escape to pARKadia

NEDA WATERFALLS WALKSMap
ANCIENT PATH
1.5 hours walk to the arch stone bridge on an ancient path

• There are three ways to walk to the arched stone bridge from Ancient Phigaleia: along an ancient path; down a partially tarmacked road or along the Neda river - a cool but challenging summer adventure.
• To get to the road and the path from The Ark, you will take the crazy paved road west through Ano Rouga ('top of the village') to the western edge of the village, followed by the dirt track to Kata Rouga ('lower village').
• You will quickly reach the start of the wooded pathu leading to the waterfalls. It is marked by a map and a sign to some "funerary monuments" or tombs.
• When you set out on the path, you will be treading in the footsteps of ancient Phigaleans who once walked alongside the defensive walls to your right.
• Leaving the ancient city wall behind, you will make your way down the hillside on a rocky path cloaked by trees and alive with wildlife.
• After a while you will pass some tombsv. Built during the 3rd century BC, some of these have temple-shaped façades.
• Eventually you come to a grassy clearing with a small shrinew built in 1957 in honour of Ágios ('Saint') Thomas. This is a good place to stop for a rest.
• From here you will descend further into the gorge. The going is OK although there is one challenging section where debris has fallen onto the path.
• Closer to the Neda river, a track will cut across the path before you. Cross it and continue onwards until you reach a junction where one fork leads to the cliff-hugging path to the waterfalls; the other to the arched stone bridgex.
• Of course, you can head directly to the falls, but having walked all the way to the bottom of the gorge, it is a shame to miss the bridge - only a short detour.