Getting from Spetses to Monemvasia

If you are heading to Monemvasia from Spetses you are making your way from a car-free island in the Saronic Gulf to a medieval fortress town on the southeastern Peloponnese coast, on the opposite side of the Peloponnese. It is built entirely on a massive rock connected to the mainland by a single causeway with Byzantine churches and narrow lanes that have changed little in centuries.

Take the ferry

There is no direct ferry from Spetses to Monemvasia. Monemvasia is accessible only by road. Getting there means either taking the Saronic ferry from Spetses to Piraeus and then driving south through the Peloponnese to Monemvasia, which takes around 4 to 4.5 hours from Athens via Corinth, Tripoli and Sparta, or taking the short ferry from Spetses to the mainland port of Kosta and driving southeast through the Peloponnese to Monemvasia, which takes around 3 to 3.5 hours and avoids Piraeus entirely.

Getting there by air

Monemvasia has no airport. The nearest airport is Athens. Spetses has no airport. The nearest airport is also Athens. Taking the Saronic ferry from Spetses to Piraeus and then driving south to Monemvasia gives a total journey time of around 7 to 8 hours. In Greece, airlines do not operate direct inter island flights.

Your best option

Take the short ferry from Spetses to the mainland port of Kosta and drive southeast through the Peloponnese to Monemvasia. At around 3 to 3.5 hours from Kosta it avoids Piraeus entirely and is the most direct approach. Monemvasia rewards at least two nights. The town reveals itself slowly once the day visitors leave in the evening and the streets inside the walls become entirely your own. Note that Spetses is car-free so if you are traveling with a car it would already be at Kosta.