After our holiday time in Albania we made our way down to Greece. We enjoyed Albania, but it was nice getting back to a country where transportation was straight forward with plenty of signs and directions. Our first stop in Greece was Ioannina which is a cute little city located right on Lake Pamvotida. We actually stayed an annoyingly short distance away from the city center in a little town called Perama. Our advice would be to make sure to get a place right in Ioannina if you are planning on visiting.
Ioannina
On our first day (New Year’s Eve) we went to the Cave of Perama. This was the only bonus of staying in the small town because it was right down the road from us. Most likely you’ve been to a cave before so there’s no need for me to go into detail, but it was a very well done cave with paths and even a spot for a concert. After the cave we made our way to the Ioannina city center to celebrate the New Year! The streets were packed with people celebrating and the bars were noisy so we felt right at home. We were able to nab a table looking out onto the street which made for some great people watching.
On our second day we went back to the city center of Ioannina to wander around in the daylight. We loved the city and it only made us wish more that we would have stayed in the main area. It was a picture perfect New Year’s Day, so everyone was out on the lake enjoying food, coffee, and drinks. The touristic highlight was by far the Ioannina Old Town, which is a fortified part of the city filled with cobbled streets, awesome entry gates, two beautiful mosques, and much more. Nearest the lake inside the Old Town was the Kale Acropolis (another fortified area within the larger walled city) that had awesome views of the surrounding mountains, lake and city. All in all we enjoyed our New Year’s in Ioannina and wished we could have spent even a day or two more in the actual city center.
Patras
After Ioannina we continued south to Patras which is the third largest city in Greece. To be honest this was more of just a convenient stop as we made our way down to Athens. However, we really enjoyed getting back into a bigger city and being able to walk for hours while still seeing new things. The main tourist sites in Patras included the Roman Odeon, which was a place for musical performances dating back to the 1st century AD. The great thing about coming in the winter time is that guards don’t seem to care much so often times they will just let you in for free.
Patras also claims the largest church in Greece, the Agios Andreas Cathedral. We enjoyed some coffee while watching a wedding take place outside the cathedral.
The Castle of Patras wasn’t the most exciting thing we have seen, but the views it offers over the city and sea were worth the climb. Just wandering the streets really reminded us of San Francisco because it was very hilly but once you make it to the top of those hills then you are rewarded with great views. We had a fine time in Patras. More than likely this probably won’t make many travel lists, but if you are in the area and need a day or two to kill than you could do worse than Patras.
Loutraki
Once again, this was more of a stop as opposed to a destination for us. We didn’t want to spend 9 days in Athens, so we decided to visit a small town on the way called Loutraki. We were pleasantly surprised with the small seaside town! Like a lot of the places we have been recently, it is primarily a summer destination but that just means no crowds for us during the winter! We had two great weather days in Loutraki and luckily there were a couple of walking/hiking options for us to stretch our legs. The first mountain/hill was an hour hike that ended at a monastery that we took pictures of but were too afraid to go inside. The gates were wide open but there was not a single car or person in sight so we decided to forego the monastery. On the second day we took a long walk to the Corinth Canal which connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. Loutraki is a very short one hour bus ride from Athens, so if you are in Athens in the summer time and want an excellent beach with very beautiful turquoise water than we’d recommend jumping on that bus!
