Lake Stymphalia

Stymphalia is the highest wetland of the Peloponnese and one of the few permanent lakes in the region, a shallow, seasonally fluctuating sheet of water almost entirely covered in reeds. It is the lake where, in myth, Hercules drove off the man-eating Stymphalian birds, and the association draws visitors who arrive expecting open water and find a marsh, which is precisely its value: over 130 bird species use it, including herons, ferruginous ducks and large winter flocks, and a hide and short trails serve watchers. The Environment Museum of Stymphalia above the shore explains the wetland and the traditional water management of the valley through working models. Around the lake stand the ruins of ancient Stymphalos with its walls and temple foundations, and the thirteenth-century Cistercian abbey of Zaraka, unusual in Greece.

What you actually see

• The reed marsh - a shallow lake of open water and reedbed.
• The birds - herons, ducks and migrants, best at dawn from the hide.
• Zaraka Abbey - the ruins of a rare Cistercian monastery in Greece.
• The environment museum - models of the valley's water and farming systems.

When to go

Spring for breeding birds and full water, late autumn for arrivals from the north. By late summer the lake shrinks dramatically and can look more like a wet field.

Honest expectations

Anyone hoping for a scenic lake will be disappointed: this is a reedbed, and the pleasure is ornithological. Trails are short and signage thin. The museum keeps limited hours, so check before driving up.

Nearby

Lake Doxa and the Feneos valley are over the mountain; Nemea's vineyards lie to the south.