A red-rock town under a 700-metre cliff on the eastern Parnonas — fifteen hundred sport-climbing routes, an aubergine festival, and the only place in Greece that still speaks Tsakonian.
Leonidio sits in a wide green valley four kilometres inland from the eastern Argolic coast, dominated by the 700-metre red limestone cliff of Mount Parnonas rising directly behind the town.
In the last fifteen years, Leonidio has become one of the major sport-climbing destinations in Europe — over 1,500 bolted routes across 25 crags, on overhanging red and orange limestone, with grades from beginner 4a to project 9a. The climbing season is October to May; in summer the rock is too hot. The town beneath is a working agricultural centre of 4,000, surrounded by aubergine fields (the tsakoniki melitzana is the local DOP product). The Tsakonian language, a direct descendant of ancient Doric Greek and unintelligible to other Greeks, is still spoken by perhaps 1,200 elderly residents — the last linguistic remnant of pre-Slavic Greek. The seaside village is Plaka, four kilometres east — a sandy beach, a fishing harbour, and a half-dozen tavernas. Poulithra is the next bay south, quieter. The drive in from Nafplio is two hours along the dramatic Tsakonian coast — one of the great Peloponnese drives. Most visitors come either as climbers (October–May) or as travellers seeking the road less travelled (June–September). Two distinct seasons; both worth visiting.
A Leonidio day for non-climbers.
A Greek coffee at the central plateia in the shade of the red cliff overhead.
Forty minutes up the gorge into the mountains; the road climbs through plane trees and chestnuts.
Wander the stone village for an hour — old church, single café, a fountain spring.
Slow Tsakonian village lunch — lamb in lemon, gigantes, salad, half a litre of bulk red.
Slow descent back through the gorge, with the cliff unfolding ahead.
An afternoon swim — the water deep clear, the cliff above pink in the late sun.
Iliokali — slow harbour dinner, half a kilo of fish, the boats coming in.
Within thirty minutes.
Four minutes east — the seaside village with the beach. Fish tavernas, fishing harbour, a few small hotels.
Twelve minutes south — a quieter beach village, smaller, slower. The alternative if Plaka is busy.
Forty minutes inland — the Tsakonian mountain village with chestnut trees and stone houses.
Twenty minutes north on the coast — a working fishing village, useful as a stop on the long drive in.
Ninety minutes north — a working seaside town on the inner Argolic Gulf, the halfway stop on the Nafplio drive.
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.
