Private Mani & Monemvasia Journey

The southern Peloponnese — Monemvasia, the Mani peninsula, the inland mountains of Laconia — is the most dramatic coastal landscape in mainland Greece. The Taygetos mountains drop almost vertically to the sea; villages of grey stone tower-houses cling to the slopes; medieval Byzantine fortress towns sit on impossible promontories above the water. It is also one of the country's most underrated regions, in part because the drive from Athens (close to four hours) keeps coach tours away.

Monemvasia is the centrepiece. A medieval town carved into the side of a vast rock connected to the mainland by a single causeway (the name means 'single entrance'), inhabited continuously since the 6th century, with no cars, no streetlights of any consequence, and an atmosphere unlike anywhere else in Europe. We arrange overnight accommodation inside the walled lower town — a small handful of restored Byzantine houses operate as boutique hotels — so you experience the rock at its quietest, after the day-visitors leave.

The Mani peninsula is the second pillar. The middle finger of the Peloponnese, ungovernable through most of Ottoman rule, with a culture of stone-built tower villages (Areopoli, Vathia, Limeni), a coastline of dramatic cliffs and small turquoise bays, and the Caves of Diros (sea caves explored by small boat, half-flooded with crystal water). The food is simple and excellent: cured pork, mountain greens, local cheeses, sea urchin in season.

From €3,600 for four to five days, the journey includes the private vehicle and driver throughout, all nights in carefully selected boutique properties with breakfast (one inside Monemvasia castle, the others in restored Mani tower-houses or seafront properties), on-board Wi-Fi and water, and a small Greek farewell gift. This is the journey we recommend to guests who tell us they have already seen 'the obvious Greece' — and want the version that almost nobody else has.