Hiking trails

Discover the unknown island of Kea

The trails of Kea are unique. This caused the interest of the Cultural Department of the Prefecture of Cyclades, which started a big effort with the director Tassos Anastasiou to make them known to the public by naming them “trails of Cultural Interest”. The most remarkable trails have been recorded, cleared and signaled with wooden signs at their beginning and their end and with small metallic signs during each route, mapped and certified with ISO 9001:2000.

Twelve, mostly paved routes of 70 kilometers total length have been chosen, which were used by the inhabitants of the island before cars came in use. Some of those trails are identified with the ancient streets which connected the cities of Ioulida, Karthaia, Korissos and Piessa. These trails go through forests of oak trees, meet springs with potable water, old country churches, cottages and ancient towers and almost all of them end up in picturesque beaches. Each route has been given a name that characterizes the area. Most of the routes intersect with others, whereas some begin at a point of another route or end up in the same place with others. Each walker can choose his own trail depending on the time available and his…spirit.