KTEL Presents Greece’s Greatest Rocks and Ruins

Having successfully mastered Albania’s no bus system-no bus station minibus-sedan-tag-team transportation we felt ready to tackle the Greek bus system. Greece had big buses and actual bus stations with staffed information counters, tickets, gift shops and cafeterias. However, efficient travel off season was mythical. Greece’s Achilles heel was its bus schedule.

Buses usually ran twice a week; typically just Fridays and Sundays, and connections usually did not line up. Partially because each municipalities had its own bus company (and website) and there was limited to no coordination between them, even if they were all called KTEL, all 62 of them. KTEL Leftkadis, KTEL Ioannion, KTEL Fokidas, and on and on.

From Athens we debated our next move studying geography, schedules and timing. Multiple Venn diagrams later, the conclusion was we’d have to stay someplace longer or shorter than desired, and skip planned stops since the buses did not stop where we wanted in the winter, there are no trains and we don’t rent cars. Solution was to go to places not on our plan or that we had never heard of. Our travel planner became the KTEL buses. Unfortunately, not the always reliable/always dependable K-TEL of Veg-O-Matic, Miracle Brush and other late night products infomercial fame.

Our goal was the south east tip of the Peloponnese peninsula, Monemvasia. The added benefit of this journey would be passing through Nick’s Papou’s (grandfather’s) birthplace of Sykea. It was a long ride, an exciting pass over the Corinth canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal and then a transfer in Sparta. (Looks far but just 4 hours of car driving, 6 hours by bus)

The buses often stop in every little town, but Sykea was so small and insignificant that the bus barreled through (barreled=30mph). Sykea was a good place to be from. It appeared to consist of a few houses, a soccer field and an Orthodox Church.

Monemvasia, just a bit further down the road, was a bigger draw because it had the Rock with the fortress at the top. Momenvasia is the rock that seems to have rolled a bit off the tip of the continent, that little tip is the tiny town of Gafira.

Definitely a summertime place so we went in the winter. A bit of the end of the world feel with empty streets except for the occasional tourist (oh, that would be us).

Stayed in a family run Inn. The innkeeper, who looked like a Greek version of Patricia’s mother, set up the little guest breakfast buffet each morning then sat down with her husband, read the paper, they drank their coffee and ate their breakfast. Starting to really feel like home? Patricia’s roots were felt, as well.

Momenvasia is like a Greek Mt St Michel only more layered and ruined https://chosenfugue.xyz/2025/10/11/brittany-rocks/.

Starting at the bottom layer, it’s all up hill, leveling out a bit to a small plaza and you get the first view of the sea.

Each layer, a different flavor with churches, parts of undetermined buildings and views of the Myrtoan/Aegean sea.

Coming down we were slowed down by some construction traffic, horses hauling bricks and dirt.

We actually really enjoyed this little town so we and the KTEL bus schedule decided we should stay an extra day.

After wrestling the rock, we decided to go on to Sparta. A lot of travel guides discouraged but not KTEL, it was the only stop we could do and hey, it was Sparta. It defines our lifestyle, so we went. Thank you K-TEL, the Spart-a-matic stop was a good deal, we really loved it, we couldn’t live without it!

Walked through the small but vibrant downtown to get to the Spartan ruins. Nothing fancy, no gates, no fences, you could walk right into them. Evocative and really, really beautiful.