Local attractions in the area of Florina!

Staying at Agonari Guesthouse in Sklithro offers a great oportunities for daily tours in the extended perfecture of Florina! The region of Florina is a very interesting area for travellers to visit. Visitors of Florina can enjoy nature activities, birdwatching, wine tasting and of course they can visit the numerous Byzantine and Post Byzantine monuments. Here are some of the places that travelers of the area of Florina should bot miss to visit:

Nymfeo

Nymfaion village is one of the most beautifully preserved Greek villages. It is protected by Greek and European Laws and is classified as “traditional village”. Nymfeo is located in Mountain Vitsi at an altitude of 1400meters.

Nymfaio was developed in the late of the 14th century and due to the great trade of the Neveskioton traders Nymfeo had a great economical increase from the 18th century up to the beginning of the 20th century.

Visitors of Nymfeo will be amazed from the beautiful environment as they can enjoy walks in the stone paved alleys and the beautiful preserved buildings.

Arcturos

“Arcturos” is an Environmental Centre located in Nymfeo and was established in 1998. “Arcturos is a settler for the brown bear and wolves that were found in a situation of illegal captivity. Nowadays Arcturos operates in five areas in the area of Florina:

The Brown Bear Sanctuary in Nymfeo

The Brown bear Information Centre in Aetos

The Wolf Sanctuary and the Wolf Information Centre in Agrapidies

Veterinary Station in Aetos

In each sanctuary there is an information centre where visitors can take information about the area, the biology, the ecology, the geographic distribution in Greece, the development of the species and many more.

Each sanctuary has its own information centre where visitors can be informed about the development of the species, the geographic distribution in Greece, the biology, the ecology, and the threats that they face as well as how to tackle them.

“Arcturos” Centre at the moment starts to breed livestock guarding dogs.

The Centre is open all year around at all days of the week except Wednesdays, 9am-5pm.

Lechovo

The village of Lechovo was developed around 1600 A.C. is located 40 Km away from Florina, and the village was really famous for its builders! Visitors of the village should not miss the chance and visit the beautiful church of Agios Demetios and the building of “Astiki scholi” that nowadays hosts the Folklore Museum with great exhibits like ecclesiastic objects, tools, household items and of course traditional uniforms.

Lake Zazari and Cheimaditida

Lake Zazari and Cheimaditida have special value and is a very important area for birdwatching due to conditions like the reedbeds, the lakeside forest, the internal waters, the reach faouna and the wet meaows. In the lakes can be found at about 141 bird species with 100 of them to be very important.

Lake Zazari and Cheimaditida are located very close to Sklithro and although are two separate Lakes with different characteristics they consider as a single region as they form one region and they do interact to each other.

Prespa Lakes

Prespa Lake is one the best birdwatching areas in Greece! Mikri and Megali Prespa since 1974 are National Parks and there are protected from Greek and European Laws. Both Lake are considering internationally and globally as one the most important wetlands. This is due to the diverse habitats like rural landscapes, wetlands, forests, grasslands, beaches, alpine meadows and other.

Among the 251 bird species Prespa Lakes hosts at about 120-150 pairs of Dalmatian Pelicans, which is the largest colony in the world, is one of the few places that the White Pelicans are nesting, and also holds the second in size European population of Pygmy Cormorant.

For more information about birdwatching in Greece please visit : www.birding-tours.gr