Traditional Rooms inside the Castle Town
📍 Monemvasia Castle, 230 70, Laconia, Greece
Malvasia Traditional Hotels are three historic houses inside the castle town of Monemvasia, where no cars can enter and lanes lead past churches and mansions to the sea. Staying inside the walls means quiet evenings after the day visitors have left, and the rock and the sea all around.
Hotel Malvasia is about 300 metres from the castle gate, at the end of the main cobbled street, with lovely sea views. The Stellakis Mansion, about 50 metres from the gate, is built on the sea wall and is one of the oldest and finest buildings of the town. The Ritsos Guesthouse, about 200 metres in, stands right above the Portello, the eastern gate of the walls that leads down to the sea.
Highlights
- Three historic houses inside the castle town
- No cars – cobbled lanes and sea views
- Stellakis Mansion built on the sea wall
- Ritsos Guesthouse above the Portello sea gate
- Quiet evenings inside the walls
- About 3½ hours from Athens
Amenities
- Inside the castle town
- Sea views
- Historic buildings
- Three locations
Explore Monemvasia & Elafonisos
Monemvasia is a Byzantine castle town hidden on the seaward side of a huge rock, joined to the mainland by a single causeway – no cars inside, only cobbled lanes, churches and mansions, with the upper town and the church of Agia Sofia on the plateau above. Further south, Elafonisos island is famous for the white sand and turquoise water of Simos beach.
Read our Mystras & Monemvasia guide →
How to get here from Athens
Malvasia Traditional Hotels are inside the castle of Monemvasia, about 4 hours by car from Athens and about 2½ hours from Kalamata airport. Cars stay at the gate – the last few metres are on foot along the cobbled lanes. There is no train and only a few buses, so the easiest way is a private transfer from Athens (about 4 hours) or Kalamata airport (about 2½ hours) – with a stop at Mystras or Sparta on the way if you like.