Zagori in winter, fires and snow
A cold-season Epirus, pairing a day on the Vasilitsa slopes above Metsovo with snowbound nights in Zagori's stone villages, where fires are lit by mid-afternoon.
- Length
- 5 days · 5 nights
- Months
- December – March
- Stops
- 4
The route on a map
1 · 1 night
Ioannina
Arrival on the lake, with the Ottoman citadel quiet under winter light.
2 · 2 nights
Metsovo
A Vlach mountain town on the Katara pass, known for smoked cheese and its own wine.
3 · A day here
Vasilitsa
A small, quiet ski area reached by a mountain road that needs care in snow.
4 · 2 nights
Megalo Papingo
Snowbound stone houses under the Astraka towers, fires lit early against the cold.
Day by day
Day 1
Arrival at Ioannina
Sleep · Ioannina
Walk the citadel and the lakeside in the low winter light before an early dinner.
Day 2
Up to Metsovo
Sleep · Metsovo
Drive the Katara pass, visiting the Tositsa mansion museum and tasting smoked metsovone.
Day 3
A day on the Vasilitsa slopes
Sleep · Metsovo
A quiet day on the mountain, then a fireside dinner of hilopites and wild boar.
Day 4
Into snowbound Zagori
Sleep · Megalo Papingo
A careful winter drive west; an afternoon walk to the Rovies pools, frozen at the edges.
Day 5
Return to Ioannina
Departure
A final slow morning in the village before the drive back for departure.