PeloPonneseTHEM
ANIPeloPonneseGET TINGT
HE
rE & AWAYPeloPonneseM
ESSINIANM
ANIKaterina’s Supermarket (%27210 77777)
Well-stocked supermarket that doubles as the
post office.
Thomeas Travel (%27210 77689; http://www.
thomeastravel.gr; h9am-1pm & 5-9pm Mon-
Sat) Changes money and organises car hire,
excursions to sites, and ferry and air tickets.
Also has a good book exchange and up-to-date
bus timetables.
8 Getting There & Away
Buses stop at the junctions of the northern
and southern approach roads but don’t enter
the town. One bus (two in summer) heads daily
to Itilo (50 minutes) at 2.10pm, and four head
to Kalamata (€4.40, 1½ hours) at 7.30am,
10.55am, 3.50pm and 8.40pm, via Kardamyli.
Get to the bus stop early, as buses sometimes
pass ahead of schedule.
Kardamyli Καρδαμύλη
POP 300
It’s easy to see why Kardamyli (kahr-dah-
mee-lih) was one of the seven cities offered
to Achilles by Agamemnon. This tiny village
has one of the prettiest settings in the Pelo-
ponnese, nestled between the blue waters of
the Messinian Gulf and the Taÿgetos Moun-
tains. The Vyros Gorge, which emerges just
north of town, runs to the foot of Mt Prof-
itis Ilias (2407m), the highest peak of the
Taÿgetos. Today the gorge and surrounding
areas are very popular with hikers, with nu-
merous trails passing through tiny, timeless
villages.
Several scenes from the movie Before
Midnight, featuring Ethan Hawke and
Julie Delpy (released in 2013), were shot
around Kardamyli. The area has also long
been a place of pilgrimage for devotees of
the legendary writer Patrick Leigh Fermor,
who lived in nearby Kalamitsi Bay for sev-
eral decades until his death in 2011. Fermor
fought in the Greek Resistance in WWII and
wrote Mani, which is considered by many to
be the definitive book on the region.
2 Activities
Hiking is easily Kardamyli’s biggest drawcard.
The hills behind the village are criss-crossed
by an extensive network of well-marked hik-
ing trails that consist of old stone paths, mi-
nor roads, dirt footpaths and a dry riverbed.
A number of villages above Kardamyli and
Stoupa are connected by winding, narrow
paved roads, which make for fairly strenuous,
scenic cycling.
Several walking trails pass through the
mountain village of Exohorio, perched on
the edge of the Vyros Gorge at an altitude
of 450m, where author Patrick Leigh Fermor
scattered fellow travel writer Bruce Chat-
win’s ashes. The turn-off to Exohorio is 3km
south of Kardamyli.
Our favourite hiking route around Kar-
damyli include Kardamyli–Aghia Sofia–
Petrovouni–Kardamyli, a gorgeous two-
hour loop from Kardamyli’s old town up
to the Aghia Sofia Church, then a descent
through an enchanted forest to Petrovouni
and back to Kardamyli.
Chora–Likaki Monastery–Kardamyli is
a four-hour descent through the pictur-
esquely ramshackle Chora village, a down-
hill ramble through olive groves and a tramp
through the striking canyon along a rock-
strewn riverbed with a detour to see the
Likaki Monastery frescoes.
Chora–Saidona–Prastio is a 2¼-hour
downhill walk from Chora through the vil-
lage of Nikovo, passing through olive groves
and lush greenery en route to Saidona.
There are fantastic coastal views along the
Saidona–Prastio descent.2407 Mountain Activities OuTDOOrS(%27210 73752; http://www.2407m.com)) (^) S This pro-
fessional outfit offers a range of outdoor
adventures, from half-day hikes (from €50
per person; minimum four people) to full-
day assaults on Taÿgetos peak (€200), rock
climbing (on an 80m-high rock; €40), oc-
casional mountain-bike trips (and advice
HIKING AROUND
KARDAMYLI & STOUPA
To make sense of Kardamyli’s colour-
coded trails and to navigate your hike
above Stoupa, invest in the excellent
Anavasi Topo25 map: Mani: Kardam-
yli–Stoupa–Aghios Nikolaos 8.12/13;
1:25,000, available from village super-
markets. To avoid retracing your steps,
you can get a taxi to drop you off in the
village of your choice (book in advance
via your lodgings) and walk back to
Kardamyli or Stoupa.
Carry more drinking water than you
think you’ll need, a sun hat, a torch
(flashlight) and strong footwear to sup-
port your ankles on the uneven ground.
Watch out for the odd scorpion and
snake (most snakes are harmless).