Gytheio: Final Call
And now, with just days remaining, we head to the very last destination of this 12-week tour, down to the coastal town of Gytheio, which neither of us had ever heard of until we started researching where to spend these last few days.
Likewise, we knew nothing of Mystras until we take a diversion about an hour short of Gytheio, and discover a gem of a place – one last terrific historic site before we end this trip. The new Mystras is a lovely little mountain village where, it turns out, we would have been content to see out the rest of our stay.
Way above this delightful village, on Mount Taygetos, are the impressive ruins of the original Mystras, with extensive remains of city buildings, churches, a mighty palace and, on the very top of the mountain, a fortress. This fortified city, built on steep slopes with narrow cobbled streets, became the Byzantine administrative centre and, after surrender in 1460, an Ottoman stronghold.
Second in importance only to Constantinople, Mystras also became a cultural haven, attracting artists, musicians and architects of the highest calibre. Its history reads like a Byzantine Versailles or Florence. We climb through its cobbled streets and magnificent palaces to the very top, for fabulous views across the lush Mani peninsula. A soaring isolated mountain with natural springs surrounded by fertile arable lands seems the perfect setting for a fortified city: no wonder Mystras flourished.
Gytheio (as ever, alternative spellings are available!) looks more Italian than Greek, its colourful 4- and 5-storey buildings putting us in mind of the shores of Lake Garda or perhaps a coast further south. The town fills the narrow space between sea and mountain, the result being a nicely condensed, neat town of smart buildings. Even the derelict ones are rich in character.
A tiny island, Cranae, is these days connected to the town by manmade causeway, but is according to legend the place where Paris and Helen first spent the night together before departing for Troy and igniting the Trojan War. That most auspicious spot is now marked with a lighthouse, though we do also see a handful of locals out collecting the luscious edible snails.
Around the bay from Gytheio is the unusual sight of a shipwreck right on the beach; there are three separate histories surrounding how the Dimitrios came to be grounded in December 1981, mostly related to financial skullduggery, but its final resting place on the sandy Valtaki beach makes it these days something of a novel tourist attraction.
As we thought they might, the customary October rains arrive in Gytheio less than 24 hours after we do, the first meaningful rain we have seen on the entire trip, and this is Day 82. We can’t complain.
Our final sortie is a trip out to the Cave Of Diros, a major network of sea caves which have only recently been surveyed and charted, with so far 14,700 metres of cave mapped out. The tour through the cave – half in rowing boat and half on foot – takes us past a mesmerising collection of stalactites and stalagmites.
From the cave we stop off in the village of Areopolis, where the houses, built or at least faced with local stone, give an appearance of rural mountain dwellings rather than classic Greek architecture. The result is a very quaint and appealing village.
Areopolis village 
Areopolis village 
Areopolis village
Well, that’s it. All that’s left to do now is drive back across the Peloponnese to Kalamata airport, drop off the hire car and head for home. It’s been 84 days, we’ve had a great deal of sunshine, quite a bit of wind and precious little rain. We’ve overnighted in 26 different towns and villages, visited 17 islands; there’s been 11 different hire cars, 22 ferry crossings, 3 long distance bus rides, 3 trains and a whole load of walking. In fact, by the end of Day 83, we’ve walked a total of 631.20 miles at an average of 7.60 per day – and that average includes days on transport. Three pairs of shoes bit the dust and ended up in Greek dustbins.
The trip has given us an in-depth understanding of the Greek islands – we’re probably authorities now – particularly how island hopping has changed over the years and how the 2021 version works. We will explain more on this if and when we do a reflective post.
So all that’s left now is to hope we’ve done our COVID based virtual paperwork correctly.
It’s not been a bad summer one way and another.
20 Comments
Toonsarah
Oh dear, it’s nearly over 🙁 I’ve enjoyed my virtual journey with you and will be sorry to see it come to an end. But it looks like you’ve found a lovely spot in which to spend your final few days. I’m fascinated by Mystras – if it was ‘second in importance only to Constantinople’, how come I’ve never heard of it?! Should I have done???
Phil & Michaela
We said exactly the same! It as apparently the admin centre for the entire Byzantine empire for some considerable time. To the best of our knowledge we’d never heard it mentioned before.
Linda K
Wow what an incredible trip you’ve had and what a long time away. I had to look up where you were on this final stay and I must say it looks like a wonderful place with so much history and incredible places to explore. That monastery looks spectacular perched at the top there. Makes me want to definitely get to Greece one day 🙂 Thanks for all those wonderful photos!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you Linda. We think it’s time to start planning the next one!
Alison
What a truly remarkable trip you’ve had. You really are experts now. This last place you stayed looked so nice and the photos are breathtaking. I’ve really enjoyed your posts, where is the next set of islands?
Phil & Michaela
Ah well, I guess we’ll get into planning next trips very soon, but destinations will depend partly on entry restrictions – avoiding quarantine etc.
grandmisadventures
Such incredible finds in a place you hadn’t heard of before! The fortress is stunning!
Phil & Michaela
Yes it was a decent place to finish off – time to start thinking about the next one now!
Gilda Baxter
I can’t believe how much ground you have covered. It would be very interesting to hear about your reflections and tips on how to do a similar trip. I am sad to see it ending, but I am sure you are already planning the next one.
Phil & Michaela
Hey, hi Gilda. I hope the camino adventure is going well, we can’t wait to read about it when you’re done. Yes we’re going to be planning very soon, we already have some ideas.
Lookoom
It has been a great journey and has fuelled some thrilling stories of the unexpected and surprises combined with touches of culture. Many thanks for this beautiful and inspiring series. I am curious to know what will come next.
Phil & Michaela
Thank you for those comments; much appreciated
WanderingCanadians
Looks like you’re enjoying your final week in Greece. The Dimitrios Shipwreck looks incredible.
leightontravels
Well, as swan song locations go, you haven’t done badly here at all. Love that shipwreck, along with the overall vibe of the place. An epic journey comes to an end. But eh, Christmas back home is just around the corner, which can’t be bad. We are very much hoping for that, haven’t seen my family in a few years. Take care guys.
Phil & Michaela
Cheers Leighton, looking forward to reading about Montenegro
leightontravels
Oh lord, those reports might be a year or two down the line. I can’t seem to catch up.
Joe
You guys made such an amazing and comprehensive trip through the Greek Isles. Your collection of blog posts makes an excellent guide for future island hoppers, like we hope to be. I love the statistical breakdown of your travels, but I don’t see a “new beers sampled” stat. Did you lose count?
Phil & Michaela
Thanks Joe – no, I have the number, we just didn’t want to overplay the stat thing (yet we probably came close to doing exactly that! Oh, and it was 21 different beer brands…
wetanddustyroads
You’ve brighten up our winter with your Greek island hopping tour! Thank you for taking us along and for your entertaining stories and beautiful photo’s! You say 631 miles 👀👀 … Wow!
rkrontheroad
Another hidden gem! Who knew Gytheio was an important cultural center? And how unusual to see a shipwreck still standing after all those years. Glad to catch the end of your journey.