Mygero Refuge - Mygero Refuge

Nice view for the whole island. You Can reach the top easily, just follow the path

Don't believe everything you read. We saw a number of horrific stories saying how well prepared you need to be to make the climb to mount Ida (Trekking shoes, windbreakers, ultralight backpacks, the whole lot.) That said there was a couple behind us where the girl walked up in flip-flops, short pants, tank top and a beach towel and had a really decent tempo at it. Ourselves we used a large 1.5l water, one poweraid and a couple powerbars/banana per person for the whole trip. We walked up in running shoes and that was just fine. We started in a t-shirt and long pants, about halfway up added a thin sweater and then near the top added another thin sweater which made us warm even with the high winds. The extra layers are just for the climb as the hut at the top breaks the wind nicely. It took us 2.5h to go up at normal tempo with small breaks. And 2 hours to walk down at a slower/careful tempo. The road up to the refuge was in brilliant condition, smoother than expected with less than a handful of potholes over the stretch from Livadia village to the refuge. As for the path from the refuge to the top of mount Ida. Approx 40% from the start is a solid path built from large stones or chiseled in rock. Alternates between flatter steeper a few times. Then there's some 20% where the path turns to medium/small loose rocks. On the steeper side but still pretty easy. Afterwards the path joins the larger E4 route, it flattens out a bit and the last 40% are nearly all solid with the path chiseled in the mountain. It was an amazing day trip and we're very happy we decided to go. The views are incredible.

If you are planning to go up the mount Ida, this is your starting point. Free parking. The path up the mountain starts near the refuge. Just watch for goat and sheep on the way to the refuge and for the stones on the road too. The refuge itself is not maintained well but can provide a shelter in bad weather.

August 2019 , Nothing to see . Just a parking , no water , no toilette (the existing were horrible- similar to "trainspotting") , no info about the place the trail or the mountain , no spot to eat or drink your stuff avoiding the sun . The trail is easy to find and will take you 2-2,5 hours to the top "timios stavros" . Is only uphill and for summertime you will need 1,5 litter of water for safety . The view from the trail is outstanding .

Nice experience. Not to difficult but we ware there in July and the wind was really strong. I was actually cold ? in t-shirt.

Upd. sept 2021: the incorrect route appears to be fixed on google maps. Ok, so this is very important. Even on that one hot July day we were not the only ones who got lost driving to this place. Google really insists on taking you to the road that doesn't exist. I read about it before we went, but we still missed the turn and lost about 90 min trying to get to this place. Specifics: Google suggests three routes south from Krana. Google really insists that you take the east-most one, as it looks the shortest (maybe 2 min shorter?). DO NOT DO IT - there is no road. Not just unpaved or a trail, there's literally no road for a few kilometers, and it is blocked off by a fence, you can't even hike it. I have no idea why google keeps forcing people to go there when no one could have possible driven there, ever. Solution: set the directions for Krana, once you are there go through the Krana village to Livadia, then set GPS to Mygero refuge and make sure you do not go back through Krana, take the west-most route instead. I also tried setting GPS to Livadia, but google didn't find this village easily, make sure it is not Livada. So I would stick with directions to Krana for sure. Good luck! The refuge itself is notthing special, but it is a free parking for the mountain hike, so it does the job. I will write a review for the mountain on the page about the mountain.

We enjoyed the view alot. On our way to the top we lost the path, but made it through another more difficult one. On our way down we saw that the path is actually quite clear. Calculate 3-6 hours depending on your skill. Pack a jacket for the top, even in summer.

It does its job by providing free parking space, pity the refuge's interior has been devastated by filthy tourists and is not maintained. Directions from Google Maps were correct for me and I had no problem getting there. But beware - although the road is 100% asphalt, it is still a wild terrain with fallen rocks or goats blocking the road :)