An exceptional winter tourism season is underway in Greece, as the country’s ski resorts are filled with both snow and visitors due to this winter’s favorable weather conditions.
A record number of people have been flocking to the ski resort of Kalavryta in the Peloponnese, on Mount Helmos, surpassing 15,000 a day. This is the first year the resort has been operating after upgrading its infrastructure with over 22 million euros ($22.6 million), partly funded by the EU. Visitors have been coming not only from all over Greece but from as far as Chile and Ecuador.
“Last year it was very bad because of the weather conditions so our plans are through our next investments, to secure artificial snow as well ,” Alexis Agrios, Director of the Kalavryta ski center tells the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
Agrios adds that the goal is to transform the mountain into an all-season, multi-thematic destination, which will increase, not only the number of visitors, but also the resort’s viability. In that sense, the resort has already been successfully organizing various events, such as the Helmos mountain festival and bicycle competitions.
“We are trying to answer the questions posed by nature itself,” he says. “This year, winter is expected to be very good for ski resorts, after a really bad one .”
Stream of foreign tourists visiting Parnassos, Greece’s largest ski resort
A stream of foreign tourists have been visiting Parnassos, Greece’s largest ski resort considered by many the best in the country.
While most come from Europe, Antonis Tourkohoritis, Director of the Parnassos ski resort, tells the Athens-Macedonian News Agency that many tourists from China choose to include a visit at the resort in their holiday plans. “The Chinese who go to Athens, include a visit to the archaeological site of Delphi and the Parnassos ski resort. These days visitors surpass 5,500 a day and I think we are headed to a record year. The snow season began early this year and our resort is one of the most modern, as it has five lifts of the latest technology.”
Apostolos Meliopoulos, President of the Seli ski resort, Greece’s second largest, on Vermion Mountain, paints a similar picture.
“We began operating on December 19, and every day we are full, with anywhere between 2,000 to 5,000 visitors,” he says. Less than an hour away from Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, Meliopoulos says the resort is easily accessible while plans to utilize artificial snow in the coming years, will help secure its viability during the winter seasons.
“This season weather has been very favorable. We have a lot of foreign tourists, from Italy and Germany. We used to have Israelis too. This year we have many visitors from France who say they are stunned by their visit. These are mainly tourists who visit Thessaloniki and then come to Seli to enjoy themselves.”
According to Panayiotis Vatikiotis, who has been monitoring ski resorts across Greece through “Snow Report” for 28 years, currently there are 15 operating in the country.
“We haven’t seen such good and prolonged [weather] conditions in years, as ski resorts are going through a crisis in the last years due to climate change,” he says.
Top ski resorts in Greece for snow lovers
Greece has some incredible ski resorts—some so unique that they offer you unobstructed views to the sea while speeding down the mountains.
Perhaps the first thoughts coming to mind when you hear the word Greece are whitewashed villages, blue skies, and endless pristine beaches. However, winter is also part of the calendar in Greece, and snow is not uncommon.
For those interested in winter sports, it will be great to learn that Greece is among the most mountainous countries in Europe with peaks ranging from 1,500 to 2,918 meters.
The winter season stretches from December to March, so take a look at this list of the biggest ski resorts in the country if a skiing escape is in your plans this winter.
Parnassos
Many consider Parnassos Ski Resort the best in the country. It’s on the slopes of Parnassos Mountain, and its two sites, Kelaria (1,750 meters) and Fterolakka (1,600 meters), offer amazing skiing experiences for adrenaline addicts. Parnassos can be reached easily from Athens by car in less than two hours.
Kalavryta
This resort is in the Peloponnese on Mount Helmos. Here, it’s also possible to choose between skiing, snowboarding, paragliding, and snowmobiling. Thirteen ski runs offer different levels of difficulty while skiing lessons are also available. The skiing center is 250 kilometers southwest of Athens.
Olympus
The Elatochori Ski Center is located on the mountains of Pieria on the northern slopes of Mount Olympus. The center, which sits at 1,450 meters above sea level, has six ski trails, and it’s also possible to go snowboarding in the Snowboard Fun Park. It’s located 300 kilometers Nnrth of Athens and 150 kilometers south of Thessaloniki.
