Venue, hotels and social program

The conference takes place at the Hotel Elite in Kalamata, Greece,

[Hotel

Accommodation

The conference will take place at the Hotel Elite in Kalamata which is offering special discounts for all LION12 participants. On top of being the conference venue, the Hotel Elite is also the venue of the conference gala dinner. We strongly recommend that LION12 participants book their rooms early.

In order to receive the special LION12 discount, please book your room at the Hotel Elite following this secure link.

The registration fee includes:

Conference attendance, pre-and post-proceedings, coffee-breaks;
Welcome Reception;
Conference gala dinner
Conference excursion

Coffee and refreshments will be available during conference breaks to encourage informal interactions between the participants.

Travel to Kalamata

Generally, international attendees of the conference would arrive to one of:

For those planning to arrive to Athens International Airport:
You may travel to Kalamata by train or bus, by renting a car, or by hiring a taxi. There are several new sections of highway between Athens and Kalamata that amount to an approximate 3.5 hour drive.

For those planning to arrive to Thessaloniki Airport:
You may travel to Kalamata by a direct airplane flight.

For those planning to arrive to Kalamata International Airport:
During the summer there are several direct charter flights between Kalamata and major European cities such as Paris, Vienna, Berlin, etc. A taxi ride from the airport to the conference venue will take approximately 20 minutes and cost €20.

KTEL buses from Kalamata to Athens

General Information on Transportation

For tourism information on Kalamata, we recommend you review the Web pages of Visit Greece and Kalamata's Traveller Guide and Kalamata (IN).

Two sightseeing excursions are planned for conference attendees:

(1) The first excursion will be at the impressive Ancient Messini archeological site. The site is one of the 14 sites in Greece, currently on Unesco's tentative list for insciption on the World Heritage list. There are currently 18 sites in Greece, on Unesco's World Heritage list. Five of them are located in the Peloponnese.

(2) The second excursion will be at the world-famous Diros Caves, that feature a unique 1.6 km subterranean river boat ride.

Visa Invitation Letters

Participants of the conference that require visas in order to travel to Greece are kindly asked to contact the LION12 Local Organizing Commitee Chair to solicit an official invitation letter. Note that citizens of European Union countries do not require a visa to enter Greece, and will only require a valid passport or for Schengen countries, an identification card. Citizens of Australia, Canada, Isreael, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, Switzerland, and USA do not require a visa in order to enter Greece for a period of less than 3 months. Citizens of countries other than the ones mentioned should contact their nearest Greek Consulate or Embassy. Please make sure that you deal with these matters as early as possible, in case you encounter unexpected processing delays and difficulties.