The developer who built Costa Navarino was born in Messinia, made a fortune in shipping, and spent about ten years on environmental studies before laying a foundation. Around 6,700 mature olive trees standing on the site were lifted, held and replanted rather than cleared, and roughly a million trees and shrubs were put in around them.
Whether a resort of that scale belongs on that coast at all is a fair argument. What is not in question is that the alternative on most Mediterranean coastlines has been bulldozing, and this is a rare case of a large development trying to answer the question in advance.
The bay it sits above is Navarino, where in October 1827 a combined British, French and Russian fleet destroyed the Ottoman-Egyptian navy at anchor, largely by accident, and made Greek independence effectively inevitable. The wrecks are still on the bottom.
The Peloponnese is a peninsula of fingers
It hangs off mainland Greece below the Corinth canal, which since 1893 has made it technically an island. It holds more classical and medieval sites per square kilometre than anywhere in Greece and far fewer visitors than the islands.
Messinia, in the southwest, has Costa Navarino, the beaches at Voidokilia and Romanos, and the Venetian fortresses at Methoni and Koroni.
The Argolid, in the northeast, has Mycenae, Epidaurus with its fourth-century BC theatre, and Nafplio — a Venetian port town that was Greece's first capital after independence.
The Mani, the middle finger, is stone tower villages, a landscape of rock, and the deepest tradition of blood feud in Greece.
Monemvasia, in the southeast, is a fortified town on a rock joined to the mainland by a causeway, invisible from land until you come round the corner.
Olympia and Arcadia, inland, hold the original stadium and the mountain villages.
The eight below are grouped that way.
Messinia and Costa Navarino
The southwest coast.
The Romanos, a Luxury Collection Resort occupies a beachfront position at Navarino Dunes with a large spa, several pools, two golf courses and a children's programme that is the best in Greece.
The Romanos, a Luxury Collection Resort
Navarino Dunes · 5★ · $$$$
Two golf courses and the best children's programme in Greece
Check availabilityMandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino sits on the Navarino Bay side with a design of considerable restraint, an infinity pool over the water and a quieter tone than its neighbours.
Mandarin Oriental, Costa Navarino
Navarino Bay · 5★ · $$$$
An infinity pool over the bay with considerable restraint
Check availabilityThe Westin Resort Costa Navarino occupies the second property at Navarino Dunes with family facilities, direct beach access and full resort amenities.
The Westin Resort Costa Navarino
Navarino Dunes · 5★ · $$$
Direct beach access and full resort amenities
Check availabilityW Costa Navarino sits above the coast with an adults-only policy, a beach club and a livelier programme.
W Costa Navarino
Navarino Bay · 5★ · $$$
Adults-only with a beach club and a livelier programme
Check availabilityThe Argolid and the Saronic
Northeast, near Mycenae and Epidaurus.
Amanzoe occupies a hillside above Porto Heli with pavilions in olive groves, a private beach and a temple-like main building. It is the most exclusive property in mainland Greece.
Poseidonion Grand Hotel sits on the Spetses waterfront in a 1914 building that was the island's first grand hotel, restored, with a terrace over the harbour.
Poseidonion Grand Hotel
Spetses · 5★ · $$$$
A restored 1914 landmark over the harbour
Check availabilityNafplia Palace Hotel & Villas occupies the Acronafplia headland above Nafplio with views over the Venetian fortresses and the bay.
Nafplia Palace Hotel & Villas
Acronafplia, Nafplio · 5★ · $$$
On the headland above the Venetian fortresses
Check availabilityMonemvasia
The rock in the southeast.
Kinsterna Hotel occupies a restored Byzantine estate outside Monemvasia with a working olive press, a vineyard, a spa and the rock visible along the coast.
Kinsterna Hotel
Near Monemvasia · 5★ · $$$$
A Byzantine estate with a working olive press and vineyard
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The small guest houses inside the walls of Monemvasia and Nafplio are excluded, and in both towns they are in the most interesting buildings. They are guest houses rather than hotels.
What to do
See Epidaurus and test the acoustics. From the top row of a theatre built around 340 BC, seating 14,000, you can hear a coin dropped on the stage floor. Performances still run there in summer.
Go to Mycenae for the Lion Gate and the shaft graves where Schliemann found the gold mask, and to Nafplio afterwards for dinner.
Walk into Monemvasia through the single gate in the wall, at dusk, when the lower town lights and the upper town is dark above it.
Swim at Voidokilia, a near-perfect semicircle of sand between two headlands with a Mycenaean tomb on the hill above.
Drive the Mani and look at the tower houses, which were built as fortified family strongholds and are exactly as forbidding as that implies.
Practical notes
Kalamata airport serves Messinia with seasonal European flights; Athens is two and a half to four hours by road depending on the corner. A car is essential.
May, June, September and October are ideal. July and August are hot inland and the coast is busy. Winter is mild and the archaeology is empty.
Distances are longer than they look. The peninsula is mountainous and the coast roads wind.
Every hotel bookable in the Peloponnese
Questions people actually ask
Is Costa Navarino one resort?
It is a development with several hotels, two golf courses and shared facilities across two coastal sites.
Peloponnese or the islands?
The peninsula for archaeology, driving and far fewer people. The islands for ferries and beach life.
What is at Epidaurus?
A fourth-century BC theatre seating 14,000 with acoustics that still carry a whisper to the back row.
How many nights?
Seven. Four in Messinia and three in the Argolid, with the driving between.