Σαμοθράκη · The wild mountain island of waterfalls, plane forests and the Great Gods
Swim in cold rock pools below waterfalls, sit in hot springs under plane trees, climb the mountain where Homer's Poseidon watched the Trojan War, and walk through the sanctuary where the Winged Victory was found, on the green, untamed island off the coast of Thrace.
Greetings from Samothraki
Samothraki
From the ferry the island was just a mountain coming out of the sea, its top lost in cloud. This morning we walked up the Fonias gorge under the plane trees and jumped into a pool so cold it took our breath away. At noon we were standing in the sanctuary where kings were once initiated into the Mysteries, and where a Frenchman dug up the Winged Victory. Tonight we are eating roast goat on a terrace in Profitis Ilias, the sky is going pink over the sea, and there are goats on the road outside.
Hour by hour
A cold pool under a waterfall, the sanctuary of the Mysteries, a swim in the sea, goat at sunset and warm water under the stars.
Walk up the gorge from the bridge on the coast road, under the plane trees, to the first waterfall, and swim in its pool before anyone else arrives.
Back in Therma, a late breakfast on a terrace above the stream.
Drive along the coast to Paleopoli and walk through the sanctuary of the Mysteries, then see the finds and the cast of the Winged Victory in the museum.
Drive up to Profitis Ilias for kid roasted on the spit on a terrace looking west, as the sun goes down over the sea.
End the day in the warm open-air pools at Therma, in the dark under the plane trees, with the Milky Way overhead.
Where to stay
Chora
Axiokersa Suites · Boutique suites · €€€
Papavouno
Victory Apartments · Apartments with pool · €€
Therma
Saokis Studios · Family studios · €
Only on Samothraki
What makes Samothraki different from every other Greek island.
Dozens of rivers and streams run off Mount Saos, and on their way down they fall over the rock into vathres, deep, cold, green pools. Swimming in them, at Gria Vathra above Therma or up the Fonias gorge, is the thing everyone remembers. On the south coast, the Kremasto waterfall drops straight into the sea.
Mount Saos rises to about 1,600 m in a few kilometres from the shore, the highest mountain in the Aegean islands after Crete and Evia. Homer has Poseidon sitting on its peak to watch the Trojan War. The marked trail from Therma takes most of a day up and back, and on a clear morning the view reaches across the sea to Imbros and the coast of Turkey.
For a thousand years people sailed here from all over the Greek world to be initiated, at night, into the cult of the island's Great Gods, in a sanctuary that kings and queens filled with marble. Philip II of Macedon was initiated here, and it was here that he met Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great.
There are said to be far more goats than people on Samothraki, and you meet them everywhere, on the roads, the rocks and the beaches, and on the table, roasted, in the pot or in gorgovrasto. There are no big hotels, just rooms, small family places and a campsite under the trees, and the summer crowd is young, barefoot and easy-going.
“He was sitting aloft on the topmost crests of wooded Samothrace, and looking out upon the battle.”
Towns & villages
The old capital, hidden in a fold of the mountain below its Genoese castle
Chora is the old capital of Samothraki, a village of grey stone houses and red-tiled roofs climbing a steep fold of the mountain about 5 km inland from the port. It was built where pirates could not see it from the sea, and it is crowned by the ruins of the castle the Genoese Gattilusi lords raised in the 15th century. Its cobbled lanes wind past fountains, small churches, kafeneia and shops, the Folklore Museum and the square, and in the evening the whole island seems to come up the hill for dinner on a terrace that looks over the roofs to the sea.
Hot springs, plane trees and running water at the foot of the mountain
Therma, also called Loutra, is a village of rooms, tavernas and gardens scattered under huge plane trees on the north coast, where warm, sulphurous springs rise at the foot of Mount Saos. Streams run through it on their way to the sea, the paths to the rock pools of Gria Vathra start at the top of the village, the Fonias gorge is a short drive east, and the trail to the summit of Fengari begins here. In summer it is the island's liveliest place, with a free-spirited crowd of walkers, families and long-haired campers who come back year after year.
Things to do
Nature
Walk under the plane trees to the waterfalls and jump into the cold green rock pools below them, then climb on to the next one.
Gria Vathra and the Fonias gorge, near Therma
Hike
An easy marked path of about 15–20 minutes leads to the first waterfall. Beyond it the way gets steep and rough, past more pools and falls, for those with good shoes and a head for heights.
From the Fonias bridge, east of Therma
Hike
Follow the marked trail from Therma through oak and plane forest to the bare summit of Mount Saos, where Homer's Poseidon sat. It is a long, steep day, four hours or more up: start at dawn, take plenty of water and turn back if the cloud comes down.
From Therma
Good to know
Samothraki rises out of the northern Aegean off the coast of Thrace, a single mountain of about 178 km² with fewer than three thousand people living on it. Mount Saos, which islanders call Fengari, the Moon, climbs to around 1,600 m, so high and steep that from the sea the island looks like a wall. Rivers run down it through forests of plane and oak and fall into the vathres, deep cold rock pools, and warm springs rise at Therma by the shore. There are no big hotels and few sandy beaches, but there are goats everywhere, family tavernas, a free-spirited summer crowd, and one of the great sanctuaries of the ancient world, where people came for a thousand years to be initiated into the Mysteries of the Great Gods.
When to go
June and September are ideal: warm sea, full rivers in June, and fewer people. July and August are busy and lively, and the ferry car places and rooms sell out. May is green and beautiful for walking. Many tavernas and rooms close from October to May.
Getting around
Buses link Kamariotissa with Chora, Paleopoli, Therma and the south-west villages, more often in summer. A car or scooter is handier for the waterfalls, Pachia Ammos and Kipos, but there are few to hire, so book ahead. The south coast is best seen by boat.
How long
Four or five days gives you the waterfalls, the hot springs, the Sanctuary, Chora and a beach day in the south. Add two for the climb to Fengari and a boat trip to Vatos.
Getting there
No airport: fly or drive to Alexandroupoli on the Thracian coast, then take the ferry to Kamariotissa, about two hours across the sea.
Flights & ferries
A prehistoric hill town, Thracian gods and Greek settlers, a sanctuary of the Mysteries visited by kings, Genoese towers, a massacre in 1821, and a statue that made the island famous.
Walk through the story