In the past few years, the mountainous Central Euboea has become one of my favorite hiking destinations near Athens.
It doesn’t take more than two hours to reach the trailhead of most routes on Mount Dirfi or Xerovouni, Euboea’s most prominent peaks, making them a perfect choice for a day trip from the Greek capital.
Hiking through their lush forests of firs, chestnuts, and plane trees, or climbing to their steep, rocky summits, feels like a true mountaineering adventure.
The hike from the Ampoudiotissa Church to the summit of Skoteini was no exception. And while this area isn’t as famous or as busy as the trails on Dirfi and Xerovouni nearby, it is just as stunning.
How to get there
The drive from Athens to the beginning of the trail at the church of Ampoudiotissa near Seta took us about two hours and was fairly straightforward.
We followed the highway until the exit for Chalkida, crossed the bridge joining the island with the mainland, and then turned south before entering the city. From there, we continued along the coast in the direction of Aliveri.
We left the coast shortly after Eretria and drove toward Gimno along the foot of Euboean Olympus. At this point, the road became narrower, winding among small fields and olive orchards.
Towards the end of our drive into the mountains, we passed through the charming village of Seta, with a couple of taverns next to the road — a pleasant place for a short break.
About 1.5 km after Seta, just before the village of Kato Seta, Google Maps suggested turning left onto a rough dirt road. Ignore this instruction and continue all the way to the village until you spot an asphalt road branching off to the left, marked with a sign for Ampoudiotissa.
The final stretch of road leading to the church was uneven and broken in places, but manageable. We reached Ampoudiotissa without any difficulty and parked in the open space in front of the churches. For driving directions on Google Maps, click HERE.
Signposting & difficulty
The partially circular hike from the church of Ampoudiotissa to the summit of Skoteini was about 15 kilometers long, with 600 meters of elevation gain, and took us close to six hours to complete.
That being said, we took many breaks along the way, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the sunny autumn weather.
The route followed a mix of forest roads, faint trails, and hardly visible goat tracks, and we lost the trail altogether a few times during the final ascent.
The trail was unmarked, except for the section descending from the summit where we encountered red markings painted on the rocks.
We relied solely on a Wikiloc recording, and apart from the final ascent to the summit, we had no difficulty navigating the terrain. You can find our Wikiloc recording HERE.
I would classify this hike as moderately difficult, if not for the final ascent where we lost the path and had to scramble briefly on steep rocky slopes.
For an easier option, you can omit this section and use the descent trail to go up as well. The top of the mountain was also rough, rocky, and trail-less, but walking there wasn’t too hard.
In bad weather with low visibility, however, it could become much more difficult and potentially dangerous due to the many deep dolines scattered across the slopes.
From Ampoudiotissa Church to the cave at the foot of Skoteini
After exploring the picturesque church of Ampoudiotissa and filling our water bottles at a nearby spring, we continued along the asphalt road in the direction of Metochi.
The road descended gently into the valley, and amazing views of the summits of Skoteini and Xerovouni opened up in front of us.
After about 900 meters, we encountered a wide, unsurfaced road branching off to the right. We turned onto it and soon arrived at a stream.
In the middle of November, the only way across was to remove our shoes and wade through the cool, crystal-clear water. It didn’t pose any challenge during our visit and was actually very refreshing on the way back. It could be a different story in winter, though.
You can save yourself some trouble by driving all the way to the river crossing and crossing by car, as we saw multiple people do — but where would be the fun in that!
Once across the river, we continued along the dirt road, climbing gently uphill and passing a mixture of fields, orchards, and fir forests. Even though I don’t usually enjoy hiking on forest roads, this part of the hike was as lovely as the rest, thanks to the colorful autumn countryside and the quiet nature all around.
After about two and a half kilometers, we arrived at a crossroads of forest roads and continued straight. From here, the road descended into a large grassy meadow, and we caught the first glimpse of a large cave carved into the cliffs ahead of us.
We crossed the meadow and soon arrived at the cave, the first highlight of this hike. Not only was the cave itself impressive, but a small stream ran toward it, disappearing under the boulders and creating a uniquely atmospheric scene.
We spent some time exploring and enjoyed our lunch in the grass in front of the cave before starting the ascent to the summit of Skoteini.
The summit & dolines of Skoteini
From the cave, we turned northwest (left) and followed a faint trail along the foot of Skoteini. Soon we entered a shallow ravine with a small stream running along the bottom.
We climbed uphill beside the stream, keeping it to our left and the mountain to our right. At this point, the trail became trickier. The path narrowed into a goat track and kept disappearing into thorny bushes.
We spotted a few small cairns along the way but mainly relied on the Wikiloc recording we were following.
After a while we reached a ridge and got our first glimpse of the eastern side of the island — the coast around Metochi, the sea, and the Sporades islands in the distance.
Once we took in the beautiful scenery, we turned around and headed towards the towering cliffs of Skoteini, bordered by steep scree fields.
We followed the goat track up the scree, but halfway up we lost it and continued scrambling up the slopes. This was the most challenging part of our hike and certainly not something I would recommend to inexperienced hikers. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to reach the ridge, where walking became easier.
It wasn’t a ridge in the usual sense, as it was quite wide and scattered with impressive dolines — sinkholes characteristic of the area. And while the terrain was less demanding here, we still had to pay close attention to navigating this unusual landscape.
After another 800 meters we reached the summit column of Skoteini and stopped nearby for a break. The views from the top were breathtaking: from the nearby summits of Mount Dirfi and Xerovouni, across the Aegean Sea dotted with the Sporades islands, all the way down to Mount Ochi peeking through the clouds at the southern tip of Euboea.
To descend, we followed red markings painted on the rocks to the south. At first, there was no clear trail, only the red paint leading us through the rocky terrain. But after a while a path appeared, and the lower we got the clearer it became.
After about one and a half kilometers it merged into a shady, mushroom-filled forest and soon after joined a forest road that led us safely back to the meadows and cave at the foot of Skoteini.
From here, we returned to our car the same way, enjoying the autumn countryside once again — even lovelier in the golden evening light.
