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Advice on road condition in peloponnese westside

Posted by on

I programmed to rent car from Athens airport to Stemnitsa, then to Koroni with visiting on the way the ancient Messina archeological site and after that I have to continue to Koroni and at the end I will leave from Pylos to Athens.

1) After leaving the motorway from Athens airport to Stemnitsa , is the road to Stemnitsa mountainous, windy with hairpin turns and therefore difficult to drive?

2)Are they the same conditions on the road between Stemnitsa and Ancient Messina and then to Koroni?

3) To return from Pylos to Athens ,is it recommended to leave the same day of returning the car fixed at 10:00 am or to reduce the stay in Pylos to only 2 nights instead of 3 and leave one day before, either to spend the night near Epidavros to visit the theater for the first time or to continue to Athens. -

Thank you in advance

Posted by
4375 posts

1-2) I probably could not tell you the exact route we took (drove from Kardamyli to Messene to Stemnitsa in one day), but I can tell you there are certainly windy roads in the vicinity of Stemnitsa. I don't think there is anything to worry about excessively unless you have extreme vertigo/acrophobia/nervous driving. I think this will be less of an issue from Athens to Stemnitsa. Possibly a slight consideration for your departure day. Perhaps plug the drive into the viamichelin website and you can get a better sense of the road.
It will be completely worth it--I loved this area! I did not make it as far as Koroni/Pylos, but Messina is extraordinary and I adored the Stemnitsa area. Just take it slow and enjoy the views.

3) I would leave the day before, as a three+ hour drive in the morning on a tight schedule sounds stressful.

Posted by
336 posts

I can't speak to the west side, but I did drive the entire East side of the Peloponnese (Nafplio, Monemvasia, Neapolis, Sparta, Tripoli). The main motorways are pretty good at least out to Tripoli. But those secondary roads in the mountains can be exciting to say the least. Beautiful views but don't take your eyes off the road!!!

We allowed for 5 hours from Monemvasia to Athens to return the car and we were almost charged a late fee when it took us close to 6 hours. Now we stopped for snacks and photos along the way, but it is still a long ride. For a 10:00 drop off, I would consider your alternate plan of driving halfway the day before...

Wish I was going back there!!! Have fun.

Posted by
11179 posts

Cannot address your specific issues, but found the roads to be comparable to their US counterparts.
If you are used to 'flat as Florida' or 8 lane Texas freeways, the experience will be decidedly different.

google shows Pylos to Athens at about 3hrs 30 min; ATH airport close to 4 hrs. I suppose its a question of how early do you want to get up to be sure to be there by 10AM, vs what the late charge might be vs. adjusting your days to have a shorter trip to Athens the turn -in day. That is a subjective choice you have to make.

Happy travels

Posted by
39 posts

Hi Romaris,

There are two ways to Stemnitsa from the motorway. The first is after Nestani tolls and the second at Tripoli. The first one is longer but much easier to drive.

If you drive the same way back and follow the road to Kalamata, you are going to drive a longer but easy route. If you feel more ''brave'' you can drive the shortcut to Megalopoli. I wouldn t recommend it though as the trip to Koroni is long and the part after Kalamata become bad.

I would take the second option. If you haven t been to Epidavros before, this is a good chance to do it.

If you haven 't visited Corinth canal before, do not forget to take the first exit to Corinth right after the Isthmia tolls on your way to Stemnitsa!

Posted by
279 posts

We took some pretty crazy roads to get to ancient Messene from Olympia (thank you confused GPS). I think it's easier to come from Athens.

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