The small town of Xylokastro, whose name means “wooden castle”, is a typical small Greek coastal town. Its 11.000 residents live off the land, cultivating orange, citrus, olive and apple trees, as well as vines for the production of both wine and raisins.
Xylokastro is bordered to the North by the famous Gulf of Corinth, a strip of sea that separates the Peloponnese from mainland Greece. From the city’s long seafront promenade, which is littered with tavernas, bars and clubs, one can gaze at the opposite coast with its backdrop of majestic mountains. In the summer, the bay of Itea, on the foot of the Delphi sanctuary, seems but a swim away! On clear winter days the snowy shimmering peaks of Mount Parnassos, the Athenians favourite skiing mountain, provide the perfect background for a romantic stroll!
To the South, the city is bordered by Mount Ziria, a mythical place, where Hermes is said to have hidden the immortal cows he stole from his brother, Apollo. It is worth going up the mountain and visiting its picturesque villages, such as Trikala, Manna and Zemenos, where various local festivals take place throughout the year. It is worth keeping in mind that these mountain villages, and many more, belong to the administrative municipality of Xylokastro, which therefore offers visitors both sea and mountain landscapes. The mountain has well signed mountain paths, ideal for hiking, riding and even Nordic skiing! There is also a small ski resort with two baby lifts.
Xylokastro is traversed by the river Sythas, which comes from the mountain above and flows into the sea near the marina.
Xylokastro has been a favourite holiday resort for Athenians since the beginning of the previous century. The now almost abandoned hotel “Arion” on the beachfront is a reminder of the opulent life rich vacationers led here during the long, hot Greek summers! Today, few buildings remain from that pretty period. Most of them can be seen on the city’s backstreets, walking towards the train station. In fact the old train station has also been left standing and is a rare beauty! If you have time, stroll around and try to imagine what life must have been like a century ago in this fantastically located small town, with its citrus trees and lemon groves…
Read here an article about contemporary Xylokastro, written by Dafni's grandmother, Danae, in... 1940! Its romantic aura will surely leave you spell-bound!
Since its golden period, Xylokastro has periodically gone up and down the list of Athenians’ top 10 destinations. Its latest upwards trend was in the late nineties, when its night clubs became so trendy that clubbers would travel 140 km from Athens just to go out here and drive back in the early morning! While this period left in its wake little beauty for future generations, it had the effect of putting Xylokastro on the map: a number of European and international sports events took place here during that period, among which the International Beach Volley Championship and the European Veteran Amateur Beach Soccer Championship.
Today you have a lot of good reasons to visit Xylokastro during your stay at Daphne’s Club Hotel Apartments. Some are practical: it is here that you will find supermarkets and open-air food markets. Some have to do with your entertainment: it is here that you will find restaurants, bars, cafés, clubs, two open-air cinemas and one open-air theatre. You will also go to Xylokastro for the tennis courts of the tennis club “Sythas” and its football, basketball and volleyball fields. If you are travelling somewhere by railway, you will go to Xylokastro to take the train.
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But the best reason to go to Xylokastro is to experience real, contemporary provincial Greece. Not being a typical tourist destination Xylokastro has not gone through a phase of adaptation to tourist expectations. This can be seen in everything, from food to transportation. For those who cherish socio-anthropological observation Xylokastro will be paradise for watching the Greeks!
Buildings worth seeing in Xylokastro are the town hall, the old train station and the old hotel “Arion and the main church on the central square, all dating back to the beginning of the last century, and the Church of the Virgin built recently but in the “palaiochristian” style typical of the time of Emperor Constantine.
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For more information in Greek visit www.xylokastro.gr and www.xylokastro.com
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The Area 
