Greece - Korina Miller [162]
Sleeping & Eating
Accommodation is a bit limited in Koroni. Most of the rooms are spread around a cluster of domatia by the sea, at the eastern end of the main street. There are more domatia overlooking Zaga Beach, but they are often block booked in summer.
Camping Koroni ( 27250 22119; www.koronicamping.com; camp sites per adult/tent/car €8/5/4; ) Located only 200m from Koroni, near the beach and with good facilities.
Hotel Diana ( /fax 27250 22312; www.dianahotel-koroni.gr; s/d €30/50; ) This place is blessed (or otherwise) with Byzantine gold-plated bar stools, icons and the like. Rooms are not quite as glossy, if adequate. It’s off the central square almost on the seafront. Breakfast is €5 per person.
Sofotel ( 27250 22230; www.koroni-holidays.com; d €65) Koroni’s new hotel in town, the prices are good (if they last). Modern – in an orange-and-cream-hued kind of way – and 12 rooms have creature comforts, some with balconies.
Zagas Apartments ( 27250 22722; 6973754036; Zaga Beach; 2-/4-/6-person apt €65/80/120; ) Personable apartments with kitchen facilities and balconies and views over Zaga Beach.
Eleas Yi (mains €6-13) We admit the outlook isn’t what you’d expect – it’s next to the supermarket on the way into town – and overlooks olive trees rather than a marine vista. It’s recommended overwhelmingly by local people for its taverna cuisine, which speaks volumes.
Getting There & Away
There are seven buses daily to Kalamata (€4.30, 1½ hours) and one to Athens (€24.10). Tickets can be bought from Elite pastry shop on the main square.
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FINIKOUNDA ΦΟΙΝΙΚΟΥΝΤΑ
pop 560
A former fishing village, Finikounda, midway between Koroni and Methoni, is now something of a seasonal minipackage-tour resort; it’s popular for windsurfing. Thankfully it lacks high-rises, but the main road cuts a swath behind the village. Its pleasant beaches stretch either side of the village.
All the shops and facilities – these days rather tourist-focussed – are around the port. The bus stop is outside Hotel Finikountas, 100m from the port. The village’s commercial website is www.finikounda.com.
Sleeping & Eating
There are domatia signs throughout the village and numerous camp sites along the main road.
Hotel Finikounda ( 27230 71208; fax 27230 71018; s €40, d €50-60; ) It lacks a seafront position, but the neat rooms, with pine bedheads, and balconies, make it a good-value option.
Akti Studios ( 27230 71316; r €65; ) This small, family-run place has nine comfortable studios with kitchen facilities. It’s set back from the beach road about 250m east of the port. The rooms have balconies with beach views.
Oinoysses ( 27230 71446; mains €6.50-10; Apr-Oct) A lovely place to while away your eating time. This attractive place perched out over the sand at the village’s eastern end, serves excellent and very fresh daily specials such as octopus salad, plus a range of grills.
Elena Taverna ( 27230 71235; mains €8-14) Position, position, position. With a prime spot on the headland overlooking the port at the western end of town, it’s the perfect spot to enjoy superlative filleted grilled sardines and the like, with a view to match.
Getting There & Away
There are buses to Kalamata (€6, 1¾ hours, around three daily), one via Koroni, the others via Methoni (€2) and Pylos (€2.50).
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METHONI ΜΕΘΩΝΗ
pop 1169
Methoni (meh-tho-nih), 12km south of Pylos, was another of the seven cities offered to Achilles by Agamemnon. Homer described it as ‘rich in vines’. Today it’s a pretty seaside town with a popular sandy beach, next to which crouches a sturdy 15th-century Venetian fortress.
Orientation & Information
The road from Pylos forks on the edge of town to create Methoni’s two main streets, which then run parallel through town to the fortress. As you come from Pylos, the fork to the right is the main shopping street. It has numerous shops, kafeneia, a National Bank of Greece (and ATE Bank ATM) and a nearby supermarket. The left fork leads directly to the fortress car