5-Day Peloponnese Greece Adventure

The Corinth Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland, arguably making the peninsula an island. Nowadays it has little economic importance and is mainly a tourist attraction. Free entrance.

Ancient Corinth was a great city-state in ancient Greece with a population of 90,000 in 400 BC. The Romans demolished Corinth in 146 BC, built a new city in its place in 44 BC, and later made it the provincial capital of Greece.

For Christians, Ancient Corinth is well known from the two letters of Saint Paul in the New Testament, First and Second Corinthians. Corinth is also mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as part of Paul the Apostle’s missionary travels. Entrance Ticket 8 euro per person.

The Rio–Antirrio Bridge, is one of the world’s longest multi-span cable-stayed bridges and the longest of the fully suspended type. It crosses the Gulf of Corinth near Patras, linking the town of Rio on the Peloponnese peninsula to Antirrio on mainland Greece by road. 

Achaia Clauss is a Greek winery located in Patras in the Peloponnese. It was founded in 1861 by the Bavarian Gustav Clauss. It is most famous for its fortified red wine, Mavrodaphne. We will stop for wine tasting.

The great development of the sanctuary in Ancient Olympia began in the Archaic period as shown by the thousands of votive offerings – weapons, figurines, cauldrons etc – dating from this period. This is when the first monumental buildings were constructed – the temple of Hera, the Prytaneion, the Bouleuterion, the treasuries and the first stadium.

The sanctuary continued to flourish into the Classical period when the enormous temple of Zeus (470-456 BC) and several other buildings (baths, stoas, treasuries) were erected, and the stadium moved to the east of its Archaic predecessors, outside the Altis.Entrance Ticket 12 euro per person.

Overnight at 4-star or boutique hotels such as Arty Grand or Europa or Olympion Asty

Ancient Messene is possibly the most underrated archaeological site in the whole of Greece. This ancient city was, unlike most others, untouched by the later settlements and has thus been preserved outstandingly.

The excavation of this site took place recently compared to the sites of Epidaurus and Delphi, which explains why it’s still an off-the-radar destination. That being said, the archaeological site of Ancient Messene is arguably one of the most impressive ones, given its sheer size. Entrance Ticket 10 euro per person. 

Voidokilia Beach is a popular beach in the shape of the Greek letter omega (Ω), its sand forms a semicircular strip of dunes. On the land-facing side of the strip of dunes is Gialova Lagoon, an important bird habitat. The beach has been named “A Place of Particular Natural Beauty”.

Above the beach is Nestor’s Cave and above this are the ruins of the thirteenth-century Frankish castle (Old Navarino or Palaiokastro). Overlooking the beach at the northeastern end is the tomb of Nestor’s son, Thrasymedes of the Mycenaean period (1680–1060 BC) with Neolithic finds at the same site showing occupation as early as 4000 BC.

In Classical times, the Pylos site was uninhabited, but became the site of the Battle of Pylos in 425 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. Increasingly known by its French name of Port-de-Jonc or its Italian name Navarino, in the 1280s the Franks built the Old Navarino castle on the site. Entrance Ticket 6 euro per person –  valid for Castle of Pylos, Castle of Methoni, Palace of Nestor.

The Castle of Methoni is a medieval fortification in the port town of Methoni, Messenia, in southwestern Greece. The castle of Methoni occupies the whole area of the cape and the southwestern coast to the small islet that has also been fortified with an octagonal tower and is protected by the sea on its three sides. Its north part, the one that looks to land, is covered by a heavily fortified acropolis. A deep moat separates the castle from the land and communication was achieved by a wooden bridge.

The Venetians built on the ancient battlements and added on and repaired them during both periods that they occupied the castle. Entrance Ticket: 6 euro per person  

Overnight in a 4* or Boutique hotel in Vounaria village close by Peroulia sandy beaches like Colonides Beach Hotel or Camvillia Resort

Mystras, the ‘Wonder of the Morea‘, was built as an amphitheatre around the fortress erected in 1249 by the prince of Achaia, William of Villehardouin. Reconquered by the Byzantines, then occupied by the Turks and the Venetians, the city was abandoned in 1832, leaving only the breathtaking medieval ruins, standing in a beautiful landscape.

Many monasteries were founded there, including those of the Brontochion and the monastery of Christos Zoodotes. Under the Despots, Mystras reached its zenith with the building of churches, outstanding examples of Late Byzantine church architecture, such as Hagioi Theodoroi, the Hodegetria, the Hagia Sophia the Peribleptos quarter of the 14th century, the Evangelistria and the Pantanassa. Entrance Ticket 12 euro per person. 

Gerolimenas is a picturesque small coastal village and a community in the municipal unit of Oitylo, at the southern end of the Mani Peninsula. One of the remotest settlements in the Peloponnese, until the 1970s it was reached mainly by boat.

Vatheia is a village on the Mani Peninsula, in south-eastern Laconia. It is known for its tower-houses built on a hill dominating the surrounding countryside. On the hills and mountainsides around Vatheia proper are clusters of abandoned houses, towers and chapels.

As those beautiful villages are by the sea, they offer an abundance of opportunities for impressive photo shooting. The area is famous for its fresh fish served at the seaside taverns which you can enjoy on your lunch break. 

Few people visit Porto Kagio, one of the southernmost villages in the Mani in the Peloponnese. If you’re looking for somewhere at the end of the world, this is it!

Cape Tainaron is the southernmost point of mainland Greece and the second southernmost point in mainland Europe. Near the Cape, there is a cave that Greek legends claimed was the home of Hades, the god of the dead. 

Overnight in a 4* star or Boutique seafront hotel in Kyparissos like Porto Mani Suites

The spectacular cave complex of Diros in the Peloponnese offers visitors the opportunity to travel back to the Neolithic era and even further.

It is not just the drop in temperature that gives you the chills as you descend underground to start the 40-minute boat tour of Vlychada, the biggest cave of the Diros complex.

It is the beautiful and dramatic formations of stalactites and stalagmites, formed millions of years ago, when the sea, located just a few meters away, started to rise and formed the lake we see today. It is the excitement of not knowing what can be hiding in the darkness beyond the illuminated 1.5k route, and the realization of the sheer size of this underground miracle of nature: a series of vast caverns stretching 15k into the rock, with 2,800 waterways – and this is only what we know of so far. Entrance Ticket 10 euro per person

Monemvasia is located on a small island off the east coast of the Peloponnese. The island is linked to the mainland by a short causeway 200m in length. The town walls and many Byzantine churches remain from the medieval period.
Its Italian form, Malvasia, gave its name to Malmsey wine. Monemvasia’s nickname is the Gibraltar of the East or The Rock.

Overnight at 4-star or Boutique hotels like Malvasia  or  Ardamis  or Byzantino or Liotrivi

In the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold that dominated much of southern Greece, Crete, the Cyclades and parts of southwest Anatolia.  At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares.

The first correct identification of Mycenae in modern literature was during a survey conducted by Francesco Grimani, commissioned by the Provveditore General of the Kingdom of the Morea in 1700, who used Pausanias’s description of the Lion Gate to identify the ruins of Mycenae.

Nafplion is a beautiful medieval town, and the capital from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the regional unit of Argolis.

An old fishing village, Tolo is spread out along a lovely beach and its inhabitants are renowned for their hospitality. In its sparkling sea, you’ll be able to enjoy swimming and every kind of water sport. As for accommodation as well as your entertainment, Tolo has many small hotels, restaurants and other family-run businesses that offer the homey hospitality that has come to characterize the place.

The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus is a theatre in the Greek city of Epidaurus, located on the southeast end of the sanctuary dedicated to the ancient Greek God of medicine, Asclepius. It is considered to be the most perfect ancient Greek theatre with regard to acoustics and aesthetics. The monument retains the characteristic tripartite structure of a Hellenistic theatre that has an auditorium, orchestra and staging building. During Roman times, the theatre did not suffer any modifications.

Entrance Ticket 12 euro per person

Later on, your driver will return you back to your residence in Athens or drop you off at the airport, free of charge.

No accommodation for your 5th night is provided.