Skip to content

© Peulle / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Day trip

Sparta

The acropolis and ancient theatre of Sparta, the statue of Leonidas and the Archaeological Museum, two hours from the island.

110 km
about 2 hours by car

Sparta is about two hours from Elafonisos. Behind the modern town, with its wide streets, survive the traces of the famous civilisation of the Lacedaemonians.

What to see

The ancient acropolis lies behind the large statue of King Leonidas, at the town’s stadium. On its south side is the ancient theatre, and nearby the sanctuary of Athena Chalkioikos. The Archaeological Museum shows important finds from the area, among them a coin of ancient Asopos from Plytra across the bay.

Good to know

Mystras is only a few kilometres further on: combine the two in one day.

See also

Stone houses and red roof tiles above the sea in Monemvasia

Monemvasia

The castle town on its rock, an hour from the island: Byzantine lanes, churches and the Upper Town above the sea.

50 km · about 1 hour by car

Neapoli from above, with Elafonisos across the water

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

Stalagmites in a large chamber of the Kastania cave

Kastania cave

One of the most impressive caves in Greece, full of stalactites and stalagmites, just outside Neapoli.

25 km · about 40 minutes by car

A rock with a Greek flag in the sea at Archangelos

Plytra and Archangelos

Two seaside villages across the bay, with the ruins of the ancient town of Asopos under the sea.

40 km · about 45 minutes by car

Chora and its castle on Kythira

Kythira and Antikythira

Aphrodite’s island, opposite Elafonisos: villages, gorges, waterfalls and beaches, and further south lonely Antikythira.

15 minutes to Neapoli, then the ferry

The fjord-like harbour of Gerakas

Gerakas and Kyparissi

A fjord with a lagoon and a village hidden below Mount Parnon, on the east coast of Laconia.

100 km · about 2 hours to Kyparissi