Tzoumerka

The Tzoumerka, known formally as the Athamanika, are a dramatic range in the southern Pindus straddling the border of Epirus and Thessaly. The highest summit, Kakarditsa, reaches 2,429 metres, and the peaks fall away in sheer cliffs, deep gorges and fast rivers. Much of the area lies within the Tzoumerka, Peristeri and Arachthos Gorge National Park, established in 2009 to protect one of the wildest and least-developed corners of mainland Greece.

This is a region of scattered stone villages rather than a single town, most of them clinging to slopes above the Arachthos river valley. Pramanta is the largest and a natural base, close to the impressive Chatzipetros (Souda) waterfall and the Anemotrypa cave. Higher and more remote are the twin hamlets of Syrrako and Kalarites, once famous across the Balkans for their itinerant merchants and master silversmiths; the Bulgari jewellery dynasty traces its roots to Kalarites. Their car-free lanes, arched bridges and grey mansions feel almost untouched.

The Tzoumerka are above all an outdoor destination. Walkers come for the old stone paths, the monasteries perched on ledges and the many waterfalls that thunder after the snowmelt, while the Arachthos and its tributaries draw rafters and kayakers to some of the best white water in Greece. Old arched bridges, including the graceful Plaka bridge over the Arachthos, link villages across the gorges.

Because it remains genuinely off the beaten track, Tzoumerka rewards travellers who like quiet, authentic mountains and simple, hearty food cooked in village tavernas. Late spring is spectacular, with full rivers and roaring waterfalls; summer brings cool air and long hiking days; autumn glows with gold and copper across the forested slopes. Winters here are hard, snowy and best left to the well-prepared. A car is essential to reach the villages, and the reward is a rugged, sparsely visited landscape that feels a world away from the Greek coast.