Smaro was born in Piraeus, lives in Athens, and has family roots in Greek Macedonia. As an undergraduate she majored in sociology and later studied at the School for Professional Tourist Guides and finally went on to complete her MA in Cultural Heritage Studies at University College London. She has been guiding all around Greece since 1998. Fluent in Greek, English, and Italian, Smaro has also lead tours for Stanford, Harvard, Yale and other Ivy League Alumni groups; Swan Hellenic; Abercrombie & Kent; the British Museum; the National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions; the American Institute of Archaeology; the Biblical Archaeology Society; the Smithsonian Institution and several universities. She enjoys reading, traveling, trekking, scuba diving, building in stone using traditional methods, teaching and – still - studying!