Gythio is a charming harbour town on the Laconian Gulf, at the eastern edge of Mani. Neoclassical mansions climb the steep hillside above a long waterfront promenade lined with fish tavernas and colourful fishing boats. It serves as the gateway to Mesa Mani from the east and to the island of Kythira by ferry.
The town's ancient past is mostly buried — a 4th-century earthquake saw to that — but a small Roman theatre survives, and the mythology runs deep. The tiny island of Kranai, connected to the mainland by a short causeway, is where Homer says Paris and Helen spent their first night after eloping from Sparta. According to myth, Paris left his helmet behind on the island, which is how it got its name (kranos means helmet in Greek). Today Kranai is a pleasant pine-shaded spot with the restored Tzannetakis Tower, now home to the History and Ethnology Museum of Mani.
A few kilometres up the coast at Selinitsa beach, the rust-red hulk of the Dimitrios shipwreck sits half-buried in the sand — one of the most accessible and photogenic wrecks anywhere in Greece. The long sandy beach at Mavrovouni south of town is a protected nesting site for loggerhead turtles.
Behind the town, the Taygetos mountains make a dramatic backdrop. The highest peak, Profitis Ilias at 2,407 metres, carries snow from November to May — a striking sight above the deep blue gulf.