Lord Byron and Greek independence itinerary

On 25 March 1821 the Greeks rose up against almost four centuries of Ottoman rule. The War of Independence lasted nearly ten years. It was fought by peasants, sea captains, priests and brigands, and it gripped the whole of Europe. Poets, painters and volunteers set off from Britain, France, Italy and Germany to help the land where democracy had been born. The most famous of them was Lord Byron, who spent his fortune on the Greek cause and died of fever at Missolonghi in 1824, becoming a national hero in Greece.

This seven-day itinerary retraces the places of the revolution: the monastery of Agia Lavra, where by tradition the banner of revolt was raised; the martyr town of Missolonghi, where Byron died; Nafplio, the first capital of free Greece; and the captains' islands, Spetses and Hydra, whose fleet proved decisive. Along the way you ride the rack railway through the Vouraikos Gorge and cross the Gulf of Corinth on the country's longest bridge. It is a journey through modern Greek history, and it explains a great deal about the pride and identity of Greece today.

The revolution in brief

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, almost all of Greece passed under the Ottoman Empire. In the early 19th century a secret society, the Filiki Eteria, prepared the uprising, which broke out in the spring of 1821 in the Peloponnese and spread to the islands and central Greece. Years of victories and massacres, sieges and internal feuds followed, until in 1827 the naval battle of Navarino, won by the fleets of Britain, France and Russia, made independence inevitable; it was recognised in 1830. The first head of the new state was Ioannis Kapodistrias, assassinated in Nafplio in 1831. See our page on the Greek War of Independence.

Day 1: Athens

In Athens the story of the revolution is told at the National Historical Museum, in the Old Parliament building, which displays weapons, flags, portraits of the leaders of the uprising and Lord Byron's helmet. At the Benaki Museum the 19th-century rooms show costumes, jewellery and paintings of the period. In the gardens of the Zappeion, next to the National Garden, a large marble statue shows Greece crowning Byron. In Plaka, the Monument of Lysicrates recalls the convent where the poet stayed on his first journey, in 1810. See also the history of Athens.

Where to stay: in Athens.

Day 2: the Vouraikos Gorge and Agia Lavra

Pick up the car and drive along the coast of the Gulf of Corinth to Diakopto (about two hours). Here you board the Odontotos, the rack railway built at the end of the 19th century, which climbs for over twenty kilometres up the narrow Vouraikos Gorge, through tunnels, over bridges and between rock walls, to Kalavryta, 750 metres above sea level: one of the most beautiful train journeys in Greece.

A few kilometres from Kalavryta stands the monastery of Agia Lavra, where by tradition, on 25 March 1821, Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the banner of revolt and blessed the fighters: the banner is still kept in the monastery, and on a nearby hill a monument honours the heroes of the revolution. Kalavryta is also a place of 20th-century memory: in December 1943 German troops killed almost all the men of the town, and a museum and a memorial on the hill commemorate the victims.

Where to stay: in Kalavryta or the mountain villages.

Day 3: Missolonghi

Drive down towards Patras and cross the gulf on the Rio-Antirrio Bridge to Missolonghi (about two and a half hours), a town on a lagoon, among salt pans and fishermen's huts on stilts. During the war the town withstood long sieges. In January 1824 Lord Byron arrived, appointed to command a brigade: three months later, on 19 April, he died of fever, aged 36, without having fought, but his death moved Europe and strengthened support for the Greek cause. Two years later, in April 1826, the starving defenders attempted a desperate sortie through the enemy lines, the famous Exodus: few survived, and the episode inspired Delacroix's painting Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi.

Visit the Garden of Heroes, a park with the monuments and tombs of Greek and foreign fighters, including the monument to Byron, and the small historical museum in the town hall. In the afternoon take a trip into the lagoon, among herons and flamingos, and taste avgotaracho, the grey mullet roe of Missolonghi.

Where to stay: in Missolonghi or in Nafpaktos, with its Venetian harbour.

Day 4: to Nafplio

Cross back over the bridge and drive through the Peloponnese to Nafplio (about three hours). The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from 1829 to 1834. Visit the Vouleftiko, the old mosque where the first Greek parliament met, and the church of St Spyridon, whose door still bears the mark of the bullet that killed Kapodistrias in 1831. On Syntagma Square and along the harbour you can feel the atmosphere of the kingdom's early years, when the young King Otto of Bavaria landed here in 1833. In the evening dine on the waterfront, beneath the Palamidi fortress.

Where to stay: in Nafplio, for one night.

Day 5: Spetses, Bouboulina's island

From Nafplio drive to Kosta or Porto Cheli (about an hour and a half), where a short ferry takes you to Spetses. This was the birthplace of Laskarina Bouboulina, shipowner and sea captain, one of the great figures of the revolution, who took part in the siege of Nafplio with her ship Agamemnon. Her house, now a museum run by her descendants, tells the story of an extraordinary life, and her statue stands on the harbour square. Spetses is an elegant island where private cars are banned in the centre and people get around by horse-drawn carriage, bicycle or scooter. In September, during the Armata, the naval battle of 1822 is re-enacted with the burning of a mock Turkish ship in the bay.

Where to stay: on Spetses, for one night.

Day 6: Hydra, the captains' island

The hydrofoil reaches Hydra in half an hour. It was the richest of the naval islands during the war. The great stone mansions of the captains, such as the house of Lazaros Kountouriotis, now a museum, recall the families who fitted out the fleet at their own expense, and the Historical Archives Museum on the harbour holds documents, portraits and the embalmed heart of Admiral Andreas Miaoulis, one of the heroes of the war at sea. On the harbour ramparts the cannons still point out to sea. In June the Miaoulia festival re-enacts the naval battles with fireworks.

Where to stay: on Hydra.

Day 7: back to Athens

The hydrofoil from Hydra reaches Piraeus in under two hours. If you left the car on the Peloponnese coast, take the ferry back to Ermioni or Metochi and drive to Athens. On the last afternoon, before departure, you can drive to Cape Sounion, where a name carved on a column of the Temple of Poseidon is traditionally attributed to Byron; see Cape Sounion.

How much it costs

To save money: on 25 March, the national holiday, and on some other days, admission to state museums and sites is free; in low season Spetses and Hydra cost much less.

Practical information

• Vouraikos railway: services are few, especially in winter; check the timetable and book at weekends.
• Hydrofoils: Spetses, Hydra and Piraeus are linked daily, more often in summer.
• Cars: you cannot take a car onto Hydra or Spetses; leave it in the car parks at Kosta or at the mainland port.
• National holiday: on 25 March there are school and military parades all over Greece; in Athens the parade passes in front of Parliament.
• Documents: EU citizens only need a valid identity card. See getting to Greece.

Variations

• Tripolitsa and the Mani: the capture of Tripoli, one of the first great victories, and Areopoli, where the Mani rose on 17 March 1821; see the Venetian Greece itinerary.
• Navarino: Pylos bay, with the museum of the 1827 battle; see the Odyssey itinerary.
• Souli and Epirus: the mountain villages of Epirus and the story of the women of Souli.

What to read before you go

For Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, with its cantos devoted to Greece, and a good biography of the poet. For the history, a good account of the Greek revolution of 1821; for fiction, Kazantzakis's Freedom or Death, set during an uprising in Crete. See also the history of Greece and the Greek flag, with its nine stripes.

Final tips

• Pace: Missolonghi sees few tourists; an afternoon and an evening are enough, but it is worth the detour.
• Combinations: from Nafplio you can link up with the myth itinerary in the Argolid.
• A tip: in the Garden of Heroes at Missolonghi, find the monument to Byron and read the lines of Childe Harold about Greece: you will understand why, even today, many Greek families name their sons Vyronas.

See also our other itineraries in Greece.

Missolonghi on the map

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