Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
AVLÉMONAS
Maryianni
T
27360 33316,
W
maryianni.kythera.gr.
This bright, pleasantly landscaped complex is the closest
one to the sea. Most rooms are ful
ly se
lf-catering and offer
great views from private terraces.
€70
Sotiris
This taverna, with seating overlooking the
sparkling little cove, offers a wide selection of fresh, well-
prepared and reasonably priced fish dishes (around €10).
Daily, lunch & dinner.
Andikýthira
Thirteen kilometres to the south of Kýthira, the tiny, wind-blown 22-square-kilometre
island of
ANDIKÝTHIRA
(
W
antikythira.gr) is linked to its bigger sister by a sporadic ferry
service. Rocky and poor, and a site of political exile until 1964, the island only received
electricity in 1984, but it has one remarkable claim to fame: the
Andikȳthera Mechanism
(see p.85). Local attractions include good birdlife (a bird observatory has been built in
the old school at Lazianá) and flora, but it's not the place if you want company, with
only 45 residents divided among a scattering of settlements - mainly in
Potamós
, the
harbour, and
Sohória
, the village. Ferries-permitting, the
festival of Áyios Mýron
is held
here on August 17- an annual reunion jamboree for the Andikytheran diaspora.
Recent excavation work above Xeropótamos has revealed the site of ancient
Aigila
, a
75-acre fortress city of the Hellenistic period. At the harbour below are the remains of
one of ancient Greece's best-preserved warship slipways, a
neosoikos
, carved out of the
rock. Archeologist Aris Tsaravopoulos (
T
697 30 50 204) can sometimes arrange
volunteer excavation work at the sites.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
2
ANDIKÝTHIRA
By ferry
Andikýthira has, theoretically, a twice-weekly
summer
Pireás-Kýthira-Kastélli (Crete) run, but landings are often
impossible due to adverse weather.
connection
with
Kýthira
(2hr)
on
the
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Antikythera Rooms
Potamós
T
27360 33004,
W
antikythera.gr.
The only official accommodation on the
island, this set of rooms is run by the local community There
are a couple of tavernas and a village shop at Soh
ória,
but
you'd be wise to bring plenty of supplies with you.
€40
The Máni
The southernmost peninsula of Greece,
the MÁNI
, stretches from Yíthio in the east to
Kardhamýli in the west and terminates at Cape Ténaro. It is a wild landscape, an arid
Mediterranean counterpart to Cornwall or the Scottish Highlands, with a wildly
idiosyncratic culture and history to match. Perhaps because of this independent spirit,
the sense of hospitality is, like nearby Crete, as strong as anywhere in Greece.
The peninsula's spine, negotiated by road at just a few points, is the vast grey mass
of
Mount Taïyetos
and its southern extension,
Sangiás
. he
Mésa Máni
- the part of
the peninsula south of a line drawn between Ítylo and Vathý bay - is classic Máni
territory, its jagged coast relieved only by the occasional cove, and its land a mass of
rocks. Attractions include the coastal villages, like
Yeroliménas
on the west coast, or
Kótronas
on the east, as well as the remarkable caves at
Pýrgos Dhiroú
, but the
pleasure is mainly in exploring the region's distinctive
tower-houses
and
churches
,
and the solitude.
he
Éxo Máni
- the somewhat more verdant coast up from Areópoli to Kalamáta,
mostly in Messinía province - sees the emphasis shift to walking and beaches.
Stoúpa
and
Kardhamýli
are both attractive resorts, developed but far from spoilt. The road
itself is an experience, threading up into the foothills of Taïyetos before looping back
down to the sea.
