, Kokytos and Pyrifgegethon formed a swamp and later a lake by the name of Acheroussia which has now dried. The existence of a rock with a cave on the NW part of the lake, in the confluence of the three rivers, was ideal for the erection of this holy monument.

The ancient people went to this sanctuary offering choe (libations) to the dead in order to communicate with their souls and get various information, after a proper arrangement in which they were subjected to, by the priests of the Oracle.

The main sanctuary is a square building with sides of 22m. length. It consists of a central hall, corridors, reception rooms and rooms for the staff, rooms for preparation, places for storage, where large earthy jars were found full of visitors offerings, the labyrinth and the main sanctuary, where the oracles were given.

The Oracle, famous in the whole Greek world from the 5th - 4th Century B.C. was set on fire and destroyed by Romans in the year 167 B.C. After that destruction the yard was inhabitated again around the 1st Century B.C. In 17th Century A.C. on the ruins of that Oracle, the Monastery of St. John was built, which is preserved today. The excavations (1958-64, 1976-77,1977-83) brought to light the Oracle as well as many other findings.

The River Styx: According the ancient Greek Mythology. The underworld lay beneath the earth and was ruled by Pluto, son of Rea and the brother of Zeus, king of both gods and men. To enter the underworld, the souls of the dead were ferried across the river Styx by Charon, who charged a copper coin for his services. If a corpse was buried without the customary coin placed under the tongue, the soul was left to wander along the banks of the river.

Once across the Styx the souls had to pass Cerberus, the monsterous three-headed dog who guarded the gates of the underworld. If the souls were lucky enough to get past Cerberus and reach the white rock, they came to the fields of Asphodel were they waited for judgement to be passed their previous life. The evil were sent to Tartarus, a place of punishment and their jailers were three furies. The good went to the Elysian Fields where they could be born again.

If after being reborn twice, they led exemplary lives, they were then sent to the isles of the blessed and never had to leave. Those who were neither good or bad went to the fields of Asphodel, where they could drink from the the pool of forgetfulness. This day offers mystery, history and mythology, a really enjoyable day. Good, comfortable walking shoes required and a towel!

. Corfu town is full of interesting places to visit, from museums and parks to the many restaurants and a wonderful shopping area.
CORFU: Since the time Homer chanted the fertile and loved land of the island of the Pheacians and up to our mortal days, Corfu remains one of the most beautiful parts of Hellas. Privileged by nature more than any other island of the Ionian Sea, Corfu obtained a refinement from which its local civilization emerged and prospered as centuries went by.

There is no place like the city of Corfu, which combines with such harmony the many different elements of the place. While the old Venetian fort dominates at the east of the city with an artificial defensive gap, the "contra fossa", in the city of Corfu you can identify characteristics of each of the many civilizations that influenced the city’s persona.

You see cantounia, the narrow and irregular paths of the city that originate from the way the Greek inhabitants used to build their houses, close to one another. But these same houses are a mix of Byzantine, Venetian and English architecture, so beautifully combined that generate a harmonic and unique whole.

The visitor can enjoy the sea at the beach of Mon Repos and then find himself at one of the many restaurants and cafes at the square of Spianada or Liston. Also in the city you can visit:

• The Archaeological Museum 5 Vraila Str.
• The Museum of Asiatic arts It contains more than 10.000 pieces if sino-japanese and Indian art of the Neolithic age brought in the island during the years of the British domination.
• The Byzantine Museum Inside the church of Panagia Antivouniotissa
• Mairie de Corfu Constructed in 1663, it is a beautiful example of Venetian architecture
• The Church of Saint Spyridon, St. Spyridon is the patron of the city of Corfu
• The New Fort (Nouvelle Forteresse) Constructed from 1576 to 1588 to protect the city of an eminent Turkish invasion

 Excursion to Zagoria

This offers breathtaking scenery and sights of  characteristics to this unique part of Greece. Visit some of the traditional stone built villages of Zagoria and be amazed by the views of Vikos Gorge!

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