Sailboat Harbor

Sailboat Harbor – Neapolis Bay offers a lovely anchorage for sailboats. With good holding in sand at 7 to 10 meters depth close to the beachfront, sailors may dinghy to shore. A few boats may tie up at the municipal dock, but space is very limited and anchoring out is a better choice.

         Beachfront restaurants, ouzerias, pizza parlors, ice cream shops and cafes cater to sailors. A choice of grocery stores and bakeries and a wine shop provide opportunities for full provisioning.  Several banks and telecommunication companies offer their services. Online access is available at the internet café on the main business street and may be available free of charge in the central plaza area.               

Local Goat Cheese from Baktis Family Farm

Baktis Goat Farm and Cheese Factory – Outside Aghia Nikolaos, along a road towards the sea, the Baktis family raises goats and sheep and produces excellent cheese. With two hundred goats and two hundred sheep, the family is busy year round, caring for and milking the animals and turning the milk into soft and hard cheese: mizithra and kefalograviera  (kefalotiri).

        About 80 percent of the animals are giving milk at any one time and each animal must be milked twice a day. This translates into hours of work moving goats and sheep from their pens into the modern milking room, settling them into position, attaching them to the milking machine, milking the animals, then detaching them and moving them back to their pens. When they are not in their pens or milking room, the sheep and goats are grazing on nearby hillsides.

        In the cheese room, milk is heated in stainless steel vats and when the correct temperature is reached, rennet is stirred in. As the milk cools, curds form. The curds are hand-packed into containers. These are the cheeses that will be aged in the aging room for several months, until they are ready to be sold. The whey is heated up again. More curds form and these are used to produce the soft white mizithra that is not aged, but sold as fresh cheese.  

        The Baktis goat farm and cheese factory is a popular destination for local school field trips. It is also open for individual tours.

        Cheese is for sale at the farm and also in Neapolis at Papoulis Supermarket and at Karayiannis Supermarket. Be sure to ask specifically for Baktis mizithra or Baktis kafalograviera.



Fresh Water Springs

The geologic structure that produces the famous caves of Lakonia also produces springs, where water naturally stored underground emerges at the surface. Locals take empty jugs to the springs and fill them with pure drinking water. Aficionados are able to distinguish the subtle differences in the flavor of water from individual springs. On the mountainside above Neapolis, springs are located in the villages of Faraklo and Kalania and at the church in Paradisi.

In the photo of Faraklo above, the spring emerges from a pipe underneath the stairs in the municipal building. Photo of Faraklo taken by lakonas67.

The spring at the church at Paradisi emerges from a pipe under the stone arch in the photo.

Petrified Forest

The Petrified Forest is located east of Neapolis, between Aghio Nikolao and Cape Maleas. Next to the sea, one can see trunks of palm trees that turned to stone as their soft tissue was replaced by minerals.

According to Wikipedia, "Petrified wood (from the Greek root petro meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone') is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestril vegetation. It is the result of a tree having turned completely into stone by the process of permineralization. All the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (mostly a silicate, such as quartz), while retaining the original structure of the wood. Unlike other types of fossils which are typically impressions or compressions, petrified wood is a three-dimensional representation of the original organic material. The petrifaction process occurs underground, when wood becomes buried under sediment and is initially preserved due to a lack of oxygen which inhibits aerobic decomposition. Mineral-laden water flowing through the sediment deposits minerals in the plant's cells; as the plant's lignin and cellulose decay, a stone mould forms in its place. In general, wood takes less than 100 years to petrify. The organic matter needs to become petrified before it decomposes completely. A forest where the wood has petrified becomes known as a Petrified Forest."

Ouzo and Octopus

Take a table at an ouzeria overlooking the sea just before sunset and order ouzo and grilled octopus. This famous duo is the perfect Neapolis evening cocktail treat.

Sailing and Swimming Lessons

Sailing and swimming lessons are available for children during summer months.

Sailing lessons are offered by the Sailing Club of Neapolis for children from seven to twelve years old three times per week in Optimist boats. Families join the Sailing Club and pay monthly for lessons. Children with sailing experience may be able to participate in races.

Swimming lessons are also offered in shallow water near the town dock.

Kastania Cave

Kastania Cave is open to visitors: a cement walkway descends into a magical space of stalactites and stalagmites. Guides explain the history and geology of the cave. In the early 1900s,  Kostas Stivaktas (Bougas) reputedly watched bees entering a fissure in the ground in the area where he pastured his sheep. The bees appeared to be refreshed as they reemerged from the ground. He surmised that there might be water underground. He opened up the fissure and found himself in a magnificent cave. By 1958, the cave became more widely known and since then has been protected and developed by the Community of Kastania. For information on open hours and tours, call 30 27340-29043 or 30 27340-23623 or email cavekast@otenet.gr. Photos taken by Fanis Ellinas.   <><><>

Pilgrimage to Aghia Irini

The church of Aghia Irini with its pilgrims' cells is located at the end of a challenging five-kilometer trail. The hike can be done as a day trip, or by making arrangements in advance, visitors may spend the night in the cells. If you do it as a day hike, take a lunch and eat at the picnic table near the pilgrims' cells.

The views along the trail are magnificent. Freight-laden ships pass by in a parade between Cape Maleas and the western Mediterranean. Kythera rises, like Aphrodite, from the sea across the strait.

Rock-climbing

A new rock-climbing area has been recently developed east of Neapolis, near the Petrified Forest, along the road to the trailhead for Aghia Irini. Fixed protection and anchors have been put in and a number of routes have been established. Some routes located on the sunny side of the cliff are suitable for climbing in the winter; other routes are located in the shade and are suitable for climbing during hot summer months.

Local accommodations cater to climbers.

Hiking

From Neapolis one can hike up the mountain on marked trails to the villages of Mesochori, Faraklo, the church and spring at Paradisi, and beyond. Alternatively, one can hike west along the coast towards Pavlopetri and  Pounda Beach, past the Natura 2000-designated lagoon where many species of birds nest, or east along the coast all the way to Cape Maleas.

Be sure to take plenty of water and snacks, as there are few places to buy food along the way.