Kalavryta and the Vouraikos Gorge

In the mountains of Achaia, at an altitude of around 750 metres on the slopes of Chelmos, Kalavryta is one of the main mountain destinations in the Peloponnese. The small town is above all the terminus of the spectacular Vouraikos railway and a base for discovering monasteries, mountain landscapes and memorial sites.

The Vouraikos Gorge and the rack railway

From Diakofto, on the Gulf of Corinth, the Odontotos^★ climbs the Vouraikos Gorge to Kalavryta. Opened in 1896, this very narrow-gauge railway covers about 22 km, passing through tunnels, over bridges, along rock faces and through narrow passages above the river. On the steepest sections, a central rack rail allows the train to climb gradients impossible to negotiate with conventional rail adhesion.

The journey is as much a technical curiosity as an excursion through one of the most spectacular landscapes in the northern Peloponnese. The Vouraikos flows between wooded cliffs, waterfalls and rock formations, while the track sometimes seems to cling directly to the mountain. The line serves in particular Kato Zachlorou, the traditional access point to the Mega Spilaio monastery.

Practical information: at the time of the last check in 2026, Hellenic Train announced the suspension of regular Odontotos services until further notice. It is therefore essential to check the status of the line before planning the trip.

Kalavryta, a mountain town and memorial site

Kalavryta has a lively centre around its station and shopping streets, but its recent history is marked by the massacre of 13 December 1943, when German troops burned the town and executed several hundred men and teenage boys. The Kalavryta Municipal Museum of the Holocaust occupies the former school where the population had been gathered, while the Place of Sacrifice, on Kappi hill about 500 metres from the centre, commemorates the victims.

Mega Spilaio, a monastery beneath the cliff

About ten kilometres from Kalavryta, the Mega Spilaio monastery^★★ is one of the most impressive religious sites in the Peloponnese. Established at an altitude of around 940 metres, it appears set into an immense cavity at the foot of an almost vertical wall overlooking the Vouraikos valley. Destroyed and rebuilt several times over the course of its history, the monastery preserves icons, relics, manuscripts and religious objects.

Its setting accounts for much of the interest of the visit: from the terraces and the surroundings of the monastery, the view opens onto the wooded hills and deep valleys of Chelmos. Mega Spilaio can be reached by road or from the Kato Zachlorou area, served by the railway line when it is operating.

Around Kalavryta

A few kilometres to the south-west, the Agia Lavra^★ monastery is the other major religious site in the area, strongly associated in Greek national memory with the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1821. Further afield, the Cave of the Lakes at Kastria and the high peaks of Chelmos allow visitors to extend their stay towards a more mountainous and natural Achaia.