"To L. Kremaston (pgs. 4 & 13 of The Adventure)" Prefecture of Etoloacarnania by nickandchris

Prefecture of Etoloacarnania Travel Guide: 87 reviews and 281 photos

Nice little village - Prefecture of Etoloacarnania

Lefkas to Mitikas

On leaving Lefkas (Good Friday) we had to wait for the bridge as it had opened to allow 3 flotilla boats through. Quite interesting to watch.
We headed south along the very pretty coastal road, enjoying the scenery and glad to be on the move again.
The road hugged the coast in places and there were a few scant beaches alongside, but nowhere really to pull off.
The mountains were spectacular with wonderful views everywhere.
The first place we came to for a stop was Mitikas. We had never heard of it but it was a pretty little village, right on the water with stupendous views of nearby Kalamos Island and the surrounding mountains.
There was evidence of a little tourism as rooms for rent were advertised in English. It was very quiet and nowhere open so we just had a wonder round and took a few photos.
Certainly one to be remembered. We were impressed........definately off the beaten track.

Mitikas to the Mountains (incl L. Trichonida)

Admiring the view

After Mitikas it was a long, fairly tedious slog, turning inland and travelling along a boring plain with village after village. Not the most beautiful part of Greece.
We had a look at Aetoliko, bits of it were nice but other parts weren't so nice. There was nowhere to camp the night so off we set again. To Agrinio along a superb road cut through the rock face. It was very busy, being Good Friday and we were getting a bit desperate for a camping place.
To our right, Lake Trichonida was sign-posted. We took the road and drove along the north side of the lake, constantly looking for somewhere to stop. The road was narrow and busy, village after village. Obviously a lot of people were visiting over the Easter. Decided to turn off main route and passed through yet more villages to a dead end at Loutra Somewhere. There was just enough room to pull off the road. Unfortunately, the view of the lake was mostly obscured by trees but at least we had found somewhere. There were some redundant thermal baths in a fairly ropey state. Each bath was in a cell-like room.
Unfortunately, we have no photos of the lake.
It poured down here, but it was one of the quietest nights we'd had.
The next day we had to negotiate the narrow roads all the way back along the lake. It took ages as it was so busy. There seemed to be people everywhere.
We finally hit the main road and found our turn to Karpenissi at Agrinio. Again, progress was slow, Nick not at all relaxed as the first 10miles was all villages and narrow roads.
Before long the road widened and we lost the villages and traffic and we began to relax.
We had no idea what this route was going to entail, only going on the maps we had. We could see it was wiggly and steep but that turned out to be an understatement!!!! This was something else and it was a good job we were in no hurry!! The scenery was just stunning and unforgettable.

Mountains and Lakes

Lake Kremaston (not my photo)

This whole mountainous route was amazing. It was more difficult to drive than some of the routes we had taken over The Alps!! We had to keep stopping for video footage and photos.
After hours of climbing , we caught sight of an enormous lake,Lake Kremaston. The border of Evritania crosses through the lake. The startling tourquoise of the water gave it a glacial quality. The views here are unrivalled. We are used to lakes and mountains where we live, in the English Lake District, but these are minor compared with what we were looking at now.
The valley was flooded in 1965 and it is Greece's largest artificial lake and the dam is Europe's largest earth dam to date.
The lake holds 4.7 billion (U.S.) cubic metres of water.
. The main route to Karpenissi crosses over the south end of the lake, an impressive construction in itself.
The photos of the lake are taken from various web sites.

The Adventure (page 13).
After Giannitsochori we crossed from the Peloponnese back into Etoloacarnania by the Rio to Andirio ferry crossing. (20mins.) Now tthere is a superb bridge spanning the crossing. Would love to travel it !!!
Rio is fairly built up but the area where the ferries went from was quite nice and unspoilt. There is a15th C. ruined castle built by the Turks which matches the one across the water at Andirio.
Andirio was a suprise, nothing there except some sort of closed encampment. We just camped on the shore. The sea was full of urchins here.
Our route took us back to Agrinio and along Lake Amvrakia which was beautifully blue and backed by yet more stunning scenery.
Our camp for the night was at Bouka on the Amvrakikos Gulf. The warm water here was very murky and not at all inviting for swimming so it was another hot day with no swims. There was a large area to camp under trees which was quite nice but as I said, not ideal for the beach. There was a kantina for a cold beer and a few cooked dishes but nothing else tthere.

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Continue to Page 5 of The Adventure
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Continue to Page 14 of The Adventure

Pros and Cons

Pros:Untouristy with some stunning mountaious scenery
Cons:Some industrial, boring bits
In a nutshell:Well worth exploring the mountains

Last visit to Prefecture of Etoloacarnania: Apr 1997
Intro Updated Nov 24, 2005
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Reviews (5)

Rio to Andirio - Prefecture of Etoloacarnania

Rio to Andirio Transportation (1)

This is us waiting for the ferry to cross to Andirio. They ran fairly regularly and the journey time was approx.... more travel advice

Mytikas quayside - Prefecture of Etoloacarnania

Kalamos Island Things to Do (3)

Water taxis ply back and forth from Mytikas to Kalamos Island in season. It's a very green island, cone shaped and... more travel advice

Simple village life - Prefecture of Etoloacarnania

Enjoy the Quiet Life Things to Do (3)

Mytikas is just a quiet retreat with superb views over the mountains and Kalamos Island. There is a nice bit of beach to... more travel advice

End building - Prefecture of Etoloacarnania

Village Rooms Hotels (1)

Didn't stay here but it looked fairly basic, above the owners taverna. Views over the sea. more travel advice

Comments (5)

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Yaqui May 2, 2010 at 8:15 AM

The Village of Prefecture of Etoloacarnania looks fantastic! Nice page!
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JLBG Sep 14, 2008 at 1:34 PM

It is nice to find in your page views of Mitikas and Kalamos. I hope to go back and see the magnificent new bridge!
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SLLiew Nov 27, 2007 at 7:29 AM

Colorful quiet location. Away from the maddening tourist crowd.
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MITNIC Jan 12, 2006 at 11:38 PM

Excellent description, nice photos, I pick up this page for the beginning just because is a difficult (off The Beaten Path) aria to show…
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vikingrider Sep 6, 2005 at 9:17 PM

Wonderful photos. It sounds like a fun trip. Isn't the variety of vegetation simply astounding? Let's hope we can all go back and visit again!