38.48° N · 22.58° E
A mountain village 10 minutes from Delphi and the base for skiing on Parnassus: 34 km of pistes, lift pass €20 to €35, snowshoeing, the Corycian Cave and tavernas.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Skiing and snowboarding · 34 km over 23 pistes, 7 routes and 7 links · 1,640 to 2,260 m · 17 lifts · 2025-26 lift pass €20 to €35
Snowshoes · 3 h · From €55 · 5 km among fir trees from 1,800 m, with snowshoes, poles, a snack and a hot drink included
Hike · 3 h 30 · From €46 with a guide · 6 km round trip on a forest track from the Livadi plateau to the great sacred cave of Parnassus
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
Winter is its season: from December to March, if there is snow, Arachova fills with skiers at weekends and it pays to book ahead. Midweek, the lift pass drops to €20. In spring and in October, with the mountain green or golden, it is the time for the Corycian Cave and for Delphi without the heat. In summer it is quiet and cool.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
By car you reach Arachova in a little over two hours from Athens and get up to the slopes in half an hour. It is the way to combine skiing with Delphi, ten minutes away, or with Osios Loukas monastery, half an hour away. In winter, carry snow chains and avoid the road on Saturday morning.
Without a car, Arachova works for a weekend of village, Delphi and mountain: the KTEL Fokidas bus leaves from Athens' Liosion station and stops in Arachova before reaching Delphi. For the slopes or the Livadi plateau you will need a taxi.
You get to Arachova by flying to Athens, with direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other Spanish cities. From the airport it is about 190 km, a little over two hours via the Attiki Odos, the Lamia motorway and the Livadia road. Without a car, take the metro from the airport to central Athens and from there to the Liosion station, where the KTEL Fokidas bus departs.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Arachova is where Greeks bring their children to see snow: the Parnassus resort has four beginner pistes with a baby lift and a family lift pass, and the Livadi plateau gives you snow for free. In spring and autumn, the Corycian Cave is a walk with a reward.
For a teenager, Parnassus is the biggest resort in Greece, with a snowpark at Kelaria and off-piste runs; out of season, snowshoes or a climb to the cave where the Greeks worshipped Pan.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: A four-star hotel on the edge of Arachova towards Delphi, with an indoor pool, spa, chalets with fireplaces and a view of the valley.
Why we like it: A 14-room guesthouse in the centre of Arachova, with mountain-lodge rooms, two suites and a traditional breakfast on a tray.
Why we like it: A traditional 19-room guesthouse seven minutes' walk from the centre of Arachova, with doubles with fireplaces and attic duplexes.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the house kokoretsi or kontosouvli, the dishes that made it famous, and something from the pot of the day.
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
38.48° N · 22.50° E
By carCar-freeBy plane
38.38° N · 22.38° E
By carCar-freeBy plane
37.91° N · 22.88° E
By carBy plane
37.81° N · 22.69° E
By carBy plane
Tips
The lift pass drops to €20 and there are no queues.
It publishes every afternoon, around 16:30, what opens the next day.
The centre is narrow and in winter it jams.
Arachova's cheese, fried, in any taverna.
Arachova is a stone village hanging at 980 metres on the south slope of Parnassus, ten minutes from Delphi and half an hour from the biggest ski slopes in Greece. It has about 3,000 inhabitants, a main street that is the Delphi road, full of shops selling formaela cheese, honey and textiles, and an old quarter of steps and wooden balconies climbing to the clock tower. In winter it is Athenians' mountain resort: at weekends it fills up and prices rise. The rest of the year it is a quiet base for Delphi, Osios Loukas monastery and the routes on Parnassus.
By car, about two hours for some 170 km: motorway towards Lamia as far as the Livadia exit and then the mountain road to Arachova. From the airport, a little over two hours. In winter carry chains and avoid leaving Athens on Saturday at 8:00, when everyone goes.
By bus, KTEL Fokidas leaves from Liosion station in Athens and stops at Arachova before reaching Delphi; few departures a day. For the slopes, from the village, take a taxi.
From Spain, you fly to Athens with direct flights from Madrid, Barcelona and other cities. With a hire car, you can be skiing the same afternoon.
Yes: the Parnassos Ski Centre is about 25 km from the village, in two areas, Kelaria and Fterolaka. It has 34 km across 23 pistes, seven itineraries and seven links, from 1,640 to 2,260 metres, 17 lifts and a snowpark. The season depends on the snow, normally from December to April; on 12 November 2026 it was closed awaiting snowfall. In 2025-26 the day pass cost €35 at weekends, €30 on Mondays and Fridays and €20 from Tuesday to Thursday; the 2026-27 price table had not yet been published. Equipment hire on the slopes is from Dimitriadis Action Stores, with three shops. If you don't ski, the guided snowshoeing from Trekking Hellas, from €55, takes you up into the snow, and the Livadi plateau, 7 km away, gives you snow for free.
Climb the steps to the clock tower and the church of St George, at the top of the village, with the view of the valley down to the gulf. From April to November, the climb to the Corycian Cave from Livadi, the sacred cave of Pan and the nymphs, is an easy three-and-a-half-hour route. And Delphi is ten minutes away: sleep in Arachova and go into the sanctuary at 8:00. Half an hour away, the Byzantine monastery of Osios Loukas; 45 minutes away, the port of Galaxidi.
To eat, the Taverna Dasargyris, opened in 1918 on the main street, with kokoretsi and kontosouvli. To sleep, the Anemolia Mountain Resort, four stars, with an indoor pool and chalets with fireplaces on the road out towards Delphi; Afanos, right in the centre, with mountain-refuge-style rooms, and Xenonas Iresioni, seven minutes' walk away, with doubles with fireplaces. In ski season book weeks ahead for weekends.
In passing, an hour for the village. For skiing, a weekend: arrive on Friday, two days on the slopes and back on Sunday afternoon. With Delphi, two nights. You have a plan for the day in the excursion to Arachova and Parnassus from Athens and a two-day one in the getaway to Delphi and Arachova.
Questions
About 170 km, two hours by car. By KTEL Fokidas bus from Liosion, a little longer.
In 2025-26, €35 at weekends, €30 on Mondays and Fridays and €20 from Tuesday to Thursday. The 2026-27 price table had not been published in November 2026.
When there is snow, normally from December to April. Check the status at parnassos-ski.gr.
Arachova if you are going to ski or want atmosphere at night; Delphi if you want the sanctuary first thing and quiet. They are ten minutes apart.
The old quarter and the clock tower, the Corycian Cave on foot from Livadi, Delphi and the monastery of Osios Loukas.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/greece/central-greece/arachova
