Mount Olympus is known as the home of the gods, a place of myths and legends. But for the traveler who steps onto its trails, the mountain reveals another world — a living kingdom of plants and animals that few expect to find.
As you climb through its lower forests, the scent of pine mixes with the sweet aroma of wild herbs. Thyme grows in patches along the paths, while oregano clings to sunlit rocks, waiting to surprise you with its fragrance when touched. In the spring, meadows explode in color — orchids hidden among the grass, violets painting the ground purple, and rare alpine flowers that exist nowhere else but here. Each step feels like walking through a secret garden woven into the mountain’s skin.
And then there are the animals, elusive yet ever-present. A sudden rustle might reveal a roe deer leaping gracefully into the trees. Higher up, the cry of an eagle slices through the silence, circling over ridges where few humans wander. Foxes move quietly in the shadows at dusk, while chamois — the mountain goats of Olympus — climb impossible cliffs with a confidence that humbles even the boldest hiker.
What surprises many is not just the diversity, but the coexistence. Myth and nature blur here: the nymphs of the streams could be inspired by the way water dances through mossy stones, while the strength of Zeus himself feels alive in the thunder of wild storms.
The flora and fauna of Olympus are not background details — they are part of the story. They remind every traveler that the mountain is more than rock and legend. It breathes, it grows, it protects life in forms both delicate and wild. To walk Olympus is to walk among gods, yes — but also among orchids, eagles, and creatures that belong to this sacred land as much as the myths ever did.