Mani

The middle finger of the three-pronged Peloponnese, the Mani is Greece at its most fiercely traditional. Both the landscape and people are austere. But there are Frankish castles, frescoed Byzantine chapels, and excellent tavernas buried among the craggy peaks and along the rocky coastline. Some of the fortified  watchtowers, erected by the famously feuding locals, have been turned into guesthouses.