This is the most difficult but most interesting route. We begin from Ioulida and ascend through the settlement reaching “Paliomulos”, the rise with the mills. Following the signs we reach the spring of Messaria. We keep walking until we find the main road, which we bypass and enter the trail of Guristis. At this point, a beautiful route begins through oak and maple trees leading to the old paving artery which ascends towards Profitis Ilias, the highest rise of the island (568m.) On the other side we see asphalt and after 1.5 km we enter the trail of Mikra Ellinika. Having passed the small church of Taxiarhis and its spring, we arrive at the spring of Ellinika as well as the church of Agioi Anarguroi and the well-looked-after gardens. From this point, those who would like to stop can go to the main road and return by car. The rest who have the strength to continue, head to Karthaia. After passing by Kato Ellinika and its traditional cottages we get to Ai Sumi road, which we will detour by walking along an earthen and then a paved trail. We will come together Ai Sumi raod again, which gives us the opportunity to follow route no 8 that leads to the beach of Agios Fillipos. Nevertheless, since our initial destination is Karthaia, we walk straight ahead, bypass the hill of Ai Sumi with a church on its top and follow the ancient trail which will lead us to the archeological area of Karthaia. Visitors will be truly impressed by the surrounding area, the antiquities with the erected temples of Athena and Apollo, as well as the two beautiful beaches. The only problem here is our return. We must climb for an hour until we reach the central motorway at Stavroudaki.
