The last days of 2021 and the first of 2022 found me in this beautiful village of Katerini called Elatochori. After my trip to Zagreb (check here everything about Croatia) I was looking for a place where I could spend New Year’s Eve calmly and close to nature, which I truly love. Also, since my flight back to Greece and the distances were something that limited my time, I was looking for a place relatively close to Thessaloniki. Looking again and again at Google Maps, I remembered this hospitable and picturesque village that I had gone to for a day trip before and I enjoyed it. So, I thought, why not spend some more time in this place? And so it happened…
Which are the best activities to do at Elatochori?
Elatochori is suitable to find peace and rest from your daily routine. The mountains, the trees and nature in general surround the village with a special beauty and the traditional, stone guesthouses that are almost in every corner, create a very warm landscape. And when I say warm, of course, I don’t mean in terms of temperature, since we went at the end of December, when there was a lot of cold, as you can understand. Our guesthouse, however, had a fireplace and we warmed ourselves while we were looking out of the window at the snow-capped mountains.
In Elatochori there is also a beautiful ski resort, not very big, but equipped and cared for. To get to the ski resort, you have to use the cable car, which is one of the most impressive things I have ever done since it is a relatively long route that passes you through snowy roads and trees. The view, when you reach then end of the route, is unique. Okay, I won’t hide from you that I was a little bit scared since I was thinking about a closed cable car in which I could feel safe and take my photos, something that, as you can see in the photos, didn’t happen since we were exposed. And as if that wasn’t enough, you had to jump to get on and off the cable car, as it didn’t stop moving! But it’s okay, we managed to do it!
Arriving at the ski resort there are many activities, such as skiing, that someone can do. There is also a beautiful cafe -I wouldn’t say exactly chalet- where you can enjoy the hot drink you want. During the days of our trip there was snow, but it wasn’t a lot and it was mostly frozen. So, we enjoyed the clean atmosphere to the fullest, drank our coffee, tried with tremendous failure to throw some snowballs, and got back on the cable car. On the way back I discarded a lot of my anxiety and fear and I can say that I enjoyed the route and the view it offered me much more.
Vegan Food at Elatochori
Now, I will maybe disappoint you a bit, since I found almost nothing except for the absolute basics, which you can find in every tavern. I think you know them well and they have definitely saved you many times when you eat out in a tavern. So, as you can imagine, potatoes, mushrooms, eggplants, peppers and salads were in the menu. I also faced the same situation in our guestroom, since the only thing I could eat at breakfast was bread with jam, juice and tea. So, I show you what I managed to find these days to eat. It was okay for our three days stay, but I don’t think it would be for longer. I hope the place will be upgraded soon and that there will be many more vegan options in the future. After all, the future is vegan!
Till our next expedition, see you!
