Greece: E4 European Long Distance Trail from Amindeo to Mikri Santa

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Photo ofGreece: E4 European Long Distance Trail from Amindeo to Mikri Santa

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John P

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Trail stats

Distance: 59.64 mi
Elevation gain: 11,339 ft
Technical difficulty: Moderate
Elevation loss: 10,846 ft
Max elevation: 6,399 ft
TrailRank: 55
Min elevation: 1,727 ft
Trail type: One Way

Coordinates: 1955
Uploaded: October 6, 2018
Recorded: October 2018

3 Claps

near Amýntaio, West Macedonia (Greece)

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Trail photos

Itinerary description

This is the route along the E4 European Long Distance Path that I walked in September 2018. As far as possible I followed the "official" E4 route based on files that can be downloaded from Traildino.com for example, however there are gaps in these routes which I tried to bridge with my own best efforts at finding the way.

From the town of Amindeo (or Aminteo depending on how you transliterate it) the route crosses orchards of peach and apple trees near Lake Vegoritis. Then it climbs into the Vermio mountain range among flocks of sheep and cows, passing a ski resort and some small settlements. The route passes through a mixture of grassland and forest with some steep climbs. In places the path is unclear. Towards the end there is a windfarm and the important Monastery of the Panagai Soumela by the village of Kastania. This track ends at the village of Mikri Santa.

The E4 officially continues to the Sfiakia dam, but the route down to the dam is hazardous and a security guard is likely to stop you at the dam, so I cannot recommend it.
More details in johnpone4greece.blogspot.com

For my complete trek on the E4 across Europe read my book "Six Pairs of Boots: Spain to Cyprus on the E4 Trail" by John Pucknell available from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, the Bookdepository.com, lehmanns.de, bookspot.nl, and other good online bookstores.

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Waypoints

E4 Sign showing alternate routes

I assume this sign was indicating a "shortcut" across a grassy basin. As I could not see any path for the shortcut I stuck to the vehicle track indicated by the route I had downloaded. This followed the edge of the basin through some trees.

Agía Paraskeye Polýmyloy

A small chapel beside the track with places to sit down at. Every surface inside the church seemed to be painted. It was evidently well cared for.

Chair lift at Seli

Ski resort, which was pretty empty when I passed in September

Location of the start of the path was difficult to find

Panagía Soumela Monastery

An important monastery built to replace one in Turkey that had to be evacuated in 1923. It is an important place for Pontic Greeks who had to return to Greece from Turkey and similar places. Contains an important Icon of the Virgin Mary. There are restaurants around the car park with good food.