Leonidio Climbing Retreat

This trip is best suited to climbers who already have some outdoor climbing experience and are comfortable climbing at least 5.9 outdoors, which is roughly equivalent to about 5.10a/b in the gym. It’s designed for climbers who want a week focused on climbing a lot, building confidence on limestone, and enjoying one of Greece’s best sport climbing destinations. Because the program is geared toward more experienced climbers, it’s not the right fit for complete beginners.

If you’re curious about the kinds of climbing available, we’ve included the names of the crags we plan to visit in the itinerary, and you’re welcome to take a look at the routes and grade ranges at each one to get a better sense of whether the trip feels like a good fit for you.

Probably, yes. Lead climbing is absolutely not required for this trip, but climbers with prior lead experience may be able to lead after passing a brief belay and lead assessment at the beginning of the week. Our priority is keeping everyone safe, so before clearing anyone to lead, we’ll want to see that you can manage the rope well, communicate clearly, and lead and belay safely in an outdoor setting.

If you’re not planning to lead, we’ll still want to do a quick belay check so we know everyone is set up to support one another safely.

If leading is something you’re working toward, that can also be part of the experience. We’ll do our best to help you build toward it over the course of the week, with the goal of helping you develop the skills and confidence to do it safely.

We generally have a wide range of ages at our retreats. The average tends to fall anywhere between the ages of 26 to 45. But we have had quite a few women in their 60's join as well. It really is up to the attitude and physical ability of the participant.

In early November, Leonidio usually offers comfortable fall climbing weather. Historically, daytime temperatures are often around the low 60s °F, with mornings and evenings cool enough to want layers. In practice, that usually means crisp starts and pleasant afternoons in the sun.

This trip is capped at 9 guests, which helps create an intimate, supportive, and connected group experience.

She Moves Mountains trips are created for women, and this trip will be led by an all-women guide team. Most guests also tend to be women, so that will likely shape the overall feel of the group. That said, we welcome anyone who feels comfortable in a space that centers women.

Food in this part of Greece tends to be fresh, seasonal, and rooted in simple local ingredients. Meals often include seafood, grilled meats, beans, tomatoes, local vegetables, Greek salads, breads, cheeses, and plenty of olive oil.

We can often accommodate some dietary restrictions, but more combined or highly restrictive needs can be harder to navigate here. For example, if someone is both gluten-free and vegan, their options may be quite limited and meals may rely more heavily on simple dishes like beans, tomatoes, and vegetables. We’ll always do our best to help, but we want to be transparent that not every restaurant in the area will be able to accommodate more complex dietary needs easily.

Yes we have 2 types of payment options:

Please visit our Payment Plan page for more information.

Good question. Let's start with the similarities. Both are world-class climbing destinations, and with very similar styles of rock and movement. They both cater to climbers of all abilities, and are both in staggeringly beautiful settings that are hard to compare. They're also both dreamy, and of course they're both in Greece.

The three main differences are probably in the feel of the towns, the food, and the ease of getting there.

Leonidio is gaining popularity as a climbing destination, but is still a small, relatively quiet village and really feels like an authentic experience of being in Greece. Most cafes and shops are filled with locals, and it's not uncommon to feel like you're getting a very undiluted taste of Greek life. Kalymnos, on the other hand (and more specifically the village of Massouri, where we'll be staying), is an international climber's hub that's been a thing for a long time. As a result, it feels a little more touristy, and as Massouri is mostly a climber's town, you won't likely find yourself the only visitor in any setting. You'll still get a taste of Greece in either and you'll still find plenty of climbers in both, they're just different.

The food is also a bit different in each place. Like a lot of countries in Europe, a lot of dishes are highly regional, so there are certainly some things you'll find in one and not the other. More importantly though, is the effect that tourism has had on shaping the food in each place. In Leonidio, the food tends to be pretty simple and very little of it isn't Greek. It's delicious too, with some of the best eggplant dishes we've ever had, as well as incredible local olives, oranges, cheeses, seafood and local produce. The bakery outside our hotel is also outstanding. What it doesn't have a lot of is fancy restaurants. The breakfasts are amazing and we'll plan on going out together for some really nice meals, some of which will be quite elegant, but a lot are pretty rustic in their charm. Kalymnos, once again, is a little more cosmopolitan in its food offerings. The seafood and Greek food are still incredible, the local Kalymnian Mermezeli salad is to die for, and the locals are magicians when it comes to octopus and squid. Upscale dining options abound there though, and as a result food and drink prices can also vary a lot more in than in Leonidio. That's why we've decided only to include welcome and farewell dinners in Kalymnos, and to let you decide whether you'd like to dine on a budget the rest of the time or go big and splurge.

Lastly, there's the matter of getting there. Leonidio is, we have to admit, a lot easier. On the Leonidio retreat all you have to do is get yourself to the hotel in Athens and after that you won't have to plan a thing. Kalymnos is a little different. Since there are so many options for how to get there (see the FAQ on the Kalymnos page for details), we're going to let you make that choice for yourself. You get yourself to the island and we'll see you there; the rest is up to you. That means that if you're working with a shorter time window, Leonidio is probably a better fit since lining up flights to Athens is easy, but trying to nail the flight and ferry sequence to Kalymnos with no room for error is probably not the vacation anybody needs.

And because nobody is going to be able to resist asking which is better, the answer is neither - they're both incredible!