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The mountainous Central Euboea is one of my favorite hiking destinations near Athens. Lying only about one and a half hours away from the Greek capital, it is the perfect choice for an easy day trip. However, its alpine landscape, endless forests, and stunning coast make it feel like an exotic paradise thousands of miles away.
We’ve already spent many amazing Saturdays exploring the lush forests and rugged peaks of Dirfy and Xerovouni, Central Euboea’s most prominent mountains, and loved every minute of it.
On this trip, though, we decided to visit the lesser-known yet equally beautiful countryside around Attali at the foothills of Mount Tanaida. And even though the landscape around Attali wasn’t as dramatic (or maybe because of that) we enjoyed discovering this unknown to us, tranquil part of Central Euboea.
Driving to Attali from Athens
The drive to Attali from the center of Athens took us around one hour and forty-five minutes and was easy.
We left Athens, following the Lamia highway, until we spotted a sign for Chalkida. We crossed the Euripus Strait and drove through the city until we reached the coast.
We followed the coast,t passing through Nea Artaki and the small wetlands of Psatha. From here, the road turned inland towards the town of Psatha.
In Psatha, we crossed the Messapios River and turned right toward Trianda right after the bridge. Right before Trianda, we turned left and drove through the village.
After another approximately 5 kilometers, we finally reached Attali. You can find driving directions to the beginning of the trail on Google Maps HERE.
Maps, signposting & Difficulty
With only 9 kilometers in length and about 500 meters of elevation gain, this hike was not too challenging. We followed a combination of forest roads and relatively clear trails marked by red signs.
I didn’t find a paper map covering the area of Mount Tanaida, so we had to rely solely on a Wikiloc recording of the trail (you can find ours HERE). It proved useful multiple times at crossroads and when the trail wasn’t as clear as we would have liked.
It took us about five and a half hours to complete the hike, but we took multiple long breaks and generally took it slow to enjoy the beautiful nature around us.
From Attali to the church of Agios Konstantinos and Eleni
We parked our car at a small square in the upper part of Attali, where we spotted the first red signs painted on the walls. We followed the signs uphill among the last houses of the village, a couple of farms, and olive tree orchards.
After some 600 meters, we arrived at a small farm. We passed through the farm, and after a bit of searching, we found a trail hidden behind a large pile of freshly cut firewood.
The trail descended toward a wooded ravine with a dry, rocky riverbed at its bottom. We crossed the riverbed using a half-broken, very unstable-looking old bridge and climbed up on the other side.
Once out of the river bed, the trail split into two, and we followed the left branch. We climbed up on the right side of the ravine through a lovely pine forest until we encountered a wide dirt road.
The trail continued up on the other side of the road but we decided to make a detour to a waterfall hidden in the forest nearby. We turned left onto the forest road and followed it for about 250 meters until we came across a small stream.
We left the road here and wandered upstream until we reached a series of small waterfalls. In the middle of September, there wasn’t much water in the stream, and the main waterfall was completely dry, but we still enjoyed exploring the rocky riverbed shaded by gnarled old plane trees.
Once we got enough of the waterfall we returned back to the trail and continued our uphill climb through the forested slopes. After a while, we met another forest road and turned left.
We walked along the road for about half a kilometer until we reached a crossroad near a picnic area with a couple of wooden tables shaded by a majestic plane tree.
This was the site of the old settlement of Apogkremnos, used by the locals as a safe haven at the time of Turkish rule.
We enjoyed one of our many lunch breaks here, and when finished, we continued uphill. We left the dirt road and followed a steep, faint trail climbing uphill through the forest.
Tourla summit (625 meters)
The beginning of the trail was hard to find, but once of the trail, it was easy to follow. This was the steepest and most tiring part of the trail but it didn’t take long until we reached a crossroads of forest tracks and a water trough.
We turned right here and followed the red marking along one of the forest roads. After about one kilometer, we arrived at a flat saddle with a small clearing in the forest.
Our red signs continued straight,t but we turned right towards the top of the hill called Tourla (625 meters). We climbed across a few fallen trees and scratchy bushes, and soon enough, we arrived at the summit.
The views from the rocky top of the mountain were so much better than what I’d expected and well worth the climb! Even with the top of Mount Dirfy, the tallest mountain of Euboea, hiding in the clouds the views were stunning.
We could see as far as the plateau of Tanaida to the north, the foothills of Dirfy and Xerovouni to the east, and the silhouette of the Euboiakos Olympos across the plains behind Attali.
But the best part of these widespread vistas was the beautiful, dense forest all around. After yet another summer of uncontrollable wildfires burning through the beautiful Greek countryside, it was such a relief to see that at least some of it still remains verdant, free, and unspoiled.
Returning back to Attali
To return to Attali, we retraced our steps back to the saddle, turned right, and continued following the forest road marked with red signs. It took us to another small church hidden in the forest, with a spring nearby.
We left the forest road here and joined a narrow trail descending down to the picturesque church of Agios Konstantinos and Eleni, one of the highlights of this hike.
At the church, we joined a dirt road descending to the valley, but after only about 50 meters, we spotted another trail branching off to the left. It took us all the way down to the ruined bridge we crossed at the beginning of our hike. From here, we returned back to Attali the same way.
