A few days ago I visited Northern Corinthia. I have been to some of these places before, while for others, it was only my first time.

We started from Athens and after 145 km we arrived at the first stop of the trip, Trikala Corinthias (not to be confused with Trikala in northwestern Thessaly). 

It consists of these three small villages (or better yet, of these three quarters of the same village): the Lower (Kato), the Middle (Mesaia) and Upper (Ano) Trikala. It is built at an average altitude of 900m, on the slopes of Mount Kyllini (or Cyllene). Especially in the autumn/winter, when snow covers everything, it is an extremely popular destination, thanks to the metamorphosis  of the scenery, its tourist infrastructure and the small ski resort nearby.

Touristic development began after 2004 and became such a popular destination that it won the - excessive, in my humble opinion - nickname "Switzerland of Greece".

It is a beautiful and quick trip for anyone who wants to spend a relaxing weekend, but that’s all. You will not find many great attractions here, but you will find noble and beautiful people. You will easily find  a great room with a fireplace, but hardly any non-Greek tourists.

A short stroll, especially in Middle and Upper Trikala, is what you need to relax. I think autumn is the best time to visit, since the infinite colours in nature around you are like a symphonic orchestra for your eyes! The combination of  significantly smaller crowds and milder climate, makes it an ideal short photo trip, if your base is Athens.

In Ano Trikala I photographed at night this big abandoned building (which served as a model for my ongoing personal project "Luminous Wisdom").

On the road again, we left Trikala behind us and headed to 1500m to visit seasonal Lake Dasiou, situated at one of the highest altitudes  in the country, which, due to the season,  looked more like a big marsh, rather than a lake. Beautiful and peaceful landscape though, ideal for hiking and mountain biking.

After Lake Dasiou we continued to the small village of Lower Tarsus (Kato Tarsos), just a little far away from which the Virgin of the Rocks is situated, between the rocks (obviously) known as "Meteora of Corinthia” (a reference, of course, to the famous Meteora). The morning fog helped me take some otherworldly beautiful images.

In the last part of our trip, we passed through inaccessible, dreamlike unpaved roads drowned in trees; alive or dead.

(It was logging time, so everywhere we looked, there was machinery and fallen tree trunks)

We ended up in the monastery of St. George, from where the view of the artificial lake named Doxa (meaning “glory” in Greek) is unparalleled.

If you're staying in or just visiting Athens or the surrounding areas and have 1-2 days time for relaxation, it is worth a trip to see, if nothing else, what real Greece is like, away from touristic areas that appeal to foreign visitors of the country.

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