Bradt Travel Guides

Author Andrew Bostock won’t admit he was only in it for the Mani, but this peninsula of remote and nigh timeless highlands did inspire him to write a guide that later encompassed the entire Peloponnese. Today he suggests the Mani maintains ‘an air of being at the end of the world’ and that those venturing ‘off the beaten track even slightly… will find a Greece that has changed little in the last 20 years.’

For decades Greece has been known for ‘the islands’, and indeed a cruise through the Peloponnese sounds like an enticing if unexplored possibility – until one discovers that a steering wheel will be more use than a rudder in mainland Greece. Greece: The Peloponnese is not so elementary in its advice but publication does coincide with a change in Greek tourism as focus shifts from ‘sun and sand’ to ‘art and nature’. The mainland Peloponnese does still offer sun, sand and whitewashed villages but as the guide describes, there’s much more. Towering mountains invite hiking and even skiing, whilst white-water-filled gorges strike rugged routes inland. Elsewhere, classical sites from Olympia to Epidavros casually litter the countryside, along with medieval castles and Byzantine churches, many surrounded by verdant olive groves producing some of the finest fruits and oil in the Mediterranean. However, Bradt’s new book is not only a guide for those chasing the myths of ancient history. Contemporary Paneyeri (village festivals) are part of the noisy and sometimes alarmingly demonstrative life that exists in rural Greece. Paneyeri etiquette is offered for those travellers wanting to participate in celebrations without inadvertently attracting the evil eye by a) drinking to excess, b) suggesting that Greek coffee is actually Turkish, and c) tripping over the bouzuki ensemble causing injury (also see ‘b’). A world away from the pumping nightlife of Anglicised island resorts, the Peloponnese is slowly opening up. With Bradt’s new title as a companion, travellers are better encouraged to understand their significance.

Andrew Bostock has followed the typically ‘varied’ career of many writers, and after English at Oxford occupied himself tour guiding, teaching English in Greece and trying to compete with John Simpson in getting news out of Zimbabwe. He has spent the last few years trying to decide whether to live in England or Greece… or somewhere else entirely.

Title: Greece: The Peloponnese
Author: Andrew Bostock
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Publication: February 2010
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 307 8