The Pelion Railway

On the green flank of Mount Pelion, above the Gulf of Volos, runs one of the most charming little railways in Europe. The Greeks call it the "Moutzouris" — "the smudgy one", or "the sooty one" — for the smoke and cinders its old steam engines used to trail through the villages. It is a proper mountain railway in miniature: a 600 mm narrow-gauge line that climbs the wooded slopes on stone viaducts and iron bridges, at a pace so gentle you could almost step off and walk beside it.

The line was built between 1892 and 1903, engineered by Evaristo de Chirico — an Italian railway engineer whose son, Giorgio de Chirico, grew up to become one of the great painters of the 20th century, and whose dreamlike arcades and long shadows seem to echo the very viaducts his father raised on Pelion. One of those bridges, just short of the top, is the celebrated de Chirico bridge: a straight metal span over a deep ravine that the track crosses on a curve.

Today the little train runs as a heritage railway, up the loveliest, highest stretch of the old line, from Ano Lechonia to the village of Milies. It takes about ninety minutes to cover fifteen kilometres — winding through chestnut woods and olive groves, pausing at Ano Gatzea, and rolling at last into Milies, where a cobbled lane climbs to a village square under the plane trees. It is not a way of getting anywhere quickly. It is a way of savouring a mountain.

The heritage train starts at Ano Lechonia, a village a little way east of Volos, where the small yellow station and the line's vintage carriages wait among the olive trees. The old railway once ran all the way down to Volos itself, along the shore — you can still find postcards of it steaming past the sea — but the tourist train today runs the upper, prettier section, climbing into the mountain rather than skirting the coast.

From Ano Lechonia the line begins its patient climb up the western slope of Mount Pelion. This is some of the greenest country in Greece — chestnut and plane woods, terraced olive groves, apple and pear orchards, and streams tumbling down toward the Pagasetic Gulf, which opens out blue below you. The train crosses the ravines that seam the mountain on a succession of beautiful stone viaducts and slender iron bridges, each one a little event, the carriages' open platforms perfect for leaning out to look down.

Midway comes the one intermediate stop, Ano Gatzea, where the train pauses for about fifteen minutes — long enough for a coffee and to stretch your legs before the final push. Then, a few hundred metres short of the top, the line reaches its most famous structure: the de Chirico bridge, a straight metal span thrown across a deep gorge, which the track — improbably — crosses on a curve.

A few things worth knowing about the run:

• It is a 600 mm narrow-gauge heritage railway, Ano Lechonia to Milies, about 15 km, in roughly 90 minutes.
• The full historic line, Volos–Milies (28 km), was built 1892–1903; today's tourist train runs only the upper Ano Lechonia–Milies section.
• The regular service is diesel-hauled now (the little Schöma locomotives that replaced steam in 1999), with the vintage steam engines kept for special runs.
• There is one stop, at Ano Gatzea, with a pause of about 15 minutes.

The line ends at Milies, a fine old Pelion village where a cobbled path leads up from the station to a square shaded by plane trees. You have climbed barely fifteen kilometres from the coast, and yet you are in a different world — cool, green and unhurried, high on the mountain of the centaurs.

The Pelion train is a seasonal service, so its running days change through the year. As a rule it runs on weekends and public holidays from spring to autumn (roughly mid-April to the end of October), and daily in July and August — but the season and the exact days are confirmed by the operator each year, so always check before you travel.

On running days there is normally one return trip:

Each way takes about 90 minutes for the 15 km, including the 15-minute pause at Ano Gatzea. That leaves a good few hours in Milies for lunch and a wander before the afternoon train back down.

Good to know:

• It is small and it is popular — book ahead. The train is a couple of vintage carriages, and on summer and holiday weekends it fills; reserve rather than turning up.
• Check the season first. Days of operation change year to year, and the service can pause for maintenance. Confirm the current calendar with the operator before planning a day around it.
• Give Milies its time. The schedule is built around a long midday stop in the village — use it for lunch under the plane trees and the walk up the cobbles.
• Getting to Ano Lechonia. The start is a short drive or local bus east from Volos, which is well connected by mainline train and bus to Athens and Thessaloniki via Larissa.

Times as of the 2026 season and indicative — days and departures change through the year. Confirm the current timetable and running days with the operator — see the Tickets section below.

The Pelion train is run by Hellenic Train, and because it is a small, seasonal, much-loved service the things that matter are booking ahead and checking the season. The train is a couple of vintage carriages, and on summer and holiday weekends it sells out, so reserve through the operator rather than relying on turning up at Ano Lechonia. Tickets are normally sold for the round trip, up to Milies in the morning and back in the afternoon, with the long midday stop in the village built in.

Confirm the running days as well as the fare: the service is weekends from spring to autumn and daily in high summer, and the calendar is set each year. If the train is not running on your date, Pelion is still one of the finest corners of Greece to explore — the villages, the beaches on both coasts and the old railway path make an easy substitute.

The train is the thread; the pleasure is the mountain it climbs and the coast on either side of it.

Pelion is a long forested ridge dividing the calm Pagasetic Gulf from the open Aegean, and it is really a region of villages rather than a single destination — grey stone and slate, cobbled lanes, plane-shaded squares, spring water running through every one of them. Besides those below, Portaria sits just under Makrinitsa, Pinakates is a quieter neighbour of Vyzitsa, and Tsagarada shelters a plane tree said to be a thousand years old.

The two coasts finish the picture. The gulf side is sheltered and shallow, with calm swimming villages and the tsipouradika of Volos at its head; the Aegean side is wilder, and the beaches below Tsagarada — Fakistra above all — are among the most beautiful in the country, reached by long staircases down through the trees.

In myth this was the home of the centaurs, and Volos was where Jason and the Argonauts set out; the city's archaeological museum is the place to follow that up. The mountain wears all of it lightly, and a few days of driving between villages is the way to see it.

The Pelion train is a half-day excursion, so most travellers sleep in the region rather than on the line, and Pelion gives you three very different ways to do it.

In the mountain villages, staying in one of the restored stone mansions — the archontika of Makrinitsa, Portaria, Vyzitsa or Milies itself — is the classic Pelion experience: thick walls, carved wooden ceilings, a fireplace, and a balcony over the woods and the gulf. Milies puts you at the top of the line; Makrinitsa and Portaria are the most convenient for Volos and the western slope.

In Volos, at the foot of the mountain, a seafront hotel is the practical choice — handy for the trains and buses, the museums and the tsipouradika, and an easy morning drive to Ano Lechonia to catch the little train. It suits travellers arriving by mainline rail.

On the coast, the swimming villages of both the gulf and the wilder Aegean side have small hotels and rooms for those who want beach and mountain together, and don't mind a drive to reach the railway.

As with all our journeys, we keep this to the shape of the trip rather than specific bookings: a stone mansion in a Pelion village for the atmosphere, or the seafront in Volos for convenience — and the "Moutzouris" as the day's great outing between them.