littlejane

I am hoping to get suggestions for places we could base ourselves in the Peloponnese this summer.

The details are:

Us: me, my husband and 5-year old daughter. We are Grekophiles and have been to Greece many times, mostly in August, so we know what to expect on that front. We want to try new places rather than return to places we have visited before. We love eating out.

When? August 15 - September 1. We will be flying in to Athens late on August 14th and renting a car. Will spend a night or 2 in Athens either at the beginning or the end.

What do we want from our holiday? To relax. This is our annual "down time" in the sun. We love the sea and like beaches so would like to be within 20 mins drive of a nice beach. We would like to stay in a town or village with plenty of tavernas and a nice atmopshere in the evenings. We do get bored after a week in the same place so we like to split our 2-week holiday between 2 different destinations (not necessarily far apart from each other). We don't want to spend our holiday driving but appreciate that we will probably have a long drive at the start and end of the holiday.

Where do we want to go? Well, a few years ago we went to the Peloponnese and spent a week in Tolo followed by a week in Porto Heli. We enjoyed that immensely and visited Nafplio / Epidaurus as well as every beach in that area. The one item we were sorry to have missed was Monemvasia, simply because it was too far to do a day trip. This time we want to visit Monemvasia.

We are looking for: suggestions as to two or three places we could base ourselves for up to a week at a time. We loved Tolo and Porto Heli but don't want to return there as we'd like to visit some new places.

We do want to visit Monemvasia - should we base ourselves there for 1 week? Or is there another nice town we could visit from which Monemvasia would be a do-able day trip? If we did stay there, where would be a good spot to combine it with?

Many thanks in advance

Jane

mr_go

Hi littlejane. Unlike you, we are not frequent visitors to Greece. But our one family trip there was centered on the Peloponnese and Athens... and we enjoyed it a great deal.

While it was a bit too early in the season for us to take full advantage of the beaches, we did find a lot of interesting places to explore at our leisure. Nafplio, Epidaurus, Mycenae, Monemvasia, Mystras, and the Mani Peninsula were highlights.

Here's a good dozen pages of trip report with photos, broken out by destination:

http://www.onelittleworld.com/greece_1.html

Hope it helps!

clausar

Seems that you have been mainly to Northern Peloponnese.
One of my favorite places is the Southern Peloponnese, i love the Finikounda area.
It's a lovely village with a nice sandy beach, there are tavernas and cafes and also many other beaches nearby that you can explore.
One of Peloponnese's nicest beaches, Voidokoilia, is not far away, so are some nice villages like Methoni, Koroni or the nice town of Pylos.
Kalamata, a wonderful city with great nightlife and restaurants is only 40 min away by car.
The Messenian Mani is not far away either, you can do a day trip to Stoupa and Kardamyli, both wonderful villages on the sea.

Monemvasia is about 2 hours away, you could spend easily a few days there, and Gytheion is the main town between Kalamata and Monemvasia, a nice town with great beaches.
South of Gytheion, you can explore the laconian Mani with amazing villages, or even spend a week at Elafonissos, which is an island only 5 min away from the mainland, with fantastic, caribbean like beaches.

yiassas

Yes, Clausar's picked the best spots! I live in the triangle between Koroni, Methoni & Pylos, Finikounda is only 30 minutes away from me. Lots of lovely beaches to choose from (near to us I like Peroulia beach)
Photos of the south west Peloponnese & the Messinian Mani, which includes Methoni (& castle), Finikounda, Koroni (& castle, & Pylos (& castle) among other sites/sights,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yiassas...7624647870023/
Lakonian road trip, including Monemvasia, & Gythio/Areopoli (the Lakonian Mani)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yiassas...7626514959190/
Other parts of the Peloponnese,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yiassas...7625881425523/
I hope that helps you pick out a few choices, tell us what they are, then we can help you work out the best bases & travel logistics!

littlejane

Wow - thanks so much fodorites you have hit the nail on the head! I love the sound of Finikounda, and will have a look at the map (and a chat with the hubby) over the weekend to see where we might make our second base.

In terms of hotel /apartment, we will be looking for somewhere with a pool. Ideally we will want an apartment or apart-hotel so that we can have 2 separate bedrooms within the same unit. I suspect there won't be many places with pool in these areas so we will have to book ASAP...

In Finikounda, Fotis apartments and Tsokas aparthotel both look fine on the internet, but I will have to contact both directly for prices / availability. There are surprisingly few apartments available for rent from owners on the ownersdirect / holidaylettings / holidayrentals sites. Anyway, that's my problem.... Thanks so much for the assistance!

yiassas

Fotis are in an excellent position, in the village & only minutes to the beach & tavernas! I know it is popular, there are repeat guests each year.
I am not so familiar with Tsokas, it is relatively new, but very favourable reports so far. I have looked at a couple of sites & the location of Tsokas is NOT accurate on them, I believe it is the other side of the headland from the village.
Another to consider is Panorama resort, it's the other side of the main road from the heart of the village, but has 2 pools & I know they do 2 room accommodation, I've been in them.
http://www.panorama-resort.gr/index.php?lang=en

yiassas

BTW, if you spot any others I will try to help with location etc, if I'm down that way I can even check them out for you.

littlejane

Thanks a million Yiassas that's really helpful. I'll look into it all over the next few days and I'm sure will be back for help!!

all the best

Jane

littlejane

Hello All

We are still deliberating over places to visit / stay and need to make a few enquiries with hotels to see what avilability is like, and will be back then with more information!

Mr Go, I got a chance over the weekend to read your report properly - the pictures are lovely and it was a great read. I had one question for you - you mentioned "Stopping for a few minutes to take pictures at Gythio, we decided we were glad we hadn't stayed there". Could I ask what it was about Gythio that you were less enthusiastic about?

Thanks a million

Jane

Mantalena

Hi Jane

If you eventually choose Monemvasia it is a good choice. I haven t visited it even I am agreek habitant but from photos and many reviwes is a abeautiful place.
I suggest you to visit the castle of Mystras and the cave of Dirou at Sparti. The tour in the cave is by a boat. It s adorable!!

mr_go

Hi littlejane. I don't actually remember writing that, which means it may well have been ms_go saying that. Either way, we didn't necessarily want to sound that negative about Gythio. When we first started planning our trip, we had considered staying there for 2 or 3 nights... but finally opted for Areopoli instead. I think the implied message there is that we were happy with our choice.

My general impression of Gythio is not that it was a "bad" place to be, but generally less than memorable. In fact, as I type this, I'm having a hard time calling it to mind.

littlejane

That's funny Mr Go! Thanks.

Thanks Mantalena for the recommendations - we definitely had Diros caves on the itinerary - my husband was there when he was about 4 years old and he still remembers it! So we will certainly go there and will put Mystras on the list also.

Chania

I agree with Clausar's recommendation to check out Elafonissos Island. They have a regular car ferry, a short trip from the mainland near Neapoli.
"South of Gytheion, you can explore the laconian Mani with amazing villages, or even spend a week at Elafonissos, which is an island only 5 min away from the mainland, with fantastic, caribbean like beaches." Could be one of the best beaches in Greece. Great little island with some nice restaurants and bars. Not touristy. Mostly Greeks visit from Athens and the fishermen supply fish to Athens restaurants.
http://www.elafonisos.biz/
http://www.elafonissos.gr/en/elafonissos.php

littlejane

OK I am stuck, there are so many appealing options! Thanks for all the input so far. Here are a few possible combinations that we are looking at and would really value your comments.

1. a week in finikounda and a week in nea monemvasia (give or take a night or two). Our question here is really if nea monemvasia is the kind of place you would want to use as a base for a full week? For example, places we definitely want to see are Gythio, Elafonissos and Diros caves and I am not sure how do-able these are as relaxing day trips from nea Monemvasi.

2. a week in finikounda and a week in gythio (visiting monemvasia as a day trip from here)

3. a week in finikounda, a couple of nights in nea monemvasia and 5 nights in either gythio or elafonissos.

4. forget about finikounda (and thereby cut down on a lot of the driving) and do a week in nea monemvasia and a week in either gythio or elafonissos.

All thoughts most welcome!!

Many thanks

Jane

clausar

I would go for option number 3
Finikounda, which is my favourite place, with options for many day trips
Monemvasia, spending 3 nights there i think is enough.
Elafonissos, for relaxing, enjoying good food and a fantastic beach
Diros Cave, Areopolis and Gythio you can see on your way from Finikounda to Monemvasia.
Nea Monemvasia and Monemvasia are practically the same village... Monemvasia is the old village inside the Castle, Nea Monemvasia is the new part just opposite of the castle.

Accommodation in Nea Monemvasia is lower priced, staying inside the castle is more expensive.
I have stayed in both places, but i think coming all the way from the USA to spend just a couple of nights there, spoil your self by staying in one of the fabulous renovated old houses.
Have a look at Ardamis, which in my opinion is the best hotel.

littlejane

Thanks a million Clausar. Just by way of clarification, we are not from USA (from Ireland) so we will have many chances to visit... but the world is a big place and there is so much to see... Thanks so much for your suggestion, it's great to have some guidance. We had been thinking that maybe 3 nights is enough for Monemvasia, and love the look of Elafonissos (but it's hard to find somewhere there with a pool, we have e-mailed one hotel - the 9 muses - which has a pool and await a response.. We love Greek food and seafood, so maybe we should really consider Elafonisos...

Will have a look at Ardamis, thanks a million

jane

clausar

Dear Jane, Elafonissos has such a terrific beach, that i am sure you won't need a pool at all....

Unlike many other islands, Elafonissos was a secret gem, visited mainly by Greeks.
There were no luxury hotels, and definitely no hotels with pools, only private rooms.
In the last couple of years the first hotels made their appearance, but accommodation on the island remains modest.. ( and i hope it will stay that way !! )
I am sure you will fall in love with this island

Chania

Hi Jane, I haven't been to Elafonisos Is. in a few years so I don't recall a hotel with a pool. Like Clausar says visitors go to the island for the beaches, the fresh fish. Also for the greek experience of the village. I have been several times and stayed at Lafotel because it was what I could afford. http://www.elafonisos-lafotel.gr/default_eg.asp
I think the main village is the best place to be located. The beach is about 5 klm from town, about a 30 minute walk or 10 min car ride by my memory. I met campers on the beach that had run into George Bush Sr. walking the beach and it is thought that Princess Diana anchored off the beach here the year before her death. Certainly there are mega yachts anchored off the 2nd beach regularly. I walked to the beach with Greeks visiting from the island of Hydra. If you want a Greek experience then this is a good choice.
I thought Gythio was a pretty port town and a good base for a couple of nights to visit the Diros caves. I also stayed nearby at Limeni which had a nice hotel. http://www.limenivillage.gr/ The village of Areopolis is also a nice visit.
I have been to Monemvasia a couple of times and if I could afford it I would stay in the old town but both times I stayed in the main town which is walking distance away. I believe that I stayed twice at Hotel Filoxenia.

littlejane

Great - thanks Chania. Elafonisos sounds magic (if I had a yacht I would "park" it there Mind you, the whole area sounds great.

At the moment it seems the plan of 1 week Finikounda, 3 days Monemvasia and 5/6 nights gythio or elafonissos. So far, I hear everyone pointing me towards elafonissos and the old town Monemvasia rather than the new.

Any other thoughts / comments welcome! Thanks to all for the contributions so far - really helpful.

jane

Chania

From your posts, I think you are planning on having a car. If so, are you thinking of driving around the loop of the Mani Pen.? It is very scenic if you haave the time. I would consider 2 nights Gythio and 4 nights Elafoniso Island main port.