Elies Hotel

Activities

• Explore the laid-back village of Kardamyli 1km (15 mins' walk) away, with a sprinkling of cafes and shops (stock up on oil, honey, herbs) and an atmospheric walled hamlet with C18 towers and beautiful churches
  
  
• Swim at the long, empty beach in front of the cottages (pebbly, but better as you go further from the village); or the sandy ones at Stoupa, 10km away
  
  
• Hike the old cobbled mulepaths and tracks between villages – get the excellent Anavasi 1:25,000 map or the Sunflower 'Southern Peloponnese' book, if you can find one
  
  
• One of our favourite routes, from Sotirianika via Kambos to Kardamyli (5 hours), brings you out at the cottages - perfect for plunging into the sea, then staggering the 50 yards to dinner
  
  
• Others take you down the Viros gorge (3-4 hours), up to the the chapel of Ayia Sofia (1 hour), or past Proastio to the hidden cove of Fonissa (2+ hours)
  
  
• Hire a fishing boat and sail down the coast to an isolated cove or village; or swim from Kardamyli harbour across to an islet topped by a ruined Venetian fort
  
  
• Drive down to Areopolis (1 hour+) to visit the spectacular sea-caves of Pirgos Dirou; stop for an iced coffee or ouzo at the fishing harbour of Ayios Nikolaos on your return
  
  
• For (very modest) nightlife, head to Stoupa, the only remotely developed village hereabouts