Taygetos

The proud and tallest mountain in Peloponnese is said to have taken its name after Taigeti, Atlas’s daughter. Boasting its highest summit, “Ai-Lia,” at 2404 meters, and its alpine zone over 1700m always covered in snow in the winter, Taigetos is ideal for mountain lovers' activities like mount biking, climbing, trekking, and cave exploration. What's most impressive is that this mountain is expanding, earning almost a centimetre yearly!

The Greek Mountaineering Society owns a climbing park in the gorge of Great Lagada near Tripi, offering routes graded for difficulty, ranging from 5 (Medium) to 8 (Hard). Beginner climbers often prefer the summer when the meandering route to the top is easy.

Apart from the magnificent mount hiking routes, Taygetos (Taigetos) offers an array of caves and gorges with crystal clear springs, like those in Arna, in Tripi, and all the villages perched high up throughout the mountain range. The evergreen fir trees and black pine trees make up the fantastic forests in Taygetos, and the visitor must pick some thyme, green tea, and oregano. If not, some local trader in some small village will always sell all these mountain goodies. However, food connoisseurs are well advised to try the world-renowned “sfella” cheese, made from goat and sheep milk of premium quality. Equally well-known worldwide is the wild beef meat of Taygetos, for which experts from Iberia sought to get species for their seed oxen.