This corner of the Peloponnese has shaped Greek history for over three thousand years, making this region one of the most historically fascinating in the country. On this tour you will journey through Mycenaean, Classical, Byzantine and Ottoman-era Greece, tracing a story that runs from Bronze Age warlords to the birth of the modern Greek state.

Mycenae

Mycenae was the seat of a powerful Bronze Age civilisation that dominated the Greek mainland from roughly 1600 to 1100 BC. Immortalised by Homer as the city of Agamemnon, it is famed for the monumental Lion Gate, the beehive-shaped Treasury of Atreus and the golden treasures unearthed by archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe.

Olympia

Olympia followed as the sacred sanctuary dedicated to Zeus and home of the ancient Olympic Games, first held in 776 BC and continuing every four years for over a thousand years. The site's stadium, gymnasium and the ruins of the Temple of Zeus (once home to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) remains one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Greece and reminder of the Game’s sacred origins

Epidaurus

Epidaurus rose later as one of antiquity's most important healing sanctuaries, dedicated to Asclepius, the god of medicine. Pilgrims came seeking cures through ritual, dream interpretation and early medical treatment. Its theatre, built in the 4th century BC, remains renowned for acoustics so precise that a whisper on stage can be heard from top of the 55th row. This a feat of ancient engineering means the UNESCO-listed theatre is still hosting performances today. 

Mystras

By the Byzantine era, Mystras had grown into a great centre of art, learning and imperial power, serving as the last capital of the Byzantine Empire before its fall to the Ottomans in 1460. Its UNESCO-listed ruins, nestled dramatically up a hillside below Mount Taygetos, include palaces, churches and monasteries adorned with frescoes.

The Mani Peninsula

The rugged Mani peninsula traces its identity back to ancient Sparta, whose fierce, independent character shaped the region for centuries. That same defiant spirit resurfaced in the 17th century, when local clans built distinctive stone tower houses that were part home, part fortress, as protection against pirates, Ottoman incursions and rival families. The peninsula's remote, dramatic landscape helped preserve its fiercely autonomous culture longer than elsewhere in Greece.

Nafplio

Nafplio, shaped in turn by Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman rule, became the first capital of the newly independent modern Greek state, from 1827 to 1834. Its old town still reflects this layered past, with Venetian fortifications, neoclassical buildings, and the harbour fortress of Bourtzi giving it a distinctly cosmopolitan character.