Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
It is a small stone village with one main street, and it has been a quiet favourite of walkers and writers for decades.
Old Kardamyli
Ten minutes uphill from the modern village is the walled medieval quarter: the Mourtzinos tower complex, a fortified compound of the family that led the area, with a tower, a church and outbuildings, restored and open.
The church of Agios Spyridon beside it has a carved stone bell tower that is the best piece of stonework in the district.
The Viros gorge
Behind the village the Viros gorge runs up into Taygetos, and the old paths through it are the reason serious walkers come. Routes lead up to the villages of Exochori and Petrovouni, on to the monastery of Sotiras, and eventually right over the mountain.
The gorge bed is walkable in dry weather and is a watercourse in wet. Marked routes exist and the ground is rough, unshaded in places and remote once you are past the first hour.
Patrick Leigh Fermor
The writer, whose book Mani did more than anything to make this region known to outsiders, built a house just south of the village at Kalamitsi. It was left to the Benaki Museum and has been restored; it opens to visitors on a limited basis and is also let.
Whether or not you have read him, the house and its terrace above the sea explain why he stopped here.
The shore
Pebble rather than sand: Ritsa beach by the village, Foneas a little south in a cove with a rock in the middle of it, and Delfinia further on. The water is clear and cold and the swimming is good.
Getting there and how long
About 35 minutes south of Kalamata, which has the nearest airport, on a coast road that is slow and scenic.
Three nights, more if you walk.
Last checked August 2026. House opening arrangements and trail conditions change - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
Where is Kardamyli?
On the north-west coast of the Mani peninsula, about 35 minutes south of Kalamata, where the landscape is still green.
What is Old Kardamyli?
The walled medieval quarter above the modern village, centred on the restored Mourtzinos tower complex and the church of Agios Spyridon.
Can you walk the Viros gorge?
Yes, on marked routes from the village up into Taygetos. The ground is rough and remote, and the gorge bed carries water in wet weather.
Whose house is at Kalamitsi?
Patrick Leigh Fermor’s, the writer of Mani. It was left to the Benaki Museum, restored, and opens to visitors on a limited basis.
What are the beaches like at Kardamyli?
Pebble rather than sand, with clear cold water. Ritsa is by the village and Foneas is a cove a little to the south.