Aristi Mountain Resort

The Aristi Mountain Lodge is a great place to stay if you want to base yourself near to Vikos Gorge in the Zagoria Mountain Range. We booked a Junior Suite which was very nice and actually wasn't that expensive. The bedding was comfortable and the bathroom was good with lovely toiletries. The 2 best things about the hotel were dinner and the spa area. We don't usually eat in hotel restaurants but the dinners we had were superb. It was brilliant Greek food, cooked with real care & passion, and with an emphasis on local & seasonal ingredients. We did check other restaurants in the area for dinner but the ones we wanted to go to were generally about a 30 min drive away. I would suggest that having a car here is essential as the hotel is literally in the middle of nowhere. I used the spa at the end of each day which was really lovely - a good sized pool overlooking the mountains with a really nice sauna and steam room too - everything felt new & fresh. We hiked the Vikos Gorge whilst we were there which was fantastic and something I would highly recommend. Before deciding whether to hike Vikos Gorge, we had read various information about it, so hopefully the information below is helpful to other readers as this is our honest opinion about it: 1 - October was a good time to do it. 2 - I would not suggest hiking the Vikos Gorge in wet weather. Too dangerous & slippery. 3 - It starts with a steep 900m descent to the bottom of the gorge which takes around 45-60 mins. The ground is a combination of rough pathways and gravel. 4 - It is then a 10 mile hike along the gorge. Lots of ups and down - its not flat at all and there are a couple of areas where you need to climb up rocks with the use of ropes. Its not horrendous but you do need to be an experienced hiker to do this. I needed to grab my husband's hand a couple of times whilst I was hoisting myself up the ropes, but I never felt in danger as you are never in a position where you are hanging off a rock or anything! 5 - Then it's a steep 900m ascent to the top which wasn't that bad. 6 - One end of the gorge is about a 10 min drive from the hotel and the other end is about a 30-40 min drive from the hotel The hotel recommended that we take a taxi to the start point and then call for a taxi once we were at the finish point, which we did & which worked very well. All in all I would say it was a medium to difficult hike but it is very well signposted and I would say that having a guide is not necessary, although it might be a good idea if you are hiking on your own, in case you need a hand up some of the rocks! Equipment wise - good walking boots or shoes with a hard sole, a walking pole and for me, I found wearing a thin pair of gloves useful when climbing up ropes & around rocks etc. There is NOTHING to eat or drink along the way so take supplies. There is also no way out - once you are in the gorge, that's it....so only do it if you are confident of doing the whole thing. It was a great

My partner and I were recommended a visit to Zagori, though weren't too familiar with the area. We were extremely happy to have stayed at the Aristi Mountain Resort. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. I think the location and the hotel itself is very hard to beat (possibly in the whole of Europe), waking up every morning to look out onto Voidimatos valley was a dream. The restaurant had possibly some of the best modern Greek food (and views) we found in the whole of Northern Greece. The rooms were styled traditionally but with all of the modern comforts desired. The spa is incredible and helped add to how relaxed we felt at the hotel. We loved the amount of effort that had been focused on making the hotel as sustainable as possible. The only downside, as it is a very wild area there were a lot of insects (eg mosquitos) outside (though on the plus side, there were many fireflies)

We had a huge suite with a fireplace which was marvelous The staff were very helpful and polite. We had both lunch and dinner and we are very happy for that. The food was very delicious, and Antony was very kind.