Mount Olympus hike to the top of Greece, 2 days

Travelled with Akis to Mount Olympus. It was not an easy crowd. We were a family of six with four children aging 5, 9, 12 and 14. Akis was amazing. The hike was not trivial for such a group. Akis showed confidence and great patience setting the pace and walking us literally through it. He knows every rock and tree on the trail and was fully available for all of our needs including changing the route to meet our needs. We felt totally safe and secure with his stories of the Greek Gods adding to the experience. We are all already planning our next trip to the pick with Akis.

Mt Olympus was breathtaking. Definitely recommend to anyone visiting Greece who is interested in outdoor adventures. But do not underestimate the difficulty as the climb was pretty steep. Akis was a wonderful guide. He was very kind and adaptive to our fitness and speed and made sure we felt comfortable with the pace of the hike. Was easy to communicate and coordinate.

Trip itself was fantastic, the view on Skala was better than expected. On the other hand Akis (our guide) was not what we expected - he was most of the time on his phone during the hike and was not very interested in making this trip nice for us. He barely spoke to us and was going around 100m ahead of us most of the time and since he was on his phone most of the time he didn't bother with us. We expected a friendly guide which will say few things about mountain and make this nice trip for us but we definitely didn't get this. My girlfriend had issue with ligament and he didn't even bother to ask how is she, he kept distance and didn't offer any help. We couldn't even get a 'good morning' from him which looked really weird to other hikers as well, since even they asked what is wrong with our guide and why does he act like that. The only reason i am giving him 2/5 stars is because he set good pace for us. Would not recommend hiring this guide - if you want a friendly person which will guide, help and make trip memorable for you - you won't get that with him

Great mountain, lovely people and a wonderful experience The first day felt a little empty with alot of down time. I left the tour and walked all the way down from the leaving point .... it was honestly so beautiful, what a shame its not included! People will really miss out on all those beautiful sites and waterfalls you can swim in! The guide was great, patient and directive when needed to be. Checked up on people and was hospitable. What a journey!

Akis was phenomenal. He was very attentive and informative through the whole experience. He even gave me ideas of other areas to explore on my own in other parts of Greece during the rest of my trip. I appreciated that fact that he fed off of me in terms of conversation, rather than trying to lead unnecessary chit chat. I prefer to hike mostly in silence and really enjoy my surroundings. He did make sure that I was comfortable with the pace regularly and also made sure to make me stop for rest and hydration often, even when I didn’t think I needed it (trust me, you need it). It was a once in a lifetime experience, and Akis made sure that it was exceptional!

Akis was an amazing guide, operating at our slower pace and taking breaks when we needed. He clearly knew what he was doing, and he gave good guidance every step of the way.

Akis was a super guide. He expressed great patience & guidance towards us. We were inexperienced climbers & would never have reached the top only for Akis. Thank you to a great guide that we would highly recommend. It was an amazing experience.

The traveller did not leave a comment.

Professional, inspired safety and confidence, knowledgable of the mountain, nothing is too much trouble - meeting all our needs: as an adventurous couple the first time around and as a small family the second and third, well balanced between friendly and giving space, fully available, in short: exceptional and we would not hesitate to recommend him to all levels of mountaineers: from absolute beginners to the fully accomplished looking to stretch themselves that little bit more.

My trip to Olympus turned out to be a huge disappointment. Not only because we couldn't go to the summit due to bad weather (too much wind), more because the guide Akis lacked communication and social skills. We went with a big group (9). Akis is really a professional when it comes to hiking and knows what he's doing. But his communication in general and towards me I didn't like. I also want a guide that explains stuff about the nature, the mountain and a guide that brings some positive vibes. I didn't feel included at all and I felt like he didn't like me or something. Mostly talked in Greek language and I had to ask for translation a lot. Luckily the group I was with were really friendly and translated some things for me. Besides this he could have been more open that it's a big possibility we wouldn't go to the top because of the wind. That would've saved some disappointment. At the mountain shop before the hike someone told me there's going to be a lot of wind. After asking Akis about it on the way up he said "no, not much wind. The weather will be good" Which I found very strange but maybe this was the language barrier. I've spend 180 euro's for a trip with a guide + 80euro's to rent good gear + 40 euro's to stay at the refuge with food/drinks included. This is a total of 300,- for something I could've easily done by myself (the trip to the refuge is easy). Of course I totally understand that because of too much wind we couldn't go to the top. You can't beat the mountain, it beats you. But as a backup plan we went down and then by car to a small waterfall and a monastery thats being renovated. This crushed my soul and spirit. I strongly recommend that you get part of your money back if you can't reach te summit in stead of this somewhat boring backup plan with zero adrenaline. What was even more f'd up is that after I came back to the mountain shop to bring back my rented clothes I met a couple that did go to the summit. :( So to summarise, my experience was disappointing to say the least and won't recommend Akis as a guide. Service of explore-share is good tho. Cas

For this so unique climbing trip, for your special guidance, the confidence you gave me, the positive energy, thank you Akis.