Walking on real life Altis

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zSpencer
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#1

7 months ago

Introduction
As an Arma III nerd with over 2400 hours played I've always wanted to visit the real life Altis island. This summer, my dream came true.

Not many of us know, but Altis is a digital recreation of a real island in the Greek archipelago called Lemnos.
You can get to the island either by plane from Athens or Thessaloniki or by ferry from Kavala.

I chose the ferry because I was travelling by car. The trip from Kavala to Myrina (the in game Kavala) takes about 4 hours and will cost you around 100 euros for 2 people and a regular car (I recommend to book your tickets in advance to be sure that you have a spot for the car).

If you are travelling light, there are options to rent a car either at the airport or in the city of Myrina. A car is a must on the island because public transport is not available and all the attractions and beautiful beaches are a bit remote.

Pro tip for the true Arma nerds that want to see every corner of the island: I would recommend an SUV that can handle rough terrain because parts of the island are accessible only on dirt roads.

With my fiat panda I managed to get to some remote locations even though I didn't have the time in 7 days to see every corner of the island. I drove about 300 km around the island, most of them on good roads.
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Map of the roads that I covered
I had a strange feeling that I've been to this place before. Every hill sparked a memory, every road I traveled I felt like I don't need GPS. I came to appreciate the work that the developers put into the game even more. The attention to details was on par with what Rockstar Studios does.

It surprised me that the elephant grass is real, the small PO boxes in the shape of churches are real, the scattered chapels all around the island are real. Although Altis is 75% of the size of Lemnos, the difference isn't that noticeable.

I was surprised that the locals didn't know about Arma 3. In my opinion they could have done a better job marketing certain attractions.

Here are some tips:
  • The ancient ruins of Hephaestia, the cave of Philoctetes and the Archaeological Site Poliochni are open from 08:30 to 15:30 and the entrance costs 3 euros
  • If you want to buy some good local wine there is a family winery called Myrm Family Winery that will let you taste all their wines and even tell you about the process of wine making. They have a nice red wine made from an ancient grape variety called Limnio
  • If you want to experience a traditional greek dish I had some excellent lamb ribs with tzatziki at O Merakis local tavern in Tsimandria (in game town of Therisa)
  • All the beaches have very nice sand, the water is shallow, no rocks in the water, perfect if you have kids or don't know how to swim.
  • Try not to photograph any military objective (and there are quite a few around the island). Greek authorities are really serious with this.
From over 700 pictures and videos that I took around the island I've selected 50 of them to recreate in Arma. I will let you enjoy the side-by-side comparisons in the following posts.
Last edited by zSpencer 7 months ago, edited 2 times in total.
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zSpencer
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#2

7 months ago


1/50
Picture Grid Location: 010137
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Arriving in Lemnos by ferry

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Town of Kavala, castle and port

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Kavala seaside view

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Plati Beach, view to SE

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Plati Beach, view to NW

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Picture Grid Location: 044101
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Thanos Beach, view to SE

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Thanos Beach, view to NW

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Picture Grid Location: 045155
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Negades Bay and Agios Konstantinos

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East of Negades, view to NW

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Picture Grid Location: 064152
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On the main road, view of hill NNE of Kavala
31

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zSpencer
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#3

7 months ago


11/50
Picture Grid Location: 031128
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Kavala pier seen from the Old Port

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Picture Grid Location: 072109
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Edessa Bay, view to the SE

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Edessa Bay, view to the W

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Bush and hills, Ammothines Desert

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Ammothines Desert, sunset view

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Baie d'Ammolofi, northern coast of Altis

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Zaros Windmills, view to the E

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Zaros Windmills, view to the NW

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Town of Zaros

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Picture Grid Location: 093109
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South of Zaros, view of the peninsula
Last edited by zSpencer 7 months ago, edited 2 times in total.
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zSpencer
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#4

7 months ago


21/50
Picture Grid Location: 030131
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Kavala Pier, view from Kastro

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Baie de Kavala, view from Kastro

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Kavala Kastro

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The Hospital in Kavala

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Abandoned M24 Chaffee tank

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Baie d'Ammolofi Beach (Gomati Beach)

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On the road north of Abdera

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The small harbor of Neochori

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Altis International Airport

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View from Faronaki peninsula to the SE
Last edited by zSpencer 7 months ago, edited 1 time in total.
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#5

7 months ago


31/50
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Kavala seen from Magos hill

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Radio relay on Magos hill

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Altis Stadium

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View from dirt road to the south of Ammothines Desert

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View from dirt road to the south-east of Ammothines Desert

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Syrta Church

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Hills and road north of Abdera

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Hills and road north of Galati

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Main building in the ghost town

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Salt flats
Last edited by zSpencer 6 months ago, edited 1 time in total.
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zSpencer
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#6

7 months ago

Pictures Post 5/5
To be added soon
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Dandy
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#7

7 months ago

So how were frames in Kavala? :geek:
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Amentes
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#8

7 months ago

Wasn't this the place where some BI location scouts got detained for getting a little too close to some military installations with their cameras?
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Taco
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#9

7 months ago

I love your work so far.
Cant wait to see the other pictures.
Keep the great work up!
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SnierELite
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#10

7 months ago

looking at the #14 picture of infamous Altis bush no wonder arma choppers are so easy to get damaged by those things.

awesome pictures, maybe i will visit Lemnos too in the future.

I tried in the past to convince at work to go on a holiday trip to Greece, to Lemnos, but unfortunately it didn't work out :(
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