From the town of Ouranoupolis it is a 20 minutes walk to the Athos border. You can’t enter here. You have to take the ferry to get a legal entrance to the mountain.

There is a possibility to enter the holy mountain here if you arrange to visit the Tsantali vineyards at Chromitsa. The bus on right brings you uphill to this place and ofcourse will bring you back after the visit.

The fence goes right into the sea. These are the first buildings of mount Athos. There is a police post and once we met a monk who lived there.

You can follow the border fence which our group did in 2009. It is a nice walk and after a while you can walk back to Ouranoupolis through the hills. You also can walk to the other coast near Nea Rhoda.

Photo’s and text by hv