Evrytania

Evrytania is one of the wildest and least-populated corners of Greece, a mountainous regional unit at the heart of the mainland where the sea feels a world away. Almost entirely made up of high country, it is a landscape of dense fir forests, plunging gorges, rushing rivers and villages of slate and stone clinging to the slopes. So green and so alpine is the scenery that it has earned the region its enduring nickname, the Switzerland of Greece.

The capital and only town of any size is Karpenisi, set at around 960 metres beneath Mount Tymfristos, known locally as Velouchi. It makes the natural base for exploring the region, with the Velouchi Ski Centre on the mountain above for winter visitors and the valley of the Karpenisiotis river spreading south into walking, rafting and canyoning country. From here the roads thread out to the villages that give Evrytania its character.

Those villages are the region's quiet treasures. Megalo Chorio and Mikro Chorio sit among the firs south of Karpenisi, all plane-shaded squares and mountain views, while the stone-built Koryschades preserves a museum of the wartime resistance. Further south the road climbs to the extraordinary monastery of Prousos, wedged into a cliff face above a river gorge, and to Panta Vrexei, a shaded ravine whose name means it always rains, where water drips year round from overhanging rock.

Rivers define the region as much as the mountains. The Karpenisiotis, Trikeriotis and Tavropos draw rafters and kayakers from spring into autumn, while the vast artificial Kremaston Lake fills the valleys on the region's western edge. This is country for the outdoors: hiking in the fir forests, driving the winding mountain passes and stopping in remote tavernas for game, wild greens, pies and local cheeses.

Getting to Evrytania takes commitment, by slow mountain road from Lamia to the east or Agrinio to the west, with no railway and no coastline. That very remoteness is why it has stayed unspoilt, and why travellers who want the Greek mountains rather than the islands find here one of the finest highland retreats in the whole country.