Even seasoned Grecophiles need to glance at the map to double check, although most will have gazed across the Aegean Sea from the neighbouring holiday island of Skiathos at this mountainous, crooked finger of the mainland. Far from the tourist mainstream, it's very popular with the Greeks themselves, and you'll soon understand why.
It's magnificent walking country, along sun-dappled forest trails, past rushing streams and waterfalls to beautiful villages such as Makrinitsa, Milies, and Vizitsa. Cobbled pathways wind between their traditional half-timbered slate-roofed houses to a central square, where villagers sit drinking coffee by a fountain in the shade of the plane trees. When invited to join them, beware of the local firewater, 'tsipuro', (high-octane ouzo, without the aniseed). It's often served ice-cold, the way the Russians drink vodka, with a mouth-watering selection of 'mezedes'.
If you hire a car during your stay (and it's well worth doing), please drive carefully, as the main road snakes around the mountainside, with spectacular aerial views at every sinuous turn, eventually heading down onto the peninsula, where it links the small resort villages strung around the coastline. The best known is Aghios Ioannis, on the scenic Aegean coast, where steep wooded hillsides overlook three glorious sand and pebble beaches with azure waters. It has a pretty harbour, a good choice of tavernas, and gets quite lively in high summer.
Our other resorts are on the sheltered western coast facing the calm, shimmering sea of the Gulf of Magnesia. Nearest to Volos, less than an hour's drive along the coast, we feature the hamlet of Koropi and nearby resort of Kala Nera (Greek for 'clean waters' after the freshwater springs bubbling up near the shore), with a long taverna-lined beachfront promenade, and a small amusement park.
Further south lie the delightful villages of Horton and Milina, away from it all in every sense, with tiny pebble coves and turquoise seas, a handful of waterfront tavernas, and a bar or two. Stress relief doesn't come any sweeter than this!
Pelion is traditional Greece at its idyllic best - it's relatively undiscovered, scenically beautiful, and easily accessible. What are you waiting for?
