Fascinating Hidden Places to Discover in Greece

Sure, you’ve heard the well-known saying that Greece has everything. Well, it is perfectly true, with no exaggeration. Holidays here impress with fascinating variety. Parties for youth, romantic places for lovers, unusual entertainments for children and ancient sights for antiquity admires. And even mysterious caves full of ghosts, they’re all yours. The curious tourists can explore Greece endlessly and always discover new things. A combination of pure nature and beaches with white or volcanic sand leaves no one cold or indifferent.

Holidays in Greece are a feast of paints, new tastes, smells and diverse landscapes. Surrounded by three seas, covered in green and rocks, the Eden of Olive trees is hospitable forever. But with the sheer number of best places to discover, choosing where to go in Greece can be a real challenge. Thus, travellers who are looking for unusual destinations to visit and for great travel tips caught lady luck by the tail. This article is especially for you. Are you ready to reveal the cultural heritage secrets of the ancient land of paradise?

A word on the weather

When going to spend a summer in Greece, think about the purpose for which you are going on a journey. If you’d like to catch a little sun on the beach, sipping palatable cocktails –  pack your suitcase starting in May. The holiday season in subtropical Greece lasts until October. However, during this period it is a heatwave in the country, besides there are a lot of tourists. So, the best thing is to choose April or October for sightseeing and cultural holidays, when the number of tourists decreases and the temperature is set at the most comfortable level for walking around. Hope you`re here just for it.

And now get ready for the best places to visit in Greece!

Ghost town in Fessalia: a place where time stands still

Ghost towns have always attracted people. Forgotten, abandoned and mysterious, they don’t leave mystery and history lovers cold. If you want to get fresh impressions, visit one of the most unusual and sometimes creepy places — Ropoto village which is slowly but steadily slipping into the abyss.

Located just 15 miles from the town of Trikala, and standing on the top of a hill, this village was once a charming and noisy one. But everything changed in 2012, when a landslide moved several houses and buildings in a village square, and they started to slide down the hillsides. About 300 families were bound to leave their homes, turning Ropoto into the ghost town that is up to now.

But despite the tragic history of Ropoto, this place has a dark and mysterious atmosphere that amazes with its frozen beauty. If you’re an artist or a photographer, looking for inspiration, your path should lead to Ropoto.

If you want to get more information about one of the most unique places in Greece, watch this video. 

Agrili Castle: a fairy tale comes true

Traveling along the west coast of Greece, stretching from Olympia to Pylos, you can get out of the route and find yourself in a magical kingdom where stories of knights, ladies and winged dragons come to life and intertwine with ancient Greek mythology.

From the huge gates with the lift-bridge to the bright-red conical towers — almost all the features of medieval castles are gathered in this concrete-cast structure. There are rows of corridors connecting halls full of medieval heritage inside. Two commemorative plaques can be found on the site, one of which, belonging to the castle’s creator, Harry Fournier, states: “You should not value a man for his successes or the amount of his knowledge, but for the happiness he brings to others.”

Petrified forest of Lesbos: Beauty Stone

=

If you could reach Lesbos then  head for the Petrified forest without hesitation. There you can find one of the largest clusters of petrified trees in the world — there are neither analogues to this attraction in Greece nor in any other country. The fallen ancient trees are scattered over a large area, and some reach 15 m in circumference.

The Petrified forest consists of hundreds of standing and laid petrified tree trunks sparse over an area of 150 square kilometres in the western part of Lesbos, surrounded by the settlements of Sigri, Antissa and Eressos. Single trees are dispersed in many other parts of the island, including around the villages of Molyvos, Polichnitos, Plomari and Akrasi. It is really one of the best places to visit in Greece.

Haunted Davely Cave

The tourists rarely visit the Cave of Davely. It is located in the Penteli Mountain and is famous for its numerous underground passageways.  Moreover, you can find a Byzantine church inside. There’s a legend of the Davely Cave. Some people talk about mysterious lights and enigmatical sounds, and some even see shadows there. Perhaps that’s why tourists often stay away from this cave.

There was a time when the cave was the center of worship of Pan and nymphs, a place of fun where the borders between our world and the afterlife are blurred. Christians later used it as a skete, founding a small church dedicated to Saint Spiridon and Nicholas. In the 1800s, the cave became the refuge for the brigand Davelis and had a name after him. A legend states that looted treasures are hidden somewhere in the dark tunnels. And during the war, the military began using the cave. Many legends are associated with Davely, calling it a dark portal to the underworld. No doubt, Haunted Davelis Cave is one of the most thrilling Greece holiday destinations!

Melissani lake on Kefalonia island: better than Photoshop

Melissani Lake emits an unusual attraction. It is a lake surrounded by a small island, as well as trees and vegetation around it located inside a V-shaped cave.The cave consists of two halls, one filled with the sun and the other with dark and ominous, filled with stalagmites, algae and moss, both halls represent a unique opportunity to create unforgettable images. The point is that the sunlight falls on the water and the lake bed is clearly visible which can easily be mistaken for Photoshop.

Legend says that the Melissani Cave was the place where one of nymphs, Mellisanti (or Melissani), departed this world, plopped into a lake scorned by the Great God Pan.

In the Conclusion

If you are looking for the best places to visit in Greece, don’t head only for Santorini, Mykonos, Athens and other popular places. Greece can be very diverse — mystical, mysterious and sometimes even frightening. Places like Ropoto village, Agrili Castle or Davelis Cave are pure evidence of that. Many things depend on the purpose of your journey. If you know exactly what you want to see, what places in Greece to visit, then your holiday will definitely be unforgettable.

******************************

About The Author:  Isabelle Jordan is a business and marketing journalist at travel insurance company. She writes for different news portals and thematic blogs that helps her stay at the heart of the travel and insurance news. Such work gives her the opportunity to write articles on the most relevant topics of today.