Greece
Samothrace
Waterfalls crash through ancient forests on the Aegean's highest peak, where the Winged Victory was found.
Mount Fengari rises from the sea to 1,611 metres — the highest point in the Aegean — and Homer placed Poseidon on its summit to watch the Trojan War. The slopes run dense with plane trees and waterfalls that pool in the famous vathres, and the sanctuary below once initiated kings and pilgrims into mysteries kept secret for a thousand years.
Samothrace combines a major ancient sanctuary with mountain paths, thermal springs and streams that form rock pools. Pool and waterfall conditions change after rain, and polished rock, current and flash flooding demand local judgement rather than blanket swimming assurances. The island’s scale and vertical landscape reward several days of careful exploration.
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Solo
Climb between vathres pools before the day heats up and take the sanctuary at dusk when the coaches are gone.
Friends
Chase waterfalls up the gorge together, swim the stone pools, and toast with still-warm tsipouro.
- The Sanctuary of the Great Gods preserves the setting where the Winged Victory once stood.
- Mount Saos rises to 1,611 metres, making Samothrace unusually mountainous for an Aegean island.
- Streams descend through plane-tree forest into rock pools and waterfalls; conditions require local judgement after rain.
- The island’s archaeology, mountain trails, thermal springs and coast readily fill several days.
Wild goat kid slow-roasted over charcoal at village festivals in the shadow of Mount Fengari.
Tsipouro from local stills, drunk neat with meze plates of fried cheese and cured olives.
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