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Day trip
Neapoli, Vatika and the petrified forest
The nearby town with its long beach and a museum of finds from Pavlopetri, the green villages of Vatika and a petrified forest by the sea.
- 12 km
- 15 minutes to Neapoli
Neapoli, the old capital of Vatika, is a seaside town with a long sandy beach, just 12 kilometres from Pounta. The ferry to Kythira leaves from here too.
What to see in Neapoli
The Archaeological Museum of Neapoli shows finds from Pavlopetri, the sunken town opposite the island. The town also has a Maritime Museum.
Vatika
The villages of Vatika, at the southern tip of the Peloponnese, are green and look out to sea, good for a drive. The myth says the area’s founder, Boeus, found where to build his town when Artemis showed him a hare hiding in a myrtle bush.
From the village of Agios Nikolaos go down to the little harbour of Profitis Ilias, for the petrified forest at Agia Marina: fossilised palm trunks and shells on the rocks of the shore. Other places worth a stop are the Koulentianos tower, with a view from the strait to the Mani, and the lighthouse at Cape Maleas.
Good to know
Neapoli is 15 minutes by car from Pounta. The petrified forest is on the shore: watch your step, do not climb on the fossils and do not take pieces.
