The highest snow in Greece
Winter is when this region makes its case most plainly — the highest lift-served skiing in the country, a half-frozen waterfall in the middle of Edessa, and hot springs steaming under snow.
- Length
- 5 days · 4 nights
- Months
- January – March
- Stops
- 4
The route on a map
1 · 1 night
Thessaloniki
Arrival night, with an evening in Ladadika before the drive north.
2 · 1 night
Edessa
A town built around the point where the Edessaios river drops through the middle of it.
3 · 2 nights
Loutraki-Aridaias
Base village for Kaimaktsalan, Greece's highest ski centre, reaching 2,480 metres.
4 · A day here
Pozar thermal baths
Natural hot pools in a narrow snowbound gorge below the mountain, best in late afternoon.
Day by day
Day 1
Arrival in Thessaloniki
Sleep · Thessaloniki
Settle in and rest before the drive into the mountains.
Day 2
West to Edessa
Sleep · Edessa
An hour and a half; an afternoon at the waterfall park and the old mill quarter beside it.
Day 3
Up to Kaimaktsalan
Sleep · Loutraki-Aridaias
A further forty minutes into the mountains; the first afternoon on the slopes above the crater lake.
Day 4
Skiing and Pozar
Sleep · Loutraki-Aridaias
A full day on the mountain, then an evening soak at the Pozar thermal baths.
Day 5
Departure via Thessaloniki
Departure
A two-hour drive back to the airport; a departure day.