Amazing Jeep Safari in Thassos island.

Thassos island is well known for its beautiful beaches and in fact, it has been an attraction for many decades, for tourists who wanted Sea and Sun holidays.

The island, however, also has another side,  a great mountain that hides many surprises for its guests, usually unknown to many tourists who have visited the island even repeatedly.

The Jeep Safari started from the city's port. We headed to the historic and picturesque Kazaviti village and then towards the first peak of the mountain range of the island, from the east side of Thassos, the antennae and the outpost of the Air Force. This off -road route was rewarded with panoramic views of the Port of Ammoglossa, of Delta of Nestos river at the Rhodope mountains, of Samothrace island, of the mountains of Lemnos and the coast of Turkey.

Our Jeep Safari continued to the highest point of Thassos, which is the top " Ypsario " or " fish" at 1,206 feet, with stops at active and inactive quarries, integral parts of the history of the island. From the top of Ypsario the visitor has a 360 degree view at the whole of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, from Mount Athos up to Mount Pangaeum while below 1,206 meters dominates the bay of river and Gold Beach.

Travelling to the west, one can enjoy the dense pine forest and at a lower altitude, the chestnut, oak and sycamore trees and end up at the waterfalls near the village of Kastro, where visitors have the opportunity to follow the path alongside the small river up to its foundain.

 On the other hand, the settlement of the castle is full of historical charm, including the church of St. Athanasius, with its carved iconostasis and its old imagery and a big key that opens the wooden door, but the ossuary repletes with myths and historical facts, with the complex reality and rumors which literary gives the area a unique charm.

The rest of the route included the artificial lake near Maries village, with poplars and willows to create a sense of ... Switzerland, where goats have been ' chipping ' oaks , creating a natural sculpture exhibition.  Our imagination was exhited by the prolong of a fairytale.

Although the beaches are at the forefront of tourism promotion and are the showcase of the island, i am almost certain that if anyone tries to taste the mountain side of Thassos, he will experience the island such a different way that will change his mind about Thassos being good only for it beaches.

Written by: Thanasis Sofianos, Journalist.

*  Thanks to photographer Vangelis Ferelis for the photographic material and Stelios Mantinioti the VisitNorthGreece.com for the excellent off - road tour to Thassos mountain sanctuaries and Alternatrips.gr which gave us the motivation to go up the mountains.