There are a couple of options if you want to head east from Stoupa into the Peloponnese. You can head north to Kalamata and take The Langada Pass through the Taygetos Mountains which is a wonderful drive. The other option is to head south to Areopoli and take the main road to Gythio.
However, there is another way- Over the Top! A rough mountain track that takes you through the Taygetos Mountains. I first read about this route in the wonderful Inside the Mani guide book which has been out of print for some time. The guide book recommended a 4 wheel drive as the mountain road is not tarmacked. We decided to do it in our trusty Ford Focus.
I did my research and after discussion with other peeps who had made the trip we decided that it would be fine, if we were careful. Before leaving we did inform some friends in Stoupa as I was aware that there was no mobile signal in the mountains. I suspect our car insurance would not cover us if there was a problem. It goes without saying that you should not attempt this in a typical hire car. I did ask Maria at Napoleon Car Hire a couple of years ago and she firmly said ‘no‘.
We took plenty of water and snacks, although there is one natural spring near the end of the journey. The mountain ‘road’ starts near Saidona which is a few miles east of Kastania in the Taygetos Mountains above Stoupa. From there it took us about two hours until we reached a proper road and we never got out of second gear.
The mountain road was OK most of the time, we just had to watch out for deep ruts and large rocks, which is not easy to do when gawping at the incredible scenery all around. We only heard a couple of ominous sounding clunks and scrapes hitting the undercarriage.
The drop on one side of the narrow road was often precipitous and a bit hairy ! We did not encounter any other vehicles at all [phew!]. The scenery is wonderful from the start to finish, starting with views down to the Messinian Gulf. The road then winds through the rocky terrain typical of the area and through Vasiliki Forest which is mostly fir and pine trees.
As we were nearing the Panagia Yiatrissa monastery which signalled the end of our journey [and a proper tarmacked road] deep gullies appeared and the edge of the road had crumbled into the valley below so I am glad we kept our wits about us. The monastery is not immediately attractive on the outside but I have been told it is better on the inside with a maze of corridors and rooms. The monastery was closed to visitors by the time we got there but we expected this. We were just happy to have made it on to a proper road in a still functioning, albeit filthy dirty car! The monastery holds a large festival on August 15th attracting people from miles around.
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