I definitely recommend taking a trip to Raches. Raches is the trademark of Ikaria, some call us the Gauls of Europe!

In Raches the clocks tick differently! Our village is famous for its very own relaxed atmosphere under the hundred-year-old plane trees, and the epitome of the mentality of the Blue Zones, the island of the immortals…

Also spelled Christos Raxes or Christos Rachon, or Raches for short (emphasis on a), is a beautiful, very special village in the mountains 5 kilometers above Armenistis. Christos Raches was the administrative seat of Westikaria, which until 2010 was an independent municipality alongside Agios Kurikos and Evdylos. Even after the merger of the three administrative districts due to the financial crisis, Raches remained the regional capital. There are schools (kindergarten, lower and upper grades), health clinic, pharmacy, post office, ATM, gas station, a sports field and many small shops and coffee houses, which are grouped around the town center. You will hardly find any residential buildings, you may wonder where they are: they are scattered, almost invisibly embedded in the surrounding area. A remnant from the pirate era, when people still had to hide their houses as well as possible…

During the day it is particularly beautiful around lunchtime. Treat yourself to a Greek frappé under the cool plane trees and watch the cozy village life! But be careful: I mean, of course, the Greek lunchtime, i.e. between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.! Then the otherwise sleepy-looking village suddenly fills with people and children. People shop, stroll, have a chat over coffee under the shady plane trees and of course play Tavli passionately.

By the way, my shop is in Raches in the middle of the Platia, just ask for Ursula…

The special flair of Raches is due to the fact that it is still an intact, authentic Greek mountain village that does not live largely from tourism but from the locals. Tourism is very small in Raches and actually only consists of Greek “tourists” in August. Most of them are second and third generation Icarians returning home in the summer to visit their grandparents and relatives.

Be careful with business opening times! Raches lives by the sundial! A kind of Gaulish village, or Asterix village, referring to the menhirs at the three village entrances. It has also become famous under this name in Greece and several documentaries have been filmed here and countless articles have been written about it. There is a persistent myth circulating that everything is closed during the day and the residents are asleep and that village life only takes place at night. Of course that’s nonsense! The coastal villages also like to spread this myth to stop guests from going to Raches during the day and keep them in their own villages on the coast.

What is true is that the shops are open in the morning from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. After that it’s siesta. In the evening the opening times depend on the sun, i.e. as soon as the sun goes down. In winter the shops open at 6 p.m., in midsummer only from 8 p.m. and if you want to see the place and its residents in action, then you should only show up here after 9 p.m. in August. (I’ll tell you why that is the case another time, it’s a long story…) Then the place really awakens and exudes its very special atmosphere. At that time it was bustling everywhere. You shop in the “mom and pop shops” (so you can buy sugar, rice or toilet paper until 3 a.m.), you sit together with an ouzo or tsipouro (the local home-made distilled spirit), play Tavli, watch football on the “ Open-air TVs or listen to live music if someone is in the mood to sing, and even later village life goes on in the open-air bars in the Platia until the early hours of the morning. You can’t describe this mood with words. Go there and experience it for yourself!

Unfortunately there is no public transport. So you need a rental car or you’re hiking.

There are two roads from the coast to Raches. One branches off between the two large sandy beaches of Messahti and Livadi and leads via Agios Polykarpos and Agios Dimitrios in long serpentines to Raches. After a few bends you pass a gas station.

The other turns steeply off the coastal road in Armenistis, just to the left of the confectioner’s shop, and leads via Agios Dimitrios through the pine forests to Raches. Also on this route you will come to a gas station just before Raches.

A hike from Armenistis or from Nas in the Chalaris Valley to Raches is a must for all nature fans. Both lead through the shady pine forests and offer breathtaking views of the magnificent landscape every few meters.

Raches at Wikipedia