Walking to Toli beach

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Walking to Toli beach

Postby happyashellas » 15 Jun 2013, 01:52

What is the best route to take when walking from Symi town to Toli beach. If anyone has any info on the taverna there, it would be nice to know. What I'm really saying, is do I need to take a pack lunch.
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Walking to Toli beach

Postby Andy W » 15 Jun 2013, 07:23

Never walked there, went by road, but I can confirm that the food is excellent. Locals drive there (car or bike)to eat, which says a lot.
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Postby Gemma1 » 15 Jun 2013, 07:42

I walked there last year and walked on the road. The food in the taverna was fine but I found it a long walk back going back up the hill.
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Postby D and E » 15 Jun 2013, 09:57

That's one impressive walk Gemma. We were taken to Toli by the very kind Margareta who we stay with in September round by Nos. She took us and our neighbouring guests over in her 4x4 stopping for some stunning photos as we climbed up the main road. Lovely beach with great swimming and lunch was memorable. We recall being told that the depth of water prevented the taxi boats servicing the location which is such a pity.
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Postby happyashellas » 15 Jun 2013, 23:04

Do you have to go by road, or would it be possible to cut across from Nimborio for instance. If it can be done in under two hours I think that would be OK.
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Postby Jan » 20 Jun 2013, 14:36

No need to go by road if you have an idea of the footpath layout and are prepared for the road slog from the beach back to the ridge on the return journey.

Start from the back of the square on the 'top route' to Nimborio. turn left past the cemetary on a red-dotted path which rises quite steeply at first then contours round above Nimborio bay towards Katholiki church. Look for a right turn which dips down and up to meet the road at what we call the bandstand. Then follow the road up to the ridge and down to Toli bay.

On the return trip you can repeat the outbound route or, if you're prepared for a bit of a slither, from the ridge cut down the valley to the middle of Nimborio bay. There may be a path the whole way (there certainly is part-way) but I've never found it completely despite many attempts.

And of course you could reverse the whole route, but the attraction of doing it the way I describe is the possibility of a swim/a drink at Maria's/both if you're a bit hot and bothered after the descent.

One final word. Do wear shoes with a decent tread. No flipflops!

Enjoy.

Jan

PS The taverna at Toli is worth the walk too
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Postby Adriana » 21 Jun 2013, 08:15

Taxi boats can't dock safely because of the swell on that side that kicks in when the meltemi picks up. Well, it IS the windward side of the island. 8-)

Vehicle taxis will only take you to the top of the road and won't actually go down to the taverna/beach because the road isn't good enough.

If you are staying in Chorio then it makes sense to do the walk via Roukoniotis but there are also footpath routes from the back of the harbour and from the back of Nimborio bay which are actually shorter, depending on where you are staying. Whichever way you go, there are good photo ops in both directions :)
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Walking to Toli beach

Postby Gemma1 » 21 Jun 2013, 08:28

Jan wrote:


On the return trip you can repeat the outbound route or, if you're prepared for a bit of a slither, from the ridge cut down the valley to the middle of Nimborio bay. There may be a path the whole way (there certainly is part-way) but I've never found it completely despite many attempts.



There's a path showing on the Symi map that I've got but I've got lost a few times round there and come to a dead end which is why I sometimes stick to the road - at least I can't get lost ;) . I don't walk on the road all the way, I walk up through Horio following the walk 'Horio to the "Western Road" in Lance Chilton's book where you have the glorious views looking down at Horio and Yialos :) . Walk 10 in Lance's book mentions getting to Toli mostly on dirt tracks.
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Postby happyashellas » 21 Jun 2013, 20:37

We'll be staying at the Anastasia in Yialos and make the walk over the hill to Nimborio quite regularly, so thought if we could cut over from there it might be quite interesting. Somewhat distressed to read about the no flip flop advice. Frankly, when I go on holiday I always wear them as it's a blessing to get rid of working boots etc. I've done the Hailki castle in them as well as various other sites on different islands - can it be that much worse on Symi?
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Postby D and E » 23 Jun 2013, 06:49

We are not the most adventurous of walkers but D has ventured up from the windmills to the peaks looking down on Pedi beach (and proudly uses a photo for his Twitter account) and says between the jagged rocks and prickly plants flipflops would not be a good idea.
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Postby Jan » 23 Jun 2013, 15:35

Symi hillsides are generally steep, stony and prickly. One skid in flipflops, the thong breaks and you're walking barefoot thereafter.

The choice is yours, but flipflops wouldn't be mine.
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Postby Andy W » 23 Jun 2013, 16:17

As a compromise you could try walking sandals - a proper grippy sole to provide traction, and a certain amount of side and heel protection. Certainly flipflops would be highly dangerous on some of the paths I've used on Symi.
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Postby JuliaB » 23 Jun 2013, 17:01

Just home from Symi where we did plenty of walking. I agree with Andy that walking sandals are ideal for the terrain you're likely to cover off the paved paths. Ours served us well for treks to Nimborio (top route and scramble down), Aghia Marina via the windmills,and Aghios Fanourios (leaving from Yialos and returning via Horio. I certainly wouldn't advise tackling these routes in flip-flops. Walking over to Nimborio by Aghios Georghios or round by road is a different matter; have seen lots of folk manage this in flip-flops.
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