“Ta Petrina tis Elatis” meaning: the stone-built houses of Elati, curated by Aristea and Alexandros.

There’s a lot I could write about this place, so I’ll try to sum it all up in these few words: a visit here feels like you’re visiting your family. You’re opening your door and you get greeted by Raja, the family’s dog and their 3 wonderful children, running around and playing in the grass.

I visited this place in January and stumbled upon heavy snowfall, which turned the whole place into a winter wonderland, as you can see in the pictures and videos. It’s located in the mountainous village of Elati, up on Mt Koziakas, about half an hour away from the city of Trikala in Thessaly. Elati is the first village you encounter on your road trip towards the Aspropotamos mountainous area, a large untamed area with countless mountains, rivers. It’s not touristy at all in those areas. Elati is the perfect place to stay if you’re planning on exploring this area.

Aristea and Alexandros have built and are running the houses with love and you can see that by the way they care for you, the way they care about their children and their home village. The reception area feels like you just walked into the family’s house. The three children playing and doing their homework, Aristea helping them with the homework whilst cooking in the kitchen. Dad Alexandros always busy with some kind of manual work or helping the children with the homework as well. It’s super cozy and authentic.

Also, the breakfast is truly pure and delicious. You get to have it all served in the comfort of your house. It consists of homemade jams, homemade bread, various pastries, trahana soup, eggs, spinach or cheese pie. Ask for the extra delicious “plastos” pie, with wild greens.

Last but not least, you should Aristea and Alexandros for some homemade pizza! They’ve got a wood stove and make excellent pizza.