Fodor's Expert Review Haihoutes

There was no grand reason for the abandonment of the hill village of Haihoutes; its 450 villagers just ebbed away over time, drawn to the more profitable, fertile plains below until, by the 1970s, no one remained. What was left behind crumbled due to neglect and earthquakes, then hikers discovered it and Haihoutes grew a reputation as a scenic ghost town. By 2013, a local couple had moved in and opened up an excellent taverna (closed Mon.) among the ruins, reviving the old village kafeneio. They cleaned up the church and created a small museum in a renovated house that documents what the village was like here. It's rather eerie to wander the parched ruins, but life is slowly bleeding back into the village; there's even a renovated B&B here now (rented through AirBnb), so you can stay overnight.