peloponnese drive

I spent 13 days driving around the Peloponnese from flat, curvy, along the coast, in the mountains and in very rural areas.

I used Google Maps and always had reception on my cell phone.

It's not perfect and got "confused" a few times but got me where I wanted to go.

Some type of navigation system is recommended especially in the more rural areas.

"HERE WeGo" is a good alternative to Google Maps, moreover it allows to pre-download the whole map of Greece and no longer consumes data on the road while Google Maps only downloads partial areas.

We spent 2 weeks driving in the Peloponnese last summer (solo mom with tween daughter). Was surprised how easy it was and how well GPS worked.

We spent 2 weeks last April in the Peloponnese with a car. Based in Gythio and Nafplio. Day trips from Gythio to Monemvasia, Kalamata, Diros Caves and local area. Monemvasia drive was very easy. Diros Caves road curvy but okay. Sparta to Kalamata was an adventure - not to be repeated. The road west from Sparta is scenic, narrow and super curvy - okay if you are experienced with mountainous driving. But for our trip, there was road work on the west side of the divide that sent us down a narrow track not even suitable for a donkey. Anybody living on this road (and there were plenty) would be unlikely to venture into Kalamata more than once or twice a year. If the road is still under repair and the detour offered (most probably); refuse, turn around and go back to Sparta. Stop by Mystras - well worth the time. Or better yet, take the highway/toll road NW from Sparta thence south to Kalamata. We had done the day trips around Nafplio in 2018 - all easy. GPS mapping on HereWeGo worked well everywhere. The only thing different from our norm was that the vehicle ENTERING the roundabout has the right-of-way. Most drivers did not push the issue. And speed limits are treated as suggestions by locals - just don't you get caught going as fast!

This is very helpful information! When you were doing the driving, did you find interesting reasons to stop, or was it pretty much point A to point B?

On the toll roads, we did not see any reason to stop except at a "service area." They are frequent with fuel, food (so-so) and restrooms (clean). When traveling local roads, stopped as often as we found something interesting/picturesque with good parking. Also on local roads, when I collected a train of 3 or more vehicles, I pulled off where possible. Our rental car had a gps-based speed limit notifier with an irritating display. As I mentioned, we had been warned about speeding - some places use cameras. In general, driving in Greece (other than Athens) is easy. It is the parking that is difficult! It helps to park like the Greeks - show creativity and squeeze in. It is amazing how maneuverable those small cars are. Greek drivers are pretty good (sometimes not as good as they think) and do not want to ding their (for them) expensive vehicles. Being over aged for some car rental outfits, we had to shop for no age limits as well as $$ and rental conditions. We ended up at Sixt and a Hyundai i20 (Opel Corsa class) 5 speed manual and gas/petrol engine - comfortable for 2 with 2 suitcases. It did have a very irritating safety package and, of course, the manual was Greek to us. Google helped to turn off the worst.

On one of our first drives in the Peloponnese we planned a 4 hour drive from Nafplio to Monemvassia. There was so much unexpected sites we just had to stop and see that it took us 11 hours to do that drive.

On another drive when we stopped at Mystras ( this is a great site its the last Byzantine city and is well worth a visit) our GPS took us on an unusual route including a drive on a dirt road through an olive grove. Our faith in GPS was tested but it turned out there was a marathon race on that day and the route GPS chose allowed us to by pass the runners.

Another thing we have learned is have a paper map so you can follow along where the GPS is taking you. Who would have guessed that there are 7 places called Meteora in Greece. We had the wrong one entered in the GPS.

Anyway its a great adventure to explore the Peloponnese.
For fun here are a few images of our last trip.
Peloponnese, Mani and Monemvassia. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711323535897

Just to add about driving in the Peloponnese.

I spent 13 days there with 3 in Nafplio, 5 in Gythio and 5 in Petilidi.

It was a wonderful 13 days but involves far more driving than I would have liked.

However, if you want to see all the wonderful areas of the Peloponnese then it involves driving.

You'll spend more time than you thought driving from Point A to Point B especially on secondary and rural roads but the scenery was spectacular as you'll discover the Peloponnese is one of the best parts of Greece. If the "Old Greece" exists anywhere then it's the more rural areas of the Peloponnese.

The islands are definitely worth going to but after that the Peloponnese offers far more than just a small island and the good thing is you can drive all over it but it will be slow going.

Check out my photos of my trip to the Peloponnese last October. Click on a photo to enlarge it and get a caption. Not all photos have captions.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2RwHoj4NAxBD7VcZA

Tommy I just 'fell down the rabbit hole" and did your entire photo trip... and discovered the immense charm of Gythio .. plus, I'm guessing you did a TON of walking, to have the appetite for those amazing taverna meals!! Great fun, thanks!

Jan: I was very pleased about Gythio. I did a lot of research on where to stay to explore the Mani and surrounding area and determined Gythio would be the best option for me.

It's a large town but still felt more like a village especially wandering around the back streets.

The waterfront is very nice with lovely architecture. It's not geared solely toward tourists but has enough interests for those who want a tourist experience but still very Greek. Wonderful tavernas especially on the back alleys where it's mostly locals eating traditional Greek food and Mezzes.

It turned out to be one of my most pleasant times in Greece.

The downside for Gythio and basically for most of the Peloponnese is the amount of driving to get to points of interests. The roads while good are slow going due to mountains, curves, travel through small villages and stopping for photo ops but in the end if you want to see the Mani and surrounding area you have to drive.

Just be patient and enjoy not only the ride but the scenery!