Arta Prefecture: Excursions in Arta

As you can see in the following, Arta Prefecture, besides its rich Byzantine and Post-Byzantine cultural inheritance, is endowed with an incredible assortment of excursions and nature-loving options, enough to attract the inquisitive visitor's attention, and with more to spare!

Agnanda is a mountainous village, an important center of the Tzoumerca Mountain Region. It is situated in a receptible of Mt. Tzoumerca, crowned by the mountain's peaks. Visiting it is a very relaxing experience in itself, yet there are important sightseeing attractions: the old watermill and the traditional installations for cleaning the wool collected from the local sheep by using local creeks. Next to it you could visit Ktistades village and the historic bridge of Plaka (photos).

Amongst fir and plane trees, Athamanio Village will leave you with vivid impressions. The itineraries Athamanio - Stavros - Nerotrivi and Athamanio - Tetrakomo - Mesounda, whichever way one does them, whether hiking, jogging, mountain biking, or driving your car, will leave you speechless with their natural beauty. Once in Athamanio do not fail to pay a visit to the stone-built traditional bridges, as well as Tetrakomo Village, literally drowning in fir trees.

Nearby Aneza (just 20 km away from Arta) is a village with an important habitat, forming part of the greater Ambracian Gulf (Amvrakikos kolpos) estuary with many aquatic bird species. It is an important site for wintering ducks and geese, breeding, passage and wintering of raptors and migratory waders. On the nearby Eastern bank of Tsoukali Estuary, you can visit Fidokastro (=snake Castle) or Kalamionas (=reed biotope)

Ano Kilentini, Astrochori, Velengiko, Voulgareli, Gramenitsa, Theodoriana, Katarraktis, Kato Kalentini, Komboti, Kopraena, Kypseli, Megalochari, Melates, Melissourgi, Mesopyrgos, Mesounda, Neochori, Peta, Rodavgi, Piges, Skoulikaria and Stroggyli are all villages with plenty of fresh water brooks or small waterfalls, plane and chestnut trees.

Sightseeing spots of indescribable beauty are the stone bridge "Kamara" (=arch) at Voulgareli, the Giannitsi waterfall, near Skiadades Village, the artificial lake at the Pournari water power plant, the waterfalls at Theodoriana, the mountain retreat at Lakkos, the tunnel joining Skarpari to Kapsala, the fountain with the four lion-head faucets at Katarraktis Village, the Zografou Carstic Cave, the villages Bathykambos and Kryoneri on the banks of the two rivers crossing the prefecture, the fountain and the centuries-old live plane tree at Kryoneri, the lighthouse at Kopraena, Korakonissa (a group of islets across the picturesque seaside village of Koronissia), the villages of Markiniada and Megla with a fantastic view over the Lake Pournari, the fir-tree forest at Aetos, the bridge (Kamara) at Mesopyrgos Village and the small café at the village's central square under seven huge centuries-old plane trees, the Perataria "kareli", that is a small wire cable-driven Basket-wagonette used for aerial crossing of the Acheloos River, the riverside Park of Arachthos River, the Palaeoducas Estuary, the huge plane tree at the village of Piges, the ornithological watch-station at Strongyli, the church of Our Lady at Rodia and the settlement at Akropotamia Kleidiou at Skoulikaria Village.

If you are lucky, you could come across some herd of wild horses at large in the prefecture!