Kalavryta (Rack railway) Cave of Lakes private tour from Athens Nafplion (10h)

Kalavryta (Rack railway) Cave of Lakes private tour from Athens Nafplion (10h)

We visit Kalavryta and surrounding areas as travelers, not as tourists. We get as excited as you, we love traveling, history & photography. We love what we do:)
Schedule is flexible, but most importantly our drivers are seasoned travelers and are dedicated to helping you live the tour of your life, that is suited to your needs and lifestyle, allowing all passengers to enjoy the scenic drive, stopping wherever you desire, as Corinth Canal.. etc, take photos, have a break.
The tour starts with convenient pickup from your location and takes via Corinth Calal to Peloponnese. We continue to Diakopto, from where you will take the cog railway,a unique train ride via Vouraikos Gorge to Kalavryta. Continue by car to the majestic Cave of Lakes. Time for Lunch, explore Kalavryta village (Museum). Next we will visit the Monastery of Agia Lavra (linked to the Greek revolution in 1821) and return in Athens by car this time. On the way we will stop at Mega Spilaeo monastery (the oldest in Greece)

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Corinth Canal, Isthmia, Corinth 201 00 Greece

The marvelous man-made Corinth canal connecting the Aegean and Ionian seas, as well as the Peloponnese peninsula with the central part of Greece.
More than 2500 workers digging 6.400m for twelve years (from 1881 to 1893). Stop for photography, walk across on a pedestrian bridge and admire the canal from 80 m high

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Diakopto, Diakopto, Achaea Region, West Greece

Diakopto is a town and a former municipality in Achaea / Peloponnese. The town of Diakopto is situated on the Gulf of Corinth, near the mouth of the Vouraikos river and at the lower end of the Vouraikos Gorge.

Duration: 15 minutes

Stop At: Odontotos rack railway Diakopto – Kalavrita, Diakopto 250 03, Greece

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a train journey as spectacular as that of the rack railway that links the seaside village of Diakopto to picturesque Kalavryta.
Take the Diakopto–Kalavryta Railway, an historic 750 mm gauge cog railway in Greece. It runs 22 km (14 mi) through the Vouraikos Gorge, stopping en route at Zachlorou.

It is one of the most beautiful natural sights plus one of the most spectacular railway rides.The little train travels through streams, climbing the majestic narrow gorge,up into the mountains, through bridges and tunnels, over waterfalls, along cliffs and through forest of pine and oak trees. When the incline gets really steep it switches form regular track to a cog system.


Duration: 1 hour 8 minutes

Stop At: Kastria Cave of the Lakes, Kastria Greece

The Cave of the Lakes, is located near the village Kastria. It is 17 km from Kalavryta.

The cave is an old subterranean river consisting of three levels. During the winter when the snow melts it is transformed into a flowing river with waterfalls. During the summer, it dries up, leaving behind 13 lakes.
Daily from 09:30 to 16:30 Holidays and summer time extension
Tickets Adults: 9,00 €. Children/ Over 65: 4,50 €.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: The Municipal Museum of the Kalavryta Holocaust, 1-5 Sigrou Achaia, Kalavrita 250 01 Greece

Kalavryta a popular traditional mountain village. Visit Museum & town.
In early December 1943, the German Army's 117th Jäger Division began a mission named Unternehmen Kalavryta (Operation Kalavryta), intending to encircle Greek Resistance fighters in the mountainous area surrounding Kalavryta. During the operation, 78 German soldiers, who had been taken prisoner by the partisans in October, were executed by their captors. In response, the commander of the German division, General Karl von Le Suire personally ordered the "severest measures" — the killing of the male population of Kalavryta — on 10 December 1943.

Operation Kalavryta was mounted from six cities: Patras, Aigion, and Cornith on the Gulf of Corinth and from Argos, Pyrgos and Tripolis in central Peloponnese. All "Battle-Groups" were aimed at Kalavryta, although the divisions from Pyrgos, Argos, and Corinth returned to their bases soon after. Wehrmacht troops burnt villages and monasteries and shot civilians on their way. The Germans reached Kalavryta on December 9. In the early morning of December 13, 1943 the Germans rounded up all residents of the town and forced them into the school building where they separated the older boys and men from the women and children. They moved the men to a field owned by Thanasis Kappis, a school teacher, just overlooking the town. After looting the town and setting it ablaze, the Germans machine-gunned the men. 696 men and older boys were killed. There were only 13 male survivors, saved because they were hidden under the bodies of the dead. The women and children managed to free themselves from the flaming school while the rest of the town was set ablaze. The following day the Nazi troops burned down the Agia Lavra monastery, a landmark of the Greek War of Independence.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Agia Lavra Monastery, Kalavrita 250 01 Greece

Agia Lavra is a monastery near Kalavryta. It was built in 961 AD, on Chelmos Mountain, at an altitude of 961 meters, and can be described as the symbolic birthplace of modern Greece. It stands as one of the oldest monasteries in the Peloponnese.

It was built in the 10th century but was burnt to the ground in 1585 by the Turks. It was rebuilt in 1600 while the frescoes by Anthimos were completed in 1645. It was burnt again in 1715 and in 1826 by the armies of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt. In 1850 after the rebirth of modern Greece, the building was completely rebuilt. The monastery was burned down by German forces in 1943.

It is famously linked with the Greek War of Independence, since it was here that the call for Eleftheria I Thanatos (Ελευθερία ή θάνατος) was first heard on 25 March 1821, launching the revolution against the Ottoman Empire. That day, Bishop Germanos of Patras performed a doxology and administered an oath to the Peloponnesian fighters. The revolutionary flag was raised by Bishop under the plane tree just outside the gate of the monastery.

To this day, the vestments of Germanos, documents, books, icons, the Gospel of Tsarina Catherine II of Russia, sacred vessels, crosses, etc. are preserved in the Monastery's museum, along with the holy relics of St Alexios, given by Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus in 1398. Pieces of embroidery, made with gold or silver threads woven in pure silk materials in Smyrna and Constantinople, are also possessions of the Monastery and they date from the 16th century.
Winter hours: Daily 10:00-13:00 & 15:00-16:00. Summer hours: Daily 10:00-13:00 & 16:00-17:00.

Duration: 45 minutes

Stop At: Mega Spileo Monastery, Kato Zachlorou, Kalavrita Greece

The monastery is located in a large cave in a sheer cliff, where the western slopes of Mount Chelmos drop down to the gorge of the Vouraikos river. The cave was known in antiquity, and the geographer Pausanias reports that the daughters of Proetus found refuge there during their madness. In the first Christian centuries, Christian hermits occupied the cave.

According to tradition, the monastery is one of the oldest in Greece, reputedly founded in 362 by the Thessalonian brothers Symeon and Theodore, who with the help of Euphrosyne (a local shepherdess, honored as saint for her part in these events) discovered in the cave the icon of the Theotokos painted by Luke the Evangelist.

Several of the monks became members of the Filiki Etaireia and took part in the Greek War of Independence. On 8 December 1943, the German 117th Jäger Division destroyed the monastery and executed 22 monks and visitors as part of reprisals that culminated a few days later with the Massacre of Kalavryta.

Duration: 30 minutes