I'm planning a trip to Greece this fall! Please help me with recommendations for some regions of Greece (especially in northern Greece, the mainland if possible) not so popular and full of tourists! I'm looking for tradition and authenticity more than touristic areas and great hotels! Thanks!

The Pelion area.

Thanks Angeliki! Can you tell me more about this area? Is this a mountains only region or sea also?

Hi Andre,

"Hello" to you, too.

I think that if you repost with "planning a trip to Greece" as your header, you will get more responses.

Good advice ira!

Pelion is a mountainous area of Greece with alot of greenery and natural springs, favoured by Greeks for their holidays. The scenery is quite dramatic, the villages are very pretty (eg Portaria, Tsangarada) and have their own style of architecture (slate roofs and overhanging balconies). You can stay in converted merchants houses (called "archontika" in Greek)for example the Old Silk House in Mouressi. Alot of the villages in Pelion are real working villages, not just open for the summer season, industries such as growing apples in Zagora, silk industry in times past, there were also alot of garden centres growing gardenias.

Another bonus are the beaches with marble pebbles and incredibly clear warm water. Milopotamos is a stunning beach with a taverna with lovely views over the Aegean. There are alot of beaches eg Ayios Ioannis, Damouchari. Most foreign tourists are Swiss, Austrian, French, German and some English, there are not many of them. Food is very good, with local dishes. There is no entertainment here, main event of the evening is eating out and enjoying the atmosphere.

The travel time from Athens is about 4 hours, there is a pleasant city called Volos at the beginning of the Pelion area. Northern Pelion is the greenest area, as you head south the scenery becomes more what you would expect from a Greek Island.