Greece Trip Part 4: Stoupa

Our fourth and last stop - before heading back to Athens and home - was the village of Stoupa in the outer Mani peninsula in the Peloponnese. We found an awesome cab driver in Nafplio that offered to drive us to Stoupa for less then the bus ride. So we took him up on it. The main highway through Peloponnese went right through the area near Tripoli that my family is from. We didn't stop at those villages, since I don't have any immediate family there anymore and it wasn't by the coast. Because the kids need beaches.

The road from Kalamata to Stoupa was super curvy, full of beautiful views, and lots of olive trees. The place we stayed was amazing -- and upon arrival we could really smell the olive trees. A smell I will never forget.

We stayed at Hotel Kolokotronis which was perfect for our family. It was like a little apartment - with a kitchen, living area, bedroom, and a lovely porch area. The hotel had a pool where our kids made friends and it was perfect for a little break from the beach.  The hotel also had a playground and was just on the other side of a large grocery store. The staff at the pool bar and restaurant was so friendly as well.

To get to the closest beach, you just had to walk across the man street and down a little bit to Kalogria beach. It is a sheltered cove beach - with multiple bars/restaurants to bring your your morning frappe while the kids swim. We tried all the restaurants at the beach and they were all good - but we liked the aptly named "Kalogria Restaurant" the best.

We rented peddle boats to explore the cove and the near by caves - and we did that almost every day. There is a cold freshwater stream that connects with the ocean here for a cool dip while your sunbathing.

Into the main area of Stoupa - there is another beach (Stoupa Beach) another beach full of lounge chairs where you have to buy something to sit at (which was never a problem for us...) and cute little restaurants and shops. My two favorite places to eat in Stoupa were Tis Marias o Kafenes and Stoupa Restaurant.

At Tis Marias o Kafenes, she recommended that we just order a mixed plate - where they serve samples of some of their favorites or daily specials. She made sure to ask what the kids liked so that some of that would be included and it was by far my favorite meal of our whole trip to Greece.

At the Stoupa restaurant we ate with a family from Norway that we met at our hotel and the kids had a great time together -- while we got to look over Stoupa beach.

I was a little worried that there wasn't enough to do in this area (without a car) but it really was perfect and so relaxing. Beaches and pools everyday really isn't a bad way to vacation.

At the end of the trip we took the bus back to Athens - which was easier than we expected - transferring from a local bus to the Express to Athens in Kalamata.

Want to read about the first three parts of our trip? You can check out Athens, Spetses and Nafplio on my blog too. All perfect spots for the whole family.