Apostolos Staikos reports that on Andros, 240 kilometres of trails have been developed.
In 2010, the Andros Research Centre launched a project that changed the island’s cultural and tourism identity, according to Apostolos Staikos.
The project, Andros Routes, had nothing to do with beaches, sun or sea, but instead focused on the island’s trails, Staikos said.
On the initiative of the non-profit organisation Andros Research Centre, Andros Routes was born, bringing the island’s trails to life, said Olga Karagianni, Coordinator of the Centre for Contemporary Research & Action on Andros.
“A web that initiates us into the rich natural and cultural heritage of Andros and at the same time provides important infrastructure for aware visitors, for hiking tourism that has significantly extended Andros’s tourist season so that it now includes both spring and autumn,” Karagianni told Euronews.
The trails connect traditional settlements, historic monasteries and lush ravines, with the local community embracing the project, according to Karagianni.
“This infrastructure gives a significant boost to the local economy; I would say it particularly supports residents of isolated villages,” Karagianni estimates.
The trails are systematically maintained and cleared thanks to the efforts of the volunteer team of Andros Routes, with the island receiving the European “Leading Quality Trails – Best of Europe” certification for its network, Karagianni reported.
“It attracts visitors who are sensitised and who care about the island’s nature and culture and behave accordingly,” Karagianni argues.
Andros has more than 200 springs with crystal-clear water and a network of trails that stretches to almost 240 kilometres, Apostolos Staikos, Euronews special correspondent on Andros, reports.
“The hikers who mainly come in spring and autumn help to lengthen the tourist season and to highlight the history of the villages, the farmers and the livestock breeders who lived in the mountains,” Staikos said.
