Greece Mani Peninsula Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kalamata

   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.

   Read the complete Kalamata write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kalamata is where the day begins. Next is Kardamyli.

2. 2. Kardamyli

   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.

   Read the complete Kardamyli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kardamyli comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is Areopoli.

3. 3. Areopoli

   On 17 March 1821, in the main square of Areopoli, the Mani chieftain Petros Mavromichalis raised a flag of revolt against the Ottoman empire, and the Greek War of Independence began in earnest. The town was then called Tsimova, and it was later renamed Areopoli, after Ares, the god of war, in honour of the fighting spirit of the Maniots. That spirit is easy to credit when you walk around. The old town is a compact knot of stone tower houses, each with narrow windows and a fortress-like profile, built by rival clans who spent centuries feuding over land, honour and the right to the best olives.

   Read the complete Areopoli write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 81 km into the recorded legs you reach Areopoli. Next is Gerolimenas.

4. 4. Gerolimenas

   Gerolimenas sits in a deep, sheltered bay near the tip of the Mani, and it is the last proper harbour before the land runs out. The name is thought to come from the Greek for sacred harbour, a name that suggests an ancient history, though the village as it stands was developed mostly in the nineteenth century, when the Maniot families made money from trade and the sea. A few tall stone houses stand along the front, with a small quay, a handful of fishing boats and a taverna or two, and the water is startlingly clear.

   Read the complete Gerolimenas write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Gerolimenas, late in the day. Next is Cape Tainaron.

5. 5. Cape Tainaron

   The last proper road in the Mani runs out at a scatter of stone, a lighthouse and a lot of wind, and that is Cape Tainaron, the southernmost tip of mainland Greece. Ride south from Areopoli or Gytheio through the tower-house villages of the Deep Mani and the landscape gets steadily barer: limestone ridges, terraced walls with nothing growing on them, silver olive groves in the folds, and the Taygetos range standing behind you like a wall. The surface is mostly decent but narrow, and goats treat the tarmac as part of the pasture, so ride the blind bends as if one is waiting around each.

   Read the complete Cape Tainaron write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Cape Tainaron. That is the ride.