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At 1.743 meters, Mount Dirfi is the highest mountain in Euboea and one of the most popular destinations for Athenian hikers and mountaineers.
Lying only about one and half hours drive away from Athens it is perfect for a day trip from the Greek capital.
That being said, the rugged terrain, steep slopes, and often challenging weather conditions make a trip to Mount Dirfi a proper mountaineering adventure.
In the past years, we’ve spent many weekends exploring the beautiful mountains of Central Euboea, but for some reason, the summit of Mount Dirfi has always eluded me.
So, when the snowfall finally came during the unseasonably warm winter of 2024, we decided to use this opportunity to climb to the summit of Euboea’s highest peak.
The winter climb to the summit of Mount Dirfi from the saddle at Rachi Sika took us about 7 hours. With an elevation gain of around 800 meters and a length of 9 kilometers, the climb looked only moderately difficult on paper.
It was quite challenging, especially since it was my first winter hike of the season. Even with good weather conditions and a reasonable amount of snow, the steep ascent of Mount Dirfi’s volcano-like cone was exhausting, and we were whipped by strong winds most of the time.
Don’t be fooled by Dirfi’s proximity to Athens and modest height either, this is not a mountain to be underestimated. You’ll need proper mountaineering gear and skills to make the climb safe and enjoyable.
Multiple trails lead to the summit of Mount Dirfi, Delphi (1.743 meters). For our ascent, we chose the classic route following the prominent southern ridge. The trail is marked by yellow signs painted on the rocks, which were only partially visible during our winter climb.
To reach the beginning of the trail to the summit of Mount Dirty at Rachi Syka, we followed the Lamia highway until we reached the exit for Chalkida. From here, we drove through Chalkida and to the seaside town of Near Artaki.
In Nea Artaki, we turned inland and followed the regional road Artakis – Kimis until Steni Euboeas. We drove through the pretty mountain village of Steni and started our climb up towards the saddle through a beautiful forest of oaks, firs, chestnuts, and plane trees.
Once we reached the highest point of the asphalt road, we parked our car at a small car park right at the beginning, the road leading towards the Refuge of Dirfi. (You can find the driving directions on Google Maps HERE)
We started our hike following the forest road towards the Refuge of EOS Chalkidas with just a few shortcuts through the forest. We passed the refuge and continued along the road until a small memorial of mountaineers at the foot of Mount Dirfi.
From here, things got much more challenging. The road turned into a rocky trail heading straight up towards the summit following the southeast ridge of the mountain.
During our visit, there wasn’t a lot of snow on the lower part of the mountain, and we had to make our way over a slippery mixture of loose scree and melting snow.
About halfway through our climb, we reached a place called “Portes,” a steep and rocky section of the climb.
In summer, this would be an easy scramble. However, during our visit at the beginning of February, the wet rocks covered by a thin layer of melting snow made the climb a bit more tricky.
That said, with a bit of caution and slow rhythm we moved through the rocky section safely and finally came out on an uninterrupted layer of snow.
The second half of the climb was slightly easier thanks to the amount and quality of the snow, with just a few rocky passages right before reaching the summit plateau.
Once at the summit plateau, we still had approximately 400 meters of walking in front of us to reach Dirfi’s highest peak, Delphi. This final section was amazing despite the freezing winds!
The snow at the top was sculpted by Dirfis’s infamous high winds into a plethora of unusual formations, creating an otherworldly scenery.
The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking, too! We got to admire all the snowcapped mountains of Central and Southern Euboea, Xerovouni, Tanaida, the Olympus of Euboea, and Mount Ochi, as well as the sparkling Aegean Sea, which stretched as far as we could see.
Sadly, we couldn’t spend as much time at the top as we would have liked due to the high winds, so after a couple of obligatory summit photos, we started our descent. We returned back to our car, following the same trail while enjoying the striking views of the rugged, snow-capped ridgeline of Xerovouni towering in front of us.
