Greece - Korina Miller [263]
Sleeping
Filoxenia Domatia ( 26560 41332; jsp@hol.gr; s/d €35/50) The Filoxenia is a good budget choice, with clean and comfortable domatia and nice views. It’s just behind the central park area, near the art gallery.
Hotel Asteri ( 26560 42222; 693274089; www.asterimetsovo.com; s/d €38/50) Set prominently atop the village, this big place has 40 cheerful rooms, some with fireplaces. There’s a good restaurant, plus a homey lounge with traditional rugs and low couches, where the delightful old owners will sip Greek coffee with you.
Hotel Galaxias ( 26560 41202; s/d €40/50) The closest hotel to the bus stop, the Galaxias offers large, traditionally furnished rooms (some with fireplaces). The eponymous restaurant’s here too.
Hotel Bitouni ( 26560 41217; www.hotelbitouni.com; d/ste €50/80; ) There’s a ski-lodge feel to the family-run Bitouni, with its sauna, traditional fixtures and carved wooden coffee tables. There are 24 doubles, and seven suites; two of the latter have Jacuzzis.
Hotel Egnatia ( 26560 41900; fax 26560 41485; Tositsa 19; d/studios incl breakfast €60/80) The renovated Egnatia offers doubles and spacious studios with handsome bathrooms. The hotel’s marked by its wood fixtures and friendly, knowledgeable owner, who provides info about outdoor activities. The mountain views are superb. When approaching the central square from the main road, the hotel’s on the right.
Victoria Hotel ( 26560 41771; www.victoriahotel.gr, in Greek; d from €60; ) The hospitable and friendly Victoria has 37 rooms with all the mods cons, including Jacuzzis and fireplaces in some. The restaurant serves local specialities, and there’s an outdoor pool in summer. Find it 900m before the centre.
Eating
Tyrokomika Pigi ( 26560 42163; Varonou Mihail Tositsa 17; cheeses €3-6) Visit kindly old Dimitris Boumbas in his cheese shop, midway up the village on the main street. Try the metsovona, one of several local hard cheese specialities.
To Koutouki tou Nikola ( 26560 41732; mains €7-10) This wonderful family-run restaurant just beneath the post office cooks up hearty traditional dishes, from pites (pies) to traditional roast lamb and gida vrasti (boiled goat soup).
Restaurant Galaxias ( 26560 41202; mains €8-12) This hotel restaurant is surprisingly good. Local specials include leek meatballs or spicy sausage, accompanied by local red wine (Katoyi). The rustic scene is enhanced by a log fire in winter and an ivy-covered balcony in summer.
Paradosiako (mains €8-11) Another traditional place, and especially strong on meats, the Paradosiako is located opposite the Hotel Bitouni. There are also good mezedhes and vegetarian options.
Getting There & Away
Direct buses leave for Ioannina daily at 6.30am, 10.15am, 3pm and 4.30pm (€7, 1½ hours) and for Trikala at 8am and 2pm (€11, 3½ hours). For a Thessaloniki bus (€22), go to the main road and wave down the bus coming from Ioannina.
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IOANNINA ΙΩΑΝΝΙΝΑ
pop 61,629
The Epirot capital and gateway to the Vikos-Aoös National Park, hip Ioannina (ih-o-ah-nih-nah or yah-nih-nah) is a bustling commercial and cultural centre, and home to 20,000 university students who energise the local nightlife. Ioannina’s set on the placid (though polluted) Lake Pamvotis and faces sheer mountains. This idyllic setting is further enhanced by an evocative old quarter (the Kastro), interspersed with narrow lanes and architectural wonders from Byzantine and Ottoman times. The city also has excellent restaurants, bars and cafes.
History
Founded in the early 6th century by the great Byzantine Emperor Justinian, Ioannina became an important commercial and cultural outpost. In 1082, however, it was raided by the Normans during the first stages of an East–West antagonism that peaked in 1204, when Latin Crusaders sacked Constantinople and dismembered the Byzantine Empire. Numerous illustrious Greek families fled to Epiros, where an important Byzantine successor state developed under nobleman Michael I Komnenos Doukas. The Greeks remained in control until the Serbs