Λαγού Χάνι - Αλαγονία (Κυκλική) / Lagou Hani - Alagonia (Circular)

A trail of two tales!

The first 'tale' is a super easy walk on the ancient path which used to connect the town of Kalamata to the general area of Alagonia / Artemisia and further east to the area of Sparta. It starts at the place where the Lagou Inn (Hani in Greek), the establishment which accommodated travellers at these times, used to be. The very impressive bridge of Agios Polykarpos is the first thing you will walk on when you start the trail. Built in 1901, It boasts no less than 6 (six!) grandiose arches!

From this point onward, and until the 1.6 km mark, you will follow a straight narrow forest road, next to the small stream. The road was waterlogged in some parts when I did it, with water running from the broken water pipes which run across it. This was the least interesting part of the trail overall.

At 1.6 kms the beautiful ancient path starts. Partly cobbled, it gets increasingly easy to walk on as you progress further. At 2.6 kms you reach the paved road and you follow it until you reach the low side of Alagonia (Kato Meria) at 3.7 kms. There is a modern bridge at this point, as well as the Saint George's chapel. This is the end of the first part which is, as already discussed, super easy to follow, but nothing special.

The second 'tale' comprises of segments from the Alagonia local network of trails. Initially, I followed the red marks which appear on the left (west) side of the Mahaliotis stream, but it turned out that this trail(;) was either discontinued or not maintained. I returned to the bridge and I found the red marks for a segment which starts on the right (east) side of the Mahaliotis stream. This was recently cleaned and maintained (August 2022). It is an uphill path (mostly cobbled) which will take you to the centre of the village. It should have been easy to walk on, but on the specific day it it was very muddy due to the overnight rain that have fell in the area.

The best / hardest part of the trail comes next. Once you pass through the picturesque village centre, you reach the Nikas fountain, and then you follow a downhill trail (supported by wooden rails), which guides you down to the gorge of the Mahaliotis stream. It is paradise down there! However, walking on this part of the trail is not a piece of cake. River crossings are easy because there are many improvised wooden bridges helping you through. But the uphill parts require some attention, as they have not been developed in 'steps', and they are not supported accordingly. It is nothing dangerous, but they do need a small level of technical abilities in order to be negotiated. I would not personally like to follow this particular part of the trail in a downhill manner, as it would be much more difficult for a tall person like me.

Nevertheless, it is a MAGICAL area, highly enjoyable. At the top of the ascend, there are some beautiful small waterfalls. Unfortunately, even at this place you do find the dreaded water pipes appearing here and there and ruining the aesthetics of this work of art created by nature!

Immediately after the waterfalls, you will reach the paved road that you can use to get back to the village. For my return, I mostly used the paved road, as the waterlogged internal segment was risky for the descend.

This is the first time I see this particular design (for the internal Alagonia segment) in Wikiloc. Other hikers prefer to take the paved road and walk the segment towards the waterfalls without entering Alagonia first. It is a matter of choice and of the particular environmental conditions on the day of the hike.

Overall, a very diverse and beautiful trail! Do not hesitate to stop and appreciate the numerous beautiful orthodox churches which appear throughout it! Some of them are painted!