Kalamata
UK's Times newspaper picks the Peloponnese for 2026
The travel experts from The Times recently picked their best European city break destinations for 2026, and Kalamata in the Peloponnese was up there with the best. It ranked alongside other top cities including Venice, Lisbon, Lyon and Istanbul. That’s what you call punching above its weight, for a city of just 70,000 people.
Two of the reasons for picking the city best known around the world for the quality of its olives were a flight and a film.
New Flight
The new flight is from British Airways and launches on April 30th from London Gatwick. It joins existing flights from easyJet and from Jet2, which also launches two new direct flights to Kalamata in 2026. Jet2 will be adding flights from Edinburgh (starting May 6) and London Gatwick (starting July 1). Jet2 already flies to Kalamata from Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and London Stansted. EasyJet also flies from Gatwick and Manchester.
New Film
Big new movies always boost tourism in the places where they’re filmed, and coming out in July 2026 is Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation of The Odyssey. This was filmed throughout the Peloponnese, as well as in Iceland, Scotland, Sicily and Morocco. It stars Matt Damon as Odysseus and Anne Hathaway as his wife, Penelope.
Kalamata
Kalamata is the second-largest city in the Peloponnese, after Patras, and you can read more about its history and attractions here. It also has a great Blue Flag beach, and lots of choice for places to eat and places to stay. And we can definitely recommend this up-to-date travel guide, which came out in November 2025 and which we helped to update.
So what are you waiting for?
Mike and Donna
I believe my Great Uncle may have transitted through Kalamata 85 years ago, as a prisoner of war from the Battle of Crete - on his way to a prison camp! Probably not the brightest reason for being curious about this place, but you have piqued my interest