francebound

Greece in September/October 2024: a week on Milos and 10 day road trip through the Peloponnese

I really can’t thank enough those fellow Fodorites who share trip reports. I learned so much from them, in particular about the Peloponnese portion of this trip. I’m following a format similar to a report by Progol because I found it easy to follow. I also enjoy photography so will share some of my favourite pictures too. It is time consuming to do these reports so I hope anyone planning a similar trip may find it useful and (hopefully) a good read.

Our itinerary: Sep 23 - Oct 14, 2024
Air France Vancouver to Athens via Paris CDG
ATHENS, InnAthens (2 nights)
Ferry to Milos
MILOS, Hotel Rigas, (6 nights)
Sky Express to Athens
Athens Car Rental
DIMITSANA, Deligiannis Archontiko (3 nights)
PYLOS, Karalis Beach Hotel, (2 nights)
MYSTRAS, Mazaraki Guesthouse (1 night)
NAFPLIO, Navria by Aetoma, (3 nights)
MEGARA Cokkinis Hotel (1 night)
Transavia Athens to Paris Orly
PARIS, Hotel Des Tournelles, (2 nights)
Air France Paris CDG to Vancouver

Our flight from Vancouver to Athens
Air France premium economy to Athens via Paris was only so-so. We found the seats quite hard and uncomfortable and service unremarkable. Thankfully our departure and arrival were both on time though. You would think an Air France to Air France transfer at Charles de Gaulle would be easy but international arrivals was a very long way from European departures and there was no spare time.

Athens
We were exhausted on arrival in Athens but a fixed rate tariff taxi to our hotel was easy and we were very happy with our hotel, InnAthens, which offered a good location, quiet sleep and a really excellent breakfast.

After settling in at the hotel we set out to a nearby phone store to buy a sim card that included data plus international calling. I used an Airalo e-Sim, purchased prior to leaving home and it worked out well. I find WhatsApp to work just fine for calls and messaging but my husband likes to know he can use an actual phone line and I must admit it can come in handy.

There is so much to see and do in Athens, but the city was not our focus for this trip. We did however make the most of our 2 days and visited the Plaka, National Archeological Museum, Acropolis Museum, Acropolis and the Roman Agora.


There are some shady spots for a stroll

The Acropolis

How it really looks, you are not alone up there


Grafitti in the Plaka

In the Acropolis Museum: One of the Caryatids. I like this photo because it reminds me of what our son, now an adult, might have done in the museum, ie ignore ancient treasures to talk with his friends about who knows what but probably sports.

Our only unpleasant experience in Athens involved a taxi. The driver claimed the €20 bill we handed to him in payment was in fact a blank piece of paper which he showed us (after sticking the cash we gave him out of our sight). We had no way of proving we had in fact given him the cash and so were out an additional €20 on top of what should have been a €10-15 fare. We didn’t know what to do, perhaps we should have just got out of the car, walked away and let him continue shouting at us. Our concierge said we could try and report this scam - we did take a photo of the licence plate - but we decided to not waste our time. She said it’s better to use Uber as no cash is involved.

Ferry to the island of Milos
We had booked our tickets on the Ferryhopper App and our seats were assigned. We worried a little bit about finding the right place to board our ferry in the giant port of Piraeus but once our taxi driver knew the gate he dropped us right where we needed to be.

Milos
We stayed 6 nights in Adamas at the Hotel Rigas. We were a little disappointed at first as our room was a little utilitarian and no view of the sea which we should have realized. But we learned to like the hotel, the two brothers who run it and their mother who made the delicious baking that accompanied every breakfast. We really didn’t spend much time in the room and it was nice and quiet for sleeping.

While on Milos we traveled by bus, unusual for us, but for €2 air conditioned Mercedes-Benz buses would take you pretty much anywhere on the island you wanted to go. They were almost always exactly on time too, amazing. We did say that if we were ever to come back to Milos we would choose to stay in the village of Pollonia rather than the port town of Adamas and we would rent a car just for the flexibility that allows. However the bus was an unexpected, cheap, and easy way to get around.

We don’t like to lie around on beaches in the sun but we do love to swim and the swimming on this trip was delightful. We wanted to travel to Greece a bit off-season but at a time when the sea would be warm enough, and it worked out perfectly and we were in the water every day except in Athens and in the mountains of the Peloponnese.

Some views of Milos

Sunset from Plaka

Plaka Taverna

Tiny church in Pollonia

Sarakiniko

A replica of Aphrodite of Milos on the island where she was found

The colourful village of Klima



Paliochori

Not interested in eating octopus after watching "My Octopus Teacher" but it's a very popular menu item




Minerals such as perlite cause the water to look this colour

Exploring Kleftiko and it's caves by boat

AnselmAdorne

I'm along for the ride, francebound, as we are thinking about Greece next fall. You take great photos!

francebound

Thanks AnselmAdorne I use a lowly iPhone12 but mostly it works if the light is good. I hope you enjoy planning your trip to Greece, it's half the fun isn't it? Looking back at my "help me plan my trip" request I realize again the help received from progol, KarenWoo, FTOttawa, kja, HappyTrvlr, and others who posted their trip reports was so helpful. If you do plan on traveling to the Peloponnese I would recommend this guide book too: https://www.bradtguides.com/product/...peloponnese-4/

francebound

Flying from Milos to Athens
Before seeing all the very negative reviews about Sky Express we had booked them to fly back to Athens where we were picking up a car to begin our road trip. Apparently the runway on Milos is short so it is necessary to keep the plane's weight down, especially if the weather is poor. Sometime luggage gets left behind as a result and is put on the ferry, so we fussed to make sure our bags would get on the plane with us as carry-on, under the 8kg limit. And we had stored a piece of luggage at Athens airport the previous week at https://www.care4bag.gr/ to pick up on our return from Milos, thinking how smart we were.
Well of course we encountered no weighing of baggage, it was a beautiful day and everything went smoothly. But we never knew if some of our fellow passengers with big heavy bags ever saw those bags again.

We were met in arrivals by a rep from Athens Car Rental https://www.athens-carrental.com/site/index/en, a company I had read about on this forum. We were signed up and on our way quickly to the car which was in the short term parking lot right across from the airport, so easy. We got a nice little Toyota hybrid with Apple Carplay, very helpful when using google maps.

Driving in Greece is great and the roads are excellent for the most part. Lots of tolls but they are easy to pay with a credit card as long as you go to the right booth. We had a gorgeous drive once through the Athens ring road traffic over the Corinth Canal all the way to Dimitsana where we were booked for 3 nights at Archontiko Deligianni.


The view of Dimitsana from our window

One of our lovely hosts at the hotel, Anna. Her son Peter runs the hotel with her. Peter also has a farm and the breakfast table includes homemade jams and marmalades, their own honey and pears. "Real organic", Peter said, "not grocery store organic". Also the most delicious yogurt.

Our plans included hiking in the Lousios Gorge

kja

I’m glad you found my response helpful! The Peleponese is delightful, isn’t it?

FTOttawa

You made some great choices! Following with interest.

francebound

Nice to know someone is following along, thanks kja and FTOttawa

​​​​​​The small town of Dimitsana is a popular weekend destination for Athenians and there is an alpine feel about it. Hearty meat dishes and potatoes feature on the taverna menus. We heard German and French spoken and we shared a table with a couple from the Netherlands.

In the morning, armed with a map from Peter and instructions to call him when we arrived at the Ancient Gortys so he could phone a taxi to bring us home, we set off on our hike in the Lousios Gorge. The day was beautiful and the scenery spectacular.

We got a bit lost and ran out of time to go inside the monasteries we wished to visit as they close from 1-5pm. Thankfully they are quite accessible by car albeit on long, twisty roads so we did that the following day.

Another view of Dimitsana

The ruins of Old Philosophou, founded in AD960, a few frescos still visible in the old church

Old Philosophou Monastery is almost invisible from across the gorge as it blends into the rocks so perfectly

Prodromou Monastery, across the gorge, dedicated to John the Baptist, clings precariously to the cliffside.

Prodromou Monastery is still active, we returned the next day

Here is another ancient ruin, me after a 5 hour, 11km hike, up and down the mountainside

The end of the hike but we could not get a signal to call our host! We waited until a nice French couple came by to help us. Apparently you must stand in the "right spot"

francebound

We visited the quiet village of Stemnitsa where we peeked into the Saint Georgious Orthodox Church

No village square is complete without a table with men chatting over coffee

francebound

A final note about Dimitsana, the Water Museum is very interesting and informative and worth a visit. It is open-air and gives insight into the early industrial life in the Peloponnese. There are videos with English subtitles and we learned how gunpowder was made, one of the exhibits is a water powered powder mill.

Our final morning we awoke to a tremendous thunder and lightning storm and rivers of rain running down the road. Very dramatic, but thankfully over and done not long after breakfast so we were on our way to our next stop, Ancient Messene.
​​​​​​

FTOttawa

Those looked like challenging hikes. Envy!

shelemm

That is one grisly angel warrior standing on the old dude with a sword in one hand and a cane (?) in the other. Plus there is a small naked marionette (?) next to him. Now that took a vivid imagination. Or some psychedelics.

Seeing a hanging monastery is a special treat. I have heard that Arcadia is a tremendously special region to visit, and now I see why.

dreamon

Thank you for writing, francebound, it's good to hear of your experiences. We hiked some of the Menalon Trail over one week last year and found Arkadia to be extremely beautiful (the only fly in the ointment being dogs on the way).

francebound

FTOttawa, Yes, a challenging hike and I was too tired afterwards to even think about going out for food but then I thought about the french fries in this one taverna....

Yes, shelemm, I would like someone to explain what is going on with that angel warrior...

dreamon, yes it is so beautiful there and a hikers seventh heaven. A special memory I have is when I paused for breath near the start of the hike to admire a small orchard and the woman tending it. She looked quite old but could have been my age (68), who knows, but she saw me and came over to pass me through the fence 2 ripe pomegranates as a gift.

francebound

Ancient Messene

We followed the guidebook suggestion and drove past the main entrance to the Arcadian Gate to see the ruins of the city walls and watchtowers. The wind was blowing and rain was lightly falling and no one was around, it was amazing.

We considered ourselves lucky as the marginal weather meant fewer people in the huge main site, and it was nice and cool. The rain did stop and there was so much to explore in the upper area. But what a Wow moment when we continued to walk downhill and the large stadium came into view, what an unforgettable sight.


Remains of the Arcadian Gate, an ancient portal


Ancient Messene had 9 km of walls running around the city and up to the acropolis on Mt Ithome, faced with quarried stone blocks fit together without mortar and filled with rubble.


On entering, the theatre is in front of you with a view of everything but the stadium down the hill. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.


The stadium, used by the Greeks for athletics, later turned into an amphitheatre by the Romans and used for gladiator and animal fights.


We heard about the the wild spring flowers of the Peloponnese but these wild cyclamen were showing off in October.

francebound

Pylos

After a very long day and questionable directions from google we arrived in Pylos, situated in beautiful Navarino Bay. Our hotel was right on the water, the Karalis Beach Hotel https://www.karalisbeach.gr/
We got an off-season rate of 90€ per night, a great deal considering the location and delicious breakfast. However, the door of our ground floor bedroom opened right out onto the beach bar and I would have been really unhappy about that had the bar been open, but hallelujah it was closed for the season. Win win: no music and bar patrons going till the wee hours but the use of a beautiful patio area with swimming access to the sea.

We decided on 2 nights in Pylos and made the decision to skip the Mani in order to keep to a more laid back itinerary and we were satisfied with that choice, although another day in Pylos would have been nice if only to enjoy our patio views. But we managed in one day to visit what turned out to be our favourite castle in Greece, as well as a world class beach.

Beautiful Navarino Bay.


We had to imagine the extraordinary naval battle fought here on Oct 20, 1827 between the Ottomans and a joint navy of British, Russian and French ships, the 30 allied ships triumphing over the much larger Turkish fleet.

francebound

Methoni Castle

A fortification since ancient times, with French, Venetian and Ottoman influences. Lots of nooks and crannies to explore. It’s very picturesque and my husband’s favourite castle that we saw in Greece.

It was a hot day at high noon and we really baked inside the castle walls with the sun beating down, so we had a nice swim afterwards at the beach below the castle.


The sea fort built on an islet to the south of Methoni castle, known as the bourtzi, served as a seat for the guards that survey the harbour, as a lighthouse, a prison, or even an ultimate shelter for the inhabitants in times of siege.


Voidokilia Beach

We drove to Voidokilia (translation: Ox belly) as it sounded so beautiful we really wanted to see it. Not uncrowded on a sunny Sunday, even in October, but pretty darn idyllic as beaches go, no facilities, just dunes, beach, and a warm sea. Lots of families but several au naturel sunbathers as well.

kleeblatt

Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to more.

francebound

On our way to Mystras via the Langada Pass


We decided to take Route 82, Langada Pass, between Kalamata and Sparta where we had a reservation for the night at the Mazaraki Guesthouse, it's located a few minutes by car to the the upper gate of Mystras https://xenonasmazaraki.gr/#
We wanted to stay overnight so as to enjoy the drive and Mystras the following morning before continuing on to Nafplion.


Living in North Vancouver we have our share of mountains and scenic drives and my husband has driven the sea to sky highway to Whistler hundreds of times, so he was not intimidated by thoughts of mountain driving, switchbacks or overhanging cliffs. His comment was: Don’t drive it in bad weather or at night (obviously, not very scenic at night).


Compared to some of the roads we drove around Dimitsana the route was fine and the scenery was beautiful, rocky and severe in places and lush with gorgeous pine forests in others. It was wide enough for 2 cars and well paved. There are places to pull over and stretch your legs to admire the view.


It helped that we did not get stuck behind any really slow cars or meet much oncoming traffic. There are some hairpin turns to be sure but the experience was altogether way more fun than sitting on an easy freeway to get to the same place in about the same amount of time.



​​​​​​The Mazaraki Guesthouse was a wonderful place to stay. We had the Pomegranate room, close to the pool and with a lovely garden right off the private patio. A highlight was breakfast the next morning delivered to the door which included fresh orange juice, fresh fruit, good coffee and homemade baking.

francebound

Mystras


We arrived at the upper gate not long after opening and climbed to the castle, enjoying the views of Sparta and the surrounding countryside along the way. The formidable fortress is perched up high, overlooking the region, while the remains of the town, homes and churches spill downward towards the Mystras’ lower section where daily living took place.









Returning to our car we drove down to the entrance to the lower town to explore it before repairing to the town of Mystras for lunch.








These earrings in the museum show that styles haven’t changed much since the 14th century


In the town of Mystras we sat At O'Ellinas where the tour guides, on a break, were eating, and that proved to be a good idea. Even though it was a very warm day that didn’t call for a hearty meal, I remembered to order what I referred to as progol 's moussaka. She said was the best they had in Greece. It sure was good!, so I hope she sees this.

Adelaidean

Enjoying your report, and your photos are lovely.