Gythelo Greece

This town, in the edge of the southwestern edge of the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece, is the gateway to the Mani Peninsula. Although it offers few sights, in and of itself, it is a lovely town, with well-maintained, subdued white and pastel buildings lining the harbor and streets that climb gently uphill.

Everything about the town is tranquil: the colors of the buildings, the boats bobbing in the harbor, the waves lapping gently onto the jetty. It even has a tiny, picturesque, forested island park, connected to the mainland by a causeway, with a lighthouse, a lovely small chapel and a 17^th-century tower that now serves as the city museum.

Then there’s the seafood, The harbor, home to a small fleet of fishing boats, is lined with seafood restaurants that invite you to inspect their inventories of six to ten fresh seafood items that came off the boat that morning.

Gythelo Restaurant

We were in seafood heaven in Gythelo and ate at 2 different restaurants.

Saga Fish Taberna. We began with a huge starter plate of marinated anchovies with capers. They came with a plate of toast on which to eat the anchovies, which our server liberally doused with olive oil and sprinkled oregano. We piled the anchovies on the toast and devoured them. Our main plates were fresh from the sea: a while White Seabream (a different species, but of similar appearance and taste to the Gilthead Seabream or Dorado that we have had many times over the past couple weeks). The other dish was two swordfish steaks, cooked perfectly, tender and delicious, on which the server, of course, liberally poured olive oil. Itwas among the best we have had. We savored all three dishes with a preview of a tasting we have arranged for Santorini: a Santo Wines 2017 Asyrtiko. Although we thought we were done, our server would not allow us to leave without a taste (complementary) of overbaked apple (sweet and refreshing). And for the road, he gave us a bottle of the restaurant’s private label olive oil that we so enjoyed with our meal.

The Corner is a very busy, family-owned restaurant founded in 1958. This restaurant too is known for its fresh seafood. We began with a Greek salad (big, juicy, delicious tomatoes with cucumber, green pepper, olives and onions with lots of olive oil). We then had two ultra-fresh, fried fish dishes: A plate of whitebait (although these, at two-to-four inches were larger than we are accustomed to), followed by two quartered, whole baby cod. Another lovely (albeit not especially healthy) fresh, Greek seafood meal.

Gythelo Hotel

Mareggio Exclusive Residences & Suites Selinitsa Beach. This is a beautiful place 2 miles outside of town. The room is a little cramped for the price. But the view, the proximity to the sea and the service make up for it. Come here if you want to relax for a few days. If you are looking for a place to sleep, it is a good sleep, but maybe you can find something in town. We could only find 3 star places in town so we came here. A short car trip takes you to the great seafood restaurants.