kaimaktsalan ski center - voras

Don't miss the chance to spend a day in a rather new ski Center, which has among others the lift to take you to the highest altitude in Greece. Also MUST pay a visit to the little chapel on the top of Voras Mountain on feet , on ski , on ski jet , on crowler ...

Snow resort is one of the few in northern Greece. Greece is not famous for its ski resorts!!! However If you are here during the winter, you can enjoy a relative decent resort. The mountain is nice wide and without trees therefore is offering wide experience off slope especially when the snow is fresh. The lifts unfortunately are relative old technology and slow, however the staff do their best to operate it in the maximum performance. The resort have 2 chalet. The second one is a tiny one and need about 150 meters walking, however is very warm and friendly. On the top of the hill is an old church exactly on the middle of the boarders between Greece and former Yugoslavia. Regular lifts with special cars can give you a lift up there, the view is unique and on the church is a grave monument /tomb with the bones of Greek soldiers died during the Macedonian war between Greece and Bulgaria. As a total, ski resort is nothing special for experience skiers (especially compared to other resorts in Northern Europe). However the nature and view are perfect and you can really enjoy a snow ski experience under the Greek sun and cloudless sky.

I will start by saying that my review is about the ski resort and not Agios Athanasios. I read a lot of reviews and I got the feeling that were overall unfair and some of the guests forgot to do their homework before going there.I was there last week with my brother and my father, my brother is a very good skier, as for me and my father, well we are average. - Slopes/Lifts (5/5 considering the size): The ski resort is small only 4 lifts and 13 (or 14 slopes) but this is clearly stated at their website. The current map on their website is not showing one slope the "7+" which is a combined blue/red level (is located in between the red number 8 and the blue number 7). The slopes are ment more for middle level skiers. My brother within a day finished all of them, but for me the amount of slopes was perfect. There is a good balance of blue/red slopes and the longest red is wide enough even for someone without a lot of exprience. The chair lift DO close down when the wind is strong. This is for safety reasons so please don't complaint ! I experienced the same couple of times in France as well. The stuff at the lifts was helpful and answered all my questions. They helped me the 1st time to get the t-lift (plates) although I didnt't need it but after that they didn't - I did see others aking for help and getting it. Someone complaint about people jumping the line at the lifts. Personally I didn't see anything like that - maybe the Edessa ski club has a priority (it was fun seeing them practicing slalom) ? - Salé (3 1/2 / 5): The building isn't traditional but who cares :) it is nice, clean and well maintained. The stuff was polite and helpful. However they could offer more "food" options - in two cases everything was sold out. The prices aren't cheap neither expensive, we paid 4€ for a big hot chocolate which is a fair price for me. - Access (3/5): Flying in Thessaloniki, we rent a car and drove to Old Agios Athanasios, the road isn't the best and we were happy we had a GPS :). From Old Agios Athanasios the road is average maintained :( and one of days the municipality should had put salt but they didn't. So remember to respect the mountain and have chains !!!!- Information level (4/5): We were checking the wensite daily before going up and also calling them to find out about the weather conditions. Overall it never failed us. We had two days with a lot of wind and before going up we knew which slopes / lifts were closed and which ones were open. The same we were well informed about the road condition. No surprises :)- Other facilities (rental, schools... ) (4/5): We rent from shop on the top and not from the village and as we rent for 5 days (3 people) we paid 15€ less per day in total. That was in alignement with the shops at the village and we could have had it cheaper but that was our only option when we arrived (Sunday early afternoon). Although the bonus was that they were keeping our gear at their shop so we hadn't to carry with them everyday. The schools had similar prices available online. We took some lessons to refresh our memory.The guys were very freindly and proffesional. You can also negotiate the prices up to certain extend. They do speak english - most of them and we also saw few children taking lessons there. On the negative note, all the people who think they can ski/snowboard and can't. If you are an adult and you can take the lift by your self maybe you shouldn't be there. If it is your first time on ski/snowboard dont even go at the baby slope - pay an instructor. Overall a great experience and I will be returning.

After so many years of dreaming skiing, i finally visited Kaimaktsalan .For me it was great.I enjoyed learning ski with the ski instructors from the Red Ski School.All of them are a small group of pleasant people,very kind and helpful .The price was ok ,at list not so expensive as i expect to be .The ski equipment has a good price too , except of the boards which in my opinion could have a better and lower price .Anyway,the point is that the days i was there, there weren't so many people which means i had the freedom to enjoy my time skiing for the first time without time pressure , queues of people and traffic on the ski slope.Also, for those who don't want to skiing ,there is always another option of taking a coffee,a sandwich and enjoy the beautiful view from the inside canteen through the biiiiiiig windows!!!! :))))))))))

We were expecting something better. Very few slopes. It seemed that most of the people were coming there to spend time with their bling-bling clothes, etc. I am not judging - I am a skier that's all :) I guess it's worth to check it out, but if you are looking for good slopes - you can do better in Greece.

Kaimaktsalan ski centar voras is on a good location, nice sky center, nice view, good people work there, and you will spend wonderful time there up in the mountain

We arrived in that amazing village Ag. Athanasios, really beautiful with all the houses build in the exact same style. For me it was one of the most beautiful villages i have visit in greece!Nice food, good hospitality, just one Italian Restaurant Marko and Renzo was completely overpriced!!!The ski center.... if you can call it that way...We were there in the middle of the week... and it was like they don't want any guests there... the slopes were closed except 2, after asking, the answer was that they open them only saturday and sunday :-( what a shame... There is one completely overpriced and rude ski and snowboard rental on the top, DON'T GO THERE!!! You can let your ski equipment in the village of ag. athanasios for the half price and much better equipment! For the village i would return, for the place we stayed is well, the GRAND HOUSE SUITES were a great choice for our accommodation, great guys who run that place, nice decoration and really cute rooms, especially for the price we payed, euros 140,00 for the 4 of us for 2 nights with breakfast!!! Those guys run also the second ski school on the top of the mountain!I think, i'll be back one day and i hope, that on the top of the mountain many things will change because it is a shame, such a beautiful village and people who really try to get tourists over there... but the direction of the ski center is like sending them away to Bulgaria and Bansko!

I didn't get to ski at Voras because the snow level was too high for skiing so I am writing a review about the surrounding area for those who want to do more than skiing. This is a gorgeous, understated place to go and get the feel of the real traditional Greece. There is a very beautiful village, Panagitsa it's called. I was there on Chirstmas time.. it was simply gorgeous. The food was really good and cheap and you will find this very common in Edessa, the food are homemade quality - at least the ones that I have tried. This is a gorgeous area to go for a drive, stop by at the hillside to feast your eyes on the river view with the beutiful Voras mountain on the background. It is out of the way and it's not your usual tourist spot. But if you happen to be close or you're out to explore, this place is a gem.

poor service. poor decoration, atmosphere. Loud music. You dont feel that you are at a ski center. Prices are vvvv good.

amazing old village of agios athanasios to the mountain off voras in north greece.......20 km from the ski center on kaimaktsalanperhaps the most beautiful village of europe !!!!

well organized, great pistes, lovely chalet and adorable landscape! It makes you wonder how on earth is this place part of Greece.. Also great view of a huge lake on the bottom of the mountain!! Oh, try to ride a snowmobile and don't miss the private thermal springs 20km away (loutra pozar) in the middle of a canyon next to Aridea town, it's so revitalising after skying!!

I visited the ski resort of Mt Voras-Kaimaktsalan last February. The resort is considered to be one of the best places for ski in Greece.... Indeed it was !The centre is located at an altitude of 2,000m. There are 4 ski lifts for all levels and the summit of the mountain is at 2,500m. The ski bar at the base of "Sarantovrisi" lift is causy and it serves nice hot chocolates and cold beers ! The music rocks !!The closest village to the centre is P.Agios Athanassios (15km) which is full of traditionally built rock houses.One of the less known place in the Balkans offering nice pistes and good quality accomodation at reasonable prices.

Ως αξιοθέτατο και στην τοποθεσία που είναι, ακόμα και η διαδρομή είναι υπέροχη. Μεγάλο μειονέκτημα είναι οι εγκαταστάσεις του σαλέ (δεν έχουν καμία γραφικότητα, με άριστα το 10 του βάζω 5), επίσης στο εστιατόριο του αν και ήταν Σάββατο που περιμένουν μεγάλη προσέλευση κόσμου (δεν βρήκαμε τίποτα πρόχειρο να φάμε).

Αν και δεν ειχε χιονίσει τις ημέρες που είμαστε εκει το χιονοδρομικό λειτουργούσε κανονικά.Ζεστή σοκολάτα στο σαλέ και μια αξέχαστη βόλτα με το ερπιστριοφόρο μεχρι την κορυφή του όρους Βόρρας.Τοπίο φανταστικό!!!! Να σου κόβει την ανάσα.Αξίζει όλα τα λεφτά.Μην το χάσετε αν βρεθείτε εκεί.

Ενώ το χιονοδρομικο για τα ελληνικά δεδομένα είναι από τα πιο όμορφα οι εγκαταστάσεις είναι απαράδεκτες όσο αφορά τα λίφτ το προσωπικό αλλά και το σαλέ, πιο σαλέ δηλαδή ένα ότι να ναι κτίριο με πανάκριβο καφέ. Στα λίφτ ενώ την πρώτη μέρα μας βοήθησαν με τα πιατάκια την δεύτερη αφού μας χτύπησαν τα πιατάκια που δεν βλέπαμε όταν ρωτήσαμε γιατί δεν έχουμε βοήθεια μας απάντησαν ότι δεν είναι κάθε μέρα η ίδια!!!!!!! Και καλύτερα μη σχολιάσω την συμπεριφορά στα ταμεία για τις κάρτες απαράδεκτη