Greece - Korina Miller [149]
A pocket torch and sensible shoes are good options for those staying on the cobbled, dimly lit kastro.
If the kastro doesn’t give you the urge to splurge, there are cheaper hotels and numerous domatia in Gefyra.
Hotel Akrogiali ( 27320 61360; Gefyra; s/d with shower €40/45) This basic but spotless hotel, next to the National Bank of Greece on Spartis, has the cheapest rooms in town.
Malvasia Hotel ( 27320 61160/3007; malvasia@otenet.gr; Monemvasia; s incl breakfast €45-65, d incl breakfast €65-120; ) Easily the best value on Monemvasia (if you can believe its prices).
Hotel Byzantino ( 27320 61254/351; Monemvasia; s/d/tr €60/100/120; ) Also great value; rooms are a notch smarter than Malvasia Hotel. Try to get a room with sea-facing balconies. Breakfast costs €5.
Monopati Rooms & Apartments ( 27320 61772; www.byzantine-escapade.com; Monemvasia; apt €70-85, ‘little house’ €110-140) These delightful stone options ooze personality, as do the hospitable owners. Stylish decor fills the apartments’ quirky spaces. Rates vary according to the number of people staying and are slightly higher in Easter, July and August. Breakfast – which can be served where you like it, when you like it – costs €6.
Hotel Lazareto ( 27320 61991; www.lazareto.gr; Monemvasia; s €135, d €160-205; ) Located outside the fortress walls, past the causeway and occupying the handsome stone buildings of a former quarantine hospital, the Lazareto is the most luxurious choice. The furnishings in the well-equipped rooms are stylishly muted. But watch your head – the door frames are for little people. Breakfast is extra.
Ardarmis ( 27320 61887; www.ardamis.gr; Monemvasia; d €140-160, 4-person r €250-450) Especially popular among Greek clients, rooms here blend old with modern (some weird mood lighting goes on here – to highlight the architectural spaces). The owners are welcoming and quaint garden spaces provide a change from the sea view.
Eating
Taverna Trata ( 27320 62084; Gefyra; fish per kilogram €45-55) On the right immediately after you cross the causeway back to Gefyra. The hanging gulls and model yachts point to a nautical theme – seafood is the go here.
Three tavernas sit cheek to cheek in Monemvasia’s old town: Matoula ( 27320 61660), Marianthi ( 2732 61371) and To Kanoni ( 27320 61387). You can’t really go wrong with any – choose between them for dish type (all traditional Greek) or ambience. Mains are around €8 to €13.
Self-caterers will find most things at the Lefkakis supermarket just past the post office in Gefyra.
Getting There & Away
Buses leave from outside Malvasia Travel ( 27320 61752), just over the causeway in Geyfra; Malvasia also sells tickets. There are buses to Athens (€27, six hours, four daily) via Sparta (€9, 2½ hours), Tripoli and Corinth Isthmus.
Getting Around
The medieval kastro of Monemvasia is inaccessible to cars and motorcycles, but these can cross the causeway. Parking is available along the narrow road skirting the rock, outside the old town. It’s sometimes easier to park in Gefyra than risk the tight squeeze.
A shuttle bus ( 8am-midnight Jun-Sep, Christmas & Easter) ferries visitors between Geyfra and the kastro.
Car hire is available from Kypros Rent a Car ( 27320 61383; www.kypros-rentacar.gr, houtris@otenet.gr). Turn right at the street after the National Bank of Greece.
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NEAPOLI ΝΕAΠΟΛΗ
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Neapoli (neh-ah-po-lih), 42km south of Monemvasia, lies close to the southern tip of the eastern prong of the Peloponnese. It’s a functioning, if uninspiring, town, in spite of its location on a huge horseshoe bay. Most foreign travellers visit Neapoli to catch a ferry to the island of Kythira, clearly visible across the bay.
The western flank of the bay is formed by the small island of Elafonisi, renowned for its white beaches and visiting loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta), not to mention sun-loving nudists. Regular ferries make the 10-minute