Wild Flowers of the Peloponnese Escorted Tour

Offering a rich culture and an inherent natural beauty, the Peloponnese bursts into life in spring, its landscapes awash with colourful wild flowers. Explore areas steeped in myth and legend with botanist Dr Alan Harrington with an opportunity to enjoy not just the floral delights found in the region but also its wonderful scenery and some of its long history.

The Peloponnese
The Peloponnese region of mainland Greece offers a timeless rich culture and an inherent natural beauty that is at its very best in spring when the landscape is reborn with a dazzlingly display of new plant life. Ancient and fascinating, this area offers a spectacular natural landscape of towering mountains, verdant rolling hills and rugged coastlines that settle around a dramatic ancient history.
Our tour is two-centre which provides the opportunity to explore a variety of habitats and a little bit of history too.  We start our tour in the attractive town of Nafplio, the first Capital of the Modern Greek state and one of the prettiest towns in the Peloponnese with a beautiful setting and an understated elegance. We spend 4 nights here exploring the flora of this historic region before heading across the hills to the seaside town of Gythio where our second accommodation, the Pantheon Hotel, is located, overlooking the sea.
During our stay we expect to find a huge variety of flora including cyclamen, stachys, campanula, asphodels, phlomis, anemones, cotinus, ferula, euphorbia, limonium, muscari as well as a diversity of orchids – tongue, bee, giant, provence and naked man.

ITINERARY

Day 1: Fly from London Heathrow to Athens.
On arrival transfer by coach to Nafplio (approx. two hours). Check in to our hotel in Nafplio for a four-night stay. Welcome dinner at a local taverna.

Day 2: Nafplio to Epidaurus.
We start our tour following a pretty route from Nafplio to the area of the historic site of Epidaurus, botanising at various places along the way. We will enjoy a break for lunch at the pretty sea side village of Nea (New) Epidaurus.

Day 3: Nafplio.
We stay locally today and enjoy our botanising around Nafplio. Following a scenic path around the headland we enjoy a relaxed walk looking out for interesting flora along the way and enjoying wonderful sea views. We then join our bus and head to the Palamidi Castle, which sits spectacularly overlooking Nafplio and is usually filled both with spring colour and fantastic views across the town and the bay. The rest of the day will be free for you to explore this lovely town at leisure.

Day 4: Nafplio to Ermioni.
Our botanising today will be along a route that takes us from Nafplio to the pretty seaside town of Ermioni. We will botanise in various places along the way and find time for lunch by the sea in Ermioni, which has a beautiful position on a small headland with tranquil bays on both sides.

Day 5: Nafplio to Gythio.
We start our journey south towards Gythio following round the wide sweeping bay of Nafplio, where we may be lucky to spot some migrating birds resting in the bay, and then up and over the hills which dominate the bay and provide us with some more fantastic views. We will botanise during our journey to Gythio including botanising nearby the Byzantine site of Mystras.  Check-in to the Pantheon Hotel, Gythio for a four-night stay.

Day 6: Krani island and the road to Aeropoli.
We enjoy a relaxed day of botanising today, staying fairly close to Gythio. Our first visit will be to the little island of Krani, which is linked to Gythio by a causeway and which we can reach easily on foot from our hotel. We then join our bus and head towards the town of Aeropoli on the Mani peninsula, the most remote 'finger' of the Peloponnese, situated on its west coast, roadside botanising as we go.

Day 7: The Mani Region.
Today we head fully into the colourful Mani region following a coastal route north that provides us with exceptional views and plenty of colour. We will botanise in various places and also have the opportunity to see some of the typical ‘tower houses’, unique to this area, as well as some very picturesque Byzantine churches. We shall enjoy an included lunch in the seaside village of Agios Nikolaos before returning to Gythio.

Day 8: Around Gythio.
We spend today botanising close to Gythio and, in particular, near Mavrovouni, a neighbouring village, where we hope to find a host of orchids and other wonderful plants. 

Day 9: Transfer to Athens Airport for return flight to London Heathrow.

NB: Exact order of itinerary may vary according to local conditions and tour manager’s discretion.

Please note the maximum group size on this tour is 20 passengers.

INCLUDED

• Return flights from London Heathrow to Athens, including all payable taxes
• Four nights' accommodation on bed and breakfast basis at the three-star Hotel Ippoliti, Nafplio
• Four nights’ accommodation on bed and breakfast basis at the Pantheon Hotel, Gythio
• One dinner and one lunch
• Entrance fees
• Transfers and excursions as detailed
• Tour manager and guide throughout 

NOT INCLUDED

• Single room supplement 
• Holiday Insurance
• Meals other than those stated 
• Items of a personal nature such as drinks, laundry, telephone calls etc
• Poterage and gratuities 

HOTELS

Ippoliti Hotel, Nafplio
Set in a 19th-century neoclassical building, this comfortable four-star hotel is centrally located in a quiet street just a 3-minute walk from the towns seafront promenade. Everywhere in the town is accessible on foot from here, which ensures you can enjoy all it has to offer on foot, including a wide range of enticing tavernas. Featuring free Wi-Fi, the elegant individually and tastefully decorated rooms have en-suite bathrooms, flat-screen TVs, minibars, air conditioning and safe box. A breakfast buffet is served in a polished sitting room. Additional amenities include a small outdoor pool and gym.

Ippoliti Hotel Website

Three-star Pantheon Hotel, Gythio 
The Pantheon Hotel is situated on the waterfront in the pretty town of Gythio, and everything in the town is easily reached on foot from the hotel. Recently and completely renovated, the hotel has a total of 53 rooms. The comfortable and tastefully decorated standard rooms all include en-suite bathrooms, with shower or bath, air-conditioning, hairdryer, satellite TV, telephone and refrigerator. The hotel also includes free wifi and a buffet breakfast. 

Pantheon Hotel Website 

OUR VIEW
As the Peloponnese is such a vast area, our tour is designed as two-centre to avoid very long drives each day but also to provide the opportunity to explore a variety of flora habitats. Both of the chosen hotels are comfortable and well-located.

MORE INFO - Please click here to see full details of this tour

YOUR GUIDE 

Dr Alan Harrington
Dr Alan Harrington has been a professional botanist for more than 40 years. In 1976 he joined the Natural History Museum, specialising in the study of liverworts, before becoming involved in the Museum’s adult education programme on his (early) retirement, running botanical courses and leading field study tours.