Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and, in myth, the dwelling of the twelve Olympian gods. Its highest point, Mytikas, reaches 2,917 metres, one of a cluster of jagged summits that includes Skolio and Stefani, the throne of Zeus. Rising almost straight up from the Aegean coast, the massif is so tall that its upper peaks are often lost in cloud, which is exactly why the ancients placed the home of the gods here.

Protected as Greece's first national park and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Olympus is a mountain of dramatic range. Its lower slopes are cloaked in dense forest of beech, pine and rare endemic plants, cut by deep gorges and streams; higher up, the trees give way to alpine meadows and finally to bare, weathered rock. More than one and a half thousand plant species grow on the mountain, and its ridges are home to chamois and eagles.

The usual base for a climb is Litochoro, a pretty town at the foot of the mountain near the coast. From here a road climbs to Prionia at around 1,100 metres, the highest point reachable by car and the start of the most popular trail. From Prionia a well-marked path climbs through forest to the Spilios Agapitos refuge at about 2,100 metres, where most walkers spend the night before tackling the summit at dawn. The final approach to Mytikas involves an exposed scramble over loose rock and is not for the inexperienced or those uneasy with heights.

Olympus is a serious mountain, and weather can turn quickly even in summer. The refuges generally open from around May to October, and the safest climbing season runs through the summer months; snow lingers high on the peaks well into early summer and returns from autumn. Many visitors who do not aim for the top instead walk the lower gorge of the Enipeas from Litochoro to Prionia, a beautiful forest and river route that captures the mountain's spirit without the exposure. Even seen only from the beaches below, Olympus is an unforgettable presence.