Mani Peninsula Stone Coast

Tower villages, bare mountains and a rugged Mediterranean shoreline.

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Why this ride

Tower villages, bare mountains and a rugged Mediterranean shoreline. The road: EO39 and coastal roads. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Kalamata start

   Kalamata is the doorway to the Mani, and the olive capital of Greece, as the dark purple Kalamata olive is known the world over. Groves of olive trees fill the plain of Messenia, and the city sits at the head of the gulf with the great wall of the Taygetos range rising behind it, its summit at Profitis Ilias well over two thousand metres, often capped with snow into spring. The city is a lively mix of seafront, markets and a pedestrian old town, and was rebuilt after a damaging earthquake in 1986.

   It also has a place in the national story. On 23 March 1821, Kalamata was the first major town to be liberated in the Greek War of Independence, and local people celebrate the anniversary. The ruined castle on the hill above the old town, with its Frankish and Venetian walls, looks over the plain.

   The route south enters the Mani, the central of the three peninsulas of the Peloponnese, a stern, rocky land of stone tower houses, bare hills and tiny villages. The road follows the coast, then climbs through hairpins into the interior. The surface is mostly good, and the traffic is light outside the summer weekends. The Taygetos road to Sparta, the Langada pass, is one of the great mountain roads of Greece, cutting through pine and plane forest, with a descent of many hairpins. Be careful with gravel and with goats on the road, and in winter, check for ice and snow.

   Kalamata has over fifty thousand people and all the fuel, food and supplies you could want. Farther south, villages are small, so fill up before you leave. The olive oil is outstanding, and the local figs, honey and pasta are worth carrying away. Order a plate of lamb and potatoes in a taverna, with a village salad and a glass of cold white wine, and enjoy the sea breeze. Ride early in summer, because the sun by midday is strong, and give yourself time at the southern tip, the ancient Cape Tainaron, where the road ends and the sea begins.

2. Kardamyli stop

   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.

3. Gytheio finish

   Gytheio is where this ride ends, and it is a good place to arrive: a small harbour town on the Laconian Gulf, with colourful neoclassical houses along the waterfront, fishing boats tied up in a row, and tavernas where the octopus hangs drying in the sun. About four thousand people live here, so there is fuel, a market and a choice of places to sleep, and Sparta, the nearest larger town, lies about thirty-seven kilometres inland.

   In ancient times this was Gythion, the port of Sparta, and it kept the Spartan fleet. The shore holds the remains of a Roman theatre, and just offshore, linked to the mainland by a causeway, lies the islet of Marathonisi. Homer's Iliad has Paris and Helen stopping on an island called Kranae after leaving Sparta, and local tradition identifies Marathonisi with it. On the islet stands a stone tower, built in the 18th century in the sturdy style of the Mani, a reminder that this region was proud, clannish and used to defending itself.

   The Mani Peninsula is the rugged southern finger of the Peloponnese, a country of grey limestone, tall stone tower houses and little settlements strung along the coastal roads. The riding here is characterful rather than fast: tight bends, narrow villages, surfaces that can be rough, and views over bare hills and an open sea. Goats, small trucks and cyclists share the road, so allow time. Come in spring, when wildflowers soften the rock, or autumn, when the heat has eased and the sea is still warm.

   In the evening, find a table on the waterfront, order grilled fish or something from the nearby sea, and watch the lights come on across the bay. Ferries run from here to the island of Kythira, and the harbour has a working feel that never quite turns into a resort. After a long day over rocky roads, there are worse places to park the bike, sit down, and let the salt air and the sound of the boats do the rest.

Where this sits

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