Kastoria
Get acquainted with natural landscapes that capture the soul, take a dip into a glittering past by holidaying in Kastoria, a place combining mountain and the water relaxation.
A lake with mood color rings, mountains changing with the season and the grandiose shifts of the surrounding environment, this piece of land in Western Macedonia is an all-year-destination. The whole region is of Kastoria as well as the city itself is an ideal vacation choice for innumerable activities to be experienced each time of year.
Hiking up in Grammos mountain range or Mount Vitsi, off-roading in National forests, motocross racing on steep slopes, foraging mushrooms, skiing at Pisoderi Ski Center during winter, taking a dip in Haliacmon -the longest river in Greece or even visiting Nestorio – famous for its summer river party, one of the largest music and camping festivals in the country Greece, are just a few of the activities sparking travel wanderlust.
As a small compact student city easy to navigate and multifarious range of activities, Kastoria attracts people with diverse backgrounds. From couples, weekend warriors, winter holidayers, historians visiting its Byzantine churches and researchers going to the Cave the Dragon or Kastoria’s aquarium, to aspiring fur buyers fleeing from all over the to the International Fur Fair, nature lovers, photographers and bird twitchers. Romantic strolls besides the lake Orestiada or the cobblestone lanes of the old town next to centuries-old houses and mansions living tracks of the long bygone economic wealth, such a nostalgic walk to the anyway wistful setting, as well as an array of educational museums and countless Byzantine churches adds to the poetry of atmospheric urban landscape.
Kastoria has plentyful of restaurants and taverns, in which you can taste the varieties of beans steamed, boiled, on the stove or eaten raw in salads - the region’s distinctiveness and the land’s favorite dish. Apart from beans you can also taste freshwater fish (depending on the season), try the apples with protected geographical indication (PGI), local meats and cheeses, as well as wild mushrooms foraged from Gramos and Vitsi Mounts. For your souvenir -groceries and besides (PGI) beans - you can also buy preserves with twisted flavors, mushroom spoon sweet or bean spoon sweet, homemade noodles, mountain herbs, wild honey, wine and tsipouro, local liqueurs made with cornelian cherries or walnuts.
Also, Kastoria offers a wide range of accommodation choices to satisfy every taste. From small city hotels, boutique lodges, rooms-to-rent and renovated mansions, hotel resorts and B&Bs with various amenities outside the city to small chalets and stylish and well-maintained hostels.