Symi harbor to St Emiliano's chapel

Start: The start here is from the first stairs of Kataraktis which you can find next to the school and paddle field after the tower bell church. They are the old stairs for Chorio.

(S/E) Start to climb Kataraktis just after the school. It is the old donkey path to the top of the city (Chorio).

(1) After 240m or so, instead of continuing on Kataraktis, turn tight to cross the torrent on the concrete block that brings you to some stairs. You should look up and spot two church bell towers and keep in mind you need to pass both of them on the right when climbing the stairs. Instead of cutting here you can follow the Gialos - Agios Vassilios path by continuing to follow Kataraktis for about 180 m.

(2) When you reach the second church bell tower, at the junction, you need to turn right (West). Here you will find some orange arrows on the ground and some red and blue markings to help you get out of the city to a farmer's metallic gate. Continue straight ahead after the metallic gate until you reach a concrete road that will get you up to the Toli Road.

(3) When you reach the paved road to Toli cross it and continue ahead on another concrete road. Keep right (up) at the first crossroads and left (down) at the second when it is more rock than concrete (there should be mark at both crossroads to help you with direction).

(4) Here you should reach the end of the road and enter the mountain rocky trail. Follow the red and blue marking and the cairns until you have some farm ruins on you right.

(5) When you see the ruins on your right you should see the path continuing on your left (South) entering the forest. Follow it until you reach a nice chapel inside the forest.

(6) Here enjoy the view between the trees to St Emiliano's below. From here, the way down in a torrent is about to start so be careful and continue follow the marking (in front of the chapel) until you come out of the forest just above Maroni Bay.

(7) Enjoy the nice view where you should see the chapel, follow to path to cross the valley and go up to the chapel. When you reach the chapel after following the path along some ruins you can follow a concrete path that goes to the beach before St Emiliano's. In this case you need to follow a damaged path along the coast to reach the chapel (E).

Start : The start here is from the first stairs of Kataraktis which you can find next to the school and paddle field after the church bell tower. They are the old stairs for Chorio. You can also start from Xisos by getting dropped there by a taxi to avoid "climbing" out of the city.

Return : You can take the exact same way to come back or arrange for one of the daily cruise ship (Maria, Diagoras, Poseidon...) to come retrieve you at St Emiliano's during their trip, they are all used to it.

Waymarker: Red and blue points marking and cairns.

Note: St Emiliano's: Note that the chapel is only open on the St day or when a daily cruise boat is making a stop there (they all have the key). During the season there is a high chance of having a daily cruise boat making a stop but do not hesitate to check beforehand to be sure!