The headland west of Loutraki, with a 7th-century BC sanctuary of Hera at its tip — a small Doric temple, a stone harbour cut into the rock, and one of the great sunset views in Greece.
Perachora is a long limestone peninsula running west from Loutraki along the southern shore of the Corinthian Gulf. The 7th-century BC sanctuary of Hera Akraia sits on its tip, looking back across the gulf to the mountains of mainland Greece.
The sanctuary of Hera Akraia (Hera ‘of the headland’) was an important regional cult site for Corinth from the 8th century BC, with a small Doric temple in classical times. The site is reached by a 30-minute drive west from Loutraki along a single twisting road through pine and olive country, ending at a small parking area where the sanctuary begins. The remains include the foundations of the temple, an L-shaped Doric stoa, the apsidal early temple of Hera Limenia further down, and a famous rock-cut harbour — a small natural cove that the ancients shaped into a perfect ship-shelter, the rock walls still showing the bollard cuts. There is a small lighthouse on the very tip and, behind, the salt lake of Vouliagmeni (a lagoon connected to the sea by a cut, with rocky beaches around it). The combination — site, harbour, lighthouse, lagoon — makes for one of the best late-afternoon-into-sunset programmes in the Peloponnese. Bring a swimsuit (the rocky coves on the lagoon are good for a swim), water, and a hat; there are no facilities at the site itself. Two cafés on the lagoon for a sunset drink. Combine with Loutraki for dinner, or stay there.
A late-afternoon Perachora programme.
Thirty minutes through pine and olive country.
An hour in a rocky cove.
An hour at the temple foundations and rock-cut harbour.
From the very tip of the cape.
Fresh fish, local wine, the lake glassy in evening.
Thirty minutes.
Within thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes east — the spa town. Detail on the Loutraki page.
Twenty-five minutes south — the great cut. Detail on the Corinth Canal page.
Forty-five minutes south. Detail on the Ancient Corinth page.
Fifty minutes south. Detail on the Acrocorinth page.
Tell us a little about the trip you want — pace, who's coming, how you'd like to spend your mornings. We'll build the days.
