Hiking along the coast of Corinthia
If you love hiking, here is a hike well worth doing! It runs along the rocky northern coast of Corinthia, offering beautiful views of the Gulf of Corinth and the mountains of the Peloponnese, including the fortress of Ancient Corinth!
This trail, called Sterna-Heraion, is not circular, so you will have to decide where you start hiking and how to get back to your starting point. You can drive to one of the two points and walk to the end point and back. Or you can arrange for a boat or taxi pick up to take you back to the original point.
I walked the trail with friend Frank in late Spring and arranged with LidoBlue to take us there and pick us up (with Captain Ioanna at the steering wheel!). This worked very well, because we also enjoyed the boat ride from this side of the coast across to the opposite side. We also had the opportunity to have lunch after our walk in Petrokaravo, a solitary taverna right above the water’s edge!
The ride across the Gulf from the port of Kiato to the open-air archaeological site of Heraion, which is situated in the most pretty of little bays, took approximately 30 minutes. It is quite common to meet dolphins along the way, but this time sadly we didn’t. We walked through the pines and along the rocky edge for approximately 2 hours, enjoying the views.
Reaching Heraion we explored the archeological site. The Heraion of Perachora is a sanctuary to the goddess Hera, wife to the king of the Ancient Greek gods Zeus. It includes a temple a stoa, a cistern, dining rooms, and a second potential temple. According to one legend, Medea buried her children here. The remains of all these structures are scattered around the small peninsula, right next to a beach and a small church, and within sight of a beautiful old lighthouse (Melagavi).
Heraion of Perachora, the best-placed archaeological site in Corinthia!
The Melagavi lighthouse, towering above Heraion of Perachora.
Here we also enjoyed a good swim and some nice jumps from the rocks! LidoBlue was waiting to pick us up and return to Petrokaravo, where we had aperitif and lunch before heading back home.
Waiting for our well-deserved ouzo at “Petrokaravo”!
Captain Ioanna taking us back home on a LidoBlue boat!
For those of you who would like to walk this trail, here is a map. Alternatively, open it up in Komoot.