Welcome to the other, completely different and untouched side of Greece. The side of deep forests, mountains, snowy landscapes, brown bears and deer running around wild. Pisoderi is one of the mountainous villages in Greece, with an altitude of 1,450m, nestled on the foothills of Mt Varnoudas, very close to the borders with North Macedonia. A short drive away is the Vigla-Pisoderi ski resort, typically operating from December to April.

Yes, Florina in West Macedonia region has got all that and more! The winters in this area can actually be quite cold, with frequent snowstorms and temps plummeting to well below zero degrees celsius.

I actually shot a video from Pisoderi almost 3 years ago, that went incredibly viral all over the internet and had people wondering whether this was really in Greece or I was messing around. What's unique about the mountain of Varnoudas (that's what the mountain is called) is that it's almost entirely covered by thick forests of beech trees that put on their beautiful foliage during autumn and then go on creating otherwordly winter sceneries from December throughout late March.

Probably the easiest way to get to Pisoderi is to fly to Thessaloniki, rent a car and then drive to Florina through the Egnatia highway. If you visit there during fall, spring or summer months, you will possibly stumble upon a brown momma bear with her cubs crossing the road, so make sure you drive carefully.