“Pelo­pon­nese Dis­co­very Tour”

Day 01:

The tour beg­ins at the port of Patra in the after­noon of Sep­tem­ber 24, from where the group takes a short route to the first camp­site.

Day 02: (184 km)

On the second day, the route will be 184 km long, start­ing with a trip from Gian­nis­kari to Foloi Forest, the lar­gest oak forest in the Bal­kans. It extends on a pla­teau that occu­p­ies the sou­thwes­tern slope of Mount Ery­man­thos, 25 km from Olym­pia. It is one of the lar­gest, rarest and most beau­tiful oak forests in Europe with an area of 4200 hec­ta­res. We then des­cend to visit anci­ent Olym­pia. Anci­ent Olym­pia: The Olym­pic Games were held here every four years for over 1100 years until they were abo­lished by Emperor Theo­dosius I in 393 AD. It is one of the most impres­sive anci­ent sites in Greece.

After visi­ting Olym­pia, we will drive to our camp on the beach near the town of Zacharo.

Day 03: Zacharo-Old Mes­sini-Methoni-Pylos-Gia­lova (193 km)

Anci­ent Mes­sini: Anci­ent Mes­sini was foun­ded in 371 BC after the The­ban gene­ral Epa­mi­non­das defea­ted Sparta in the Battle of Leuc­tra and freed the Mes­si­ni­ans from Spar­ta’s rule, which las­ted almost 350 years. The new Mes­si­nian capi­tal was built on the site of an ear­lier fort­ress and was part of a series of defen­ses desi­gned to moni­tor Sparta.

Methoni Castle:
Methoni Castle, built by the Vene­ti­ans on a rocky out­crop in the early 13th cen­tury, is one of the lar­gest in the Medi­ter­ra­nean. You will be ama­zed by the stone bridge with 14 arches that con­nects the castle with the shore, ins­tead of the woo­den bridge that stood in its place before the arri­val of the Vene­ti­ans.

Day 04: Gia­lova (Pylos)-Chapel of St.Theodora-Prodromos Monas­tery-Stem­nitsa (185 km)

In the mor­ning depar­ture to the famous beach “Voi­doki­lia”, the most famous beach of Mes­si­nia and one of the most beau­tiful bea­ches of all Greece! The curve of Voi­doki­lia is shaped like a giant Greek omega, from which two rocky pro­mont­ories define the ent­rance of the beach. White sand, warm tur­quoise water, lush vege­ta­tion and a calm lagoon make Voi­doki­lia beach a true para­dise on earth.

Cha­pel of St. Theodora: A mira­cle of nature.
It was built bet­ween the 10th and 12th cen­tu­ries. Accor­ding to tra­di­tion, the con­s­truc­tion of the church is rela­ted to the mar­tyr­dom of a young girl from the region, whose name was Theodora. This small cha­pel sup­ports 17 large trees that pro­trude from the roof and walls of the cha­pel. Each tree weighs almost a ton and is more than 20 meters high. For hundreds of years, the roots remain invi­si­ble, and the inha­bi­tants could not find a sci­en­ti­fic expl­ana­tion for this phe­no­me­non.

We con­ti­nue our tour to the hills of Mai­na­lon to reach the Monas­tery of Saint John the Bap­tist (Agios Ioan­nis Pro­dro­mos or Pro­dro­mou). The monas­tery was built in 1167 on the oppo­site side of the Lou­sios Gorge, 200 meters from the shore. It flou­ris­hed during the Tur­kish occu­pa­tion and recei­ved many dedi­ca­ti­ons and dona­ti­ons, so it was able to do great cha­rity work. Our camp will be in the fir forest of Stem­nitsa at an alti­tude of 1,250 m. Uni­que high point for our vehic­les in the area.

Day 05: Stem­nitsa-Mega­lo­poli-Leon­tari-Sparta (146 km)

On beau­tiful paths and roads we reach Sparta and our camp­site in Mystras.

Day 06: Mount Mystras-Tay­ge­tus — Skala (113 km)

Mystras: Visit the Byzan­tine city of Mystras and you will auto­ma­ti­cally under­stand why this place is so uni­que among Greek sights. Mystras is one of the cities that have pre­ser­ved not only medieval churches, but also ordi­nary hou­ses, vil­las and palaces from the Byzan­tine Empire.

After the sight­see­ing we cross the Tay­ge­tus moun­tain and our jour­ney ends in Skala, where we set up our camp on the beach.

Day 07: Skala- Monem­va­sia-Rei­chia (144 km)

Among the acti­vi­ties in the Pelo­pon­nese, a visit to Monem­va­sia is a must.
The vil­lage is loca­ted on the east coast of Laco­nia, south of the Pelo­pon­nese. Monem­va­sia is situa­ted on a rock and is con­nec­ted to the main­land by a dike. The pecu­lia­rity of this cita­del is that it is built enti­rely on the rocks and you can see it only by going under the wall that sur­rounds it, a uni­que ent­rance gate. From the out­side it is com­ple­tely unde­tec­ta­ble. Our next camp will be on the beach.

Day 08: Rei­chia-Leo­n­idio- Astros (152 km)

Depar­ture to the small town of Leo­n­idio, sur­roun­ded by huge red moun­ta­ins that give it a spe­cial charm. Break in Plaka: a small pic­tures­que port, with fisher­men taverns. Again we camp on a beach, near the town of Astros.

Day 09: Astros-Naf­plio-Epi­dau­rus-Kan­dia (92 km)

Not on the road today. Free day for vaca­ti­ons and tou­rism. Visits:

1. Archaeo­lo­gi­cal site of Tiryns. Α City built by the Cyclo­pes!
   The fort­ress on the hill of Tiryns (8 km from Argos), which pro­tects the palace com­plex, is such an impres­sive struc­ture that the anci­ent Greeks could not believe that it was built by human hands. Thus, the archi­tects of Tiryns are said to have been the Cyclo­pes, who came to the city from distant Lycia with Proe­tus, the legen­dary foun­der.
2. Naf­plio: In the Pelo­pon­nese you will meet a living city museum with lis­ted archi­tec­ture and maje­s­tic Vene­tian cast­les crow­ning the city Holi­days in the Pelo­pon­nese and an aerial view of Naf­plio: tiled roofs, gray stone, sta­tely homes and a blue-green sea.
3. The anci­ent thea­ter of Epi­dau­rus: a living anci­ent thea­ter, a uni­que archaeo­lo­gi­cal site and the famous Ascl­epius of anti­quity.

Day 10: Kan­dia-Korin­the-Lou­traki-Per­ahora (159 km)

Before set­ting up camp in the after­noon, we will visit the Corinth Canal: the Corinth Canal, an anci­ent dream come true. The canal was finally ope­ned in 1893 after 11 years of con­s­truc­tion. Six kilo­me­ters long, it winds through 90-meter-high cliffs and is a peren­nial favo­rite among sight­se­ers. Our night camp is loca­ted on a beau­tiful beach behind the town of Lou­traki.

Day 11: Per­achora-Lou­traki-Kefa­lari-Kal­lia­noi-Kyl­lini-Lake Tsiv­lou (248 km)

In the mor­ning we cross beau­tiful off-road tracks from the WRC Acro­po­lis spe­cial stages. Our route ends at Lake Tsiv­lou, where we set up camp. Lake Tsiv­lou is an alpine lake loca­ted at an alti­tude of 800 meters above sea level in the moun­tain range of Chel­mos in Achaea.

Day 12: Tsiv­lou-Lake Kalavryta-Pla­ta­nio­tissa-Leon­tio-Patra (117 km)

The town of Kalavryta is one of the most popu­lar win­ter desti­na­ti­ons in the Pelo­pon­nese. This beau­tiful town is loca­ted at the foot of the Chel­mos Moun­ta­ins and is a must visit during the cold months of the year because of its ski cen­ter.

Des­cent to Patra to catch the ferry back to Ancona or embark on the indi­vi­dual jour­ney home.

An exci­ting mix of well-groo­med over­land­ing, light off-roa­ding and breath­ta­king cul­ture awaits us. We look for­ward to many great adven­tures with you! Greece we come.…

Weni­ger lesen…