Walking in the Mani.

Walk Mani organises and takes groups walking on a daily basis both in and out of season. The main walking periods are March through to mid June and mid September through to the end of November.

Walking in March – May is particularly enjoyable as the Olive groves and mountainsides are covered in wild flowers.

In late September Walnuts can be found in the meadows high in the mountains.

Walking in the Mani offers both easy and more demanding walking. All of the walks are on recognised tracks, dirt mountain roads and on the ‘’Kalderimi’’ (pronounced Kaldereemi). Kalderimi are the old cobbled or paved donkey or mule tracks that connected the mountain villages before the modern tracks or roads were built. They are ‘stepped’ in steep areas, sometimes crossing small bridges over streams or gorges.

The walks, which vary in length from 2 to over 6 hours pass through Olive groves, open hillsides and include some of the old villages off the normal tourist trails. Visits to old Monasterys and Byzantine churches with wonderful fresco’s are included (for long walks, a packed lunch can be provided).

Each walking group contains a maximum of 6 people, 5 walkers and 1 guide. Most walks will take 3 or so hours. A morning walk is followed by a lunch break with another walk in the afternoons. Two long walks are included during the week. Some walks will end by the shore, the right time for a pleasant swim. Wonderful views of the blue Mediterranean of the Messinian Bay features in many of the walks along with the tremendous views of the mountains. Included in the week of walking is an evening spent at a local Taverna for a greek ‘Meza’ night where you can enjoy the local Greek Dancing.

Other activities can be arranged either replacing a walking day or for the ‘free’ day.

• A walk to the top of the Taygetos mountain is a wonderful walk, an early start is necessary so it will be a long day.
• An evenings fishing trip with a local fisherman. You go out in the fishing boat in the evening to set the nets and return early in the morning to bring them in. Availability will depend on the weather and the fishermans programme.
• Visits can be arranged through one of the local tour operators for visits to Olympia, (the site of the first Olympic games and a significant religious site) Monevasia (the ‘Gibraltar’ of Greece), or the Caves of Diros, caves where prehistoric man lived from 5200bc to 2000bc, full of stalagmites and staligtites.
• A visit to a local cave ‘Katafigi’ where we can go over 1 kilometre into the mountain and where rare stalagmites have been identified.
• During the season, November to February you are able to participate in harvesting the Olives. Please contact us for details