The Mani is the middle finger of the Peloponnese, a rugged, rocky peninsula that points south toward Africa, and Kardamyli sits on its western coast, at the foot of the Taygetos range. The mountains rise steeply behind the village, with the highest peak at about two and a half thousand metres, and the sea sits right in front, so the whole place has the air of a stage set. Olive groves cover the slopes between the two, and the stone houses and towers of the old village climb the hill above the new one.
The village has a long literary history. Homer mentions a place of this name in the Iliad, and Patrick Leigh Fermor, the British writer and war hero, built a house nearby in the 1960s and lived there for decades, writing a famous book about the Mani. His house is on the coast just south of Kardamyli and is now partly open to visitors. Behind the village, the Viros gorge cuts into the mountains, a walking trail along a stream under plane trees, with small churches and caves along the way.
The ride to Kardamyli from Kalamata is a classic Greek coast road, with tight bends, short climbs and endless views of the Messenian Gulf. The surface is generally fair but can be rough in places, with rock fall and goats, and the road narrows through the small villages. It is best ridden early, in the soft light, before the heat and the holiday traffic. South of Kardamyli, the road climbs into the wild central Mani, with its stone tower houses, bleached rock and almost no trees, and the landscape becomes harder and more dramatic.
Kardamyli is a small place and fuel is limited, so fill the tank in Kalamata, which has about fifty thousand people and all the services you could want. The village itself has a handful of tavernas by the sea, where you can eat grilled fish, local olives and fresh bread, and a few cafés and shops along the main street. Summer is hot and busy, spring and early autumn are much better, and the sea stays warm enough for swimming well into October.