The Pindus is the main mountain range of mainland Greece. It runs from the border with Albania south to Central Greece, about 180 kilometres from north to south and about 56 kilometres across. The highest point is Mount Smolikas, at 2,637 metres. The Pindus is not one continuous ridge. It is a line of separate mountains, with deep valleys between them, and few roads cross it.

The range divides the rivers of the mainland. On the western side, the Aoos River and the Achelous River begin here. On the eastern side, the Pineios River and the Aliakmon River begin here. The western side receives more rain, and the plain of Thessaly to the east is drier. The old road between Epirus and Thessaly crosses the range at the Katara pass, at about 1,700 metres, near the town of Metsovo. The Egnatia motorway passes under the mountains through tunnels.

The northern Pindus

The highest mountains are in the north. Mount Grammos stands on the border with Albania. Lake Gistova lies high on Grammos, at about 2,350 metres. Mount Smolikas and Mount Tymfi each have a small mountain lake above 2,000 metres, and local people call both of them Dragon Lake. Below Tymfi is the Vikos Gorge, about 990 metres deep. Near Mount Vasilitsa lies Valia Calda, a valley of black pine and beech forest where brown bears live. It has been a national park since 1966.

The central Pindus

Lakmos rises near the town of Metsovo. The Tzoumerka mountains reach 2,429 metres and have been a national park since 2009, together with the gorge of the Arachthos River. The Agrafa Mountains lie between the Tzoumerka and Mount Tymfristos.

The southern Pindus

Mount Tymfristos, also called Velouchi, rises to 2,315 metres above the town of Karpenisi. The Vardoussia range, south-east of it, reaches 2,495 metres.

The best-known villages of the Pindus are in Zagori, near the city of Ioannina. There are forty-six of them, built of grey stone with slate roofs, and old stone paths and arched bridges connect them. UNESCO added Zagori to its World Heritage List in 2023. Papingo is the village where the main path up Mount Tymfi starts.

Metsovo is a mountain town near the Katara pass, known for its cheeses. In the Tzoumerka mountains, Syrrako and Kalarites are two stone villages at about 1,200 metres. They grew rich from sheep and trade in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Samarina stands at about 1,450 metres on the slopes of Mount Smolikas. It is a village of the Vlachs, mountain people who kept sheep and moved with them between summer and winter pastures.

The Pindus Trail is a long walking route along the whole range. It has forty-one stages and more than 600 kilometres, from Delphi in the south to the village of Laimos near the Prespa Lakes in the north. The route has its own marks, but some stages are still waiting for them, so check the state of each stage before you start. Each mountain also has its own routes, described on its page.

In winter there is skiing at several small ski centres. The one on Mount Vasilitsa has about eighteen runs, and there is another on Mount Tymfristos, above the town of Karpenisi.

Rafting companies work on the Aoos River and the Arachthos River. The season on the Aoos is spring, when the snow melts.