Walking the Mani: the old paths between the villages
TLDR
- •The old stone paths are the previous transport network, not a leisure amenity
- •The Viros gorge behind Kardamyli is the classic day
- •Outer Mani has the shade; Deep Mani has none at all
- •Do not walk Deep Mani between late morning and late afternoon in summer
- •Take a torch: the best churches are locked and unlit
Walking is the best thing to do in the Mani and almost nobody arrives planning to.
Why the paths are there
The Mani was treated as a backwater until the 1970s, when the government began building roads that made the peninsula accessible by car. Before that, the stone paths between villages were the only way to move.
That is the fact from the history arriving under your feet. These routes are not a leisure amenity somebody built. They are the previous transport network, stepped, often walled, and running through terracing that has been abandoned since the emigration.
Where to walk
The Viros gorge, inland from Kardamyli, is the classic. It runs between the coast and the villages above and you can do 40 minutes of it or a whole day. Streams run in it in spring.
Between the Outer Mani villages the network is dense and mostly waymarked. Kardamyli to Old Kardamyli to Petrovouni and back is a morning through olive terraces and stone.
Taygetos runs the length of the peninsula and rises to 2,404m at Profitis Ilias, the highest point in the Peloponnese, on the Peloponnese Region's own figure. The E4 long-distance path crosses it. Not a first-trip undertaking.
In Deep Mani the walking is between towers rather than through green, and the character is completely different.
The warning, and it is serious
Do not walk Deep Mani between about 11:00 and 17:00 in July or August.
This is limestone with almost no tree cover, and the rock reflects heat upward as well as holding it. There is no shade, there is nowhere to buy water between villages, and the villages are small and often shut. It is a genuinely dangerous landscape for a casual walker in high summer.
The fix is trivial: go early or go late. The landscape is better at both ends of the day anyway.
What to take
More water than you want to carry. Especially south of Areopoli.
Proper shoes. Old stone, uneven, polished by centuries of use and slippery when wet.
A torch. This is the single most useful object in the Mani and nobody tells you. The small Byzantine churches you will pass are usually locked, often unsigned and almost never lit, and the way in is to ask in the village who has the key. Somebody does.
An offline map. Coverage fails in the gorges and behind the ridges, which is exactly where you will want it.
What you are walking through
About half of the peninsula's 170-odd old settlements are abandoned, and the fieldwork describes them precisely: ruined houses "enshrouded by wild olives and shoulder-high thorny shrubs".
The scrub is not neglect in the ordinary sense. Large-scale emigration means the agriculture that kept the fields clear, particularly the animals, has almost entirely ceased. The Mani looks wild and it is not. It is a farmed landscape with the farmers removed, and the thorns are what grows when the goats stop.
More on the region in our guide to this coast, and a base at the head of the Viros paths if you want to walk from the door.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Mani good for walking?
It is one of the best walking regions in Greece, precisely because the old inter-village paths survive: the peninsula had no proper roads until the 1970s, so the stone network is the original transport system.
When is the best time to walk in the Mani?
April and May, when the hills are green, water is running and the temperature is comfortable. October is the other good window. Avoid the middle of the day in July and August entirely, especially in Deep Mani.
Do you need a guide to walk in the Mani?
Not for the Outer Mani village paths and the Viros gorge, which are mostly waymarked. For Taygetos and the high routes, yes.