mbow

Any comments on our April 2-9 Greek Trip would be appreciated. We are only there 7 days and can't extend, unfortunately. My husband will have been in Europe the week prior and fully time-adjusted.
Day 1- Land Athens at 11am- drive to Nafplio (via Epidavrus)
Day 2- Napflio/Mycenae- stay night in Nafplio
Day 3- Delphi
Day 4- Meteora
Day 5- Drive to Athens, Athens
Day 6- Athens all day
Day 7- fly home (to U.S.)

It is a lot of driving, but we do have driving experience in France(Paris, even), S. Spain mountains, and Boston... That's not the worry, it is that the distances are too far to justify the sights. Any comments here? The easy fix would be to cut out the Meteora, but that is the site we are most interested in seeing. Do we want to stick to major highways or take some interesting backroads? I've heard Safeway is a reputable, but less expensive car rental agency- any others?
With this itinerary will we have any time to visit villages along the way?

mbow

Oh- and initially we wanted to go to at least one island, but came to the conclusion that with our limited time we could only fit in a day trip to Hydra or Aegina, and with cool weather the 1st week of April that we might be disappointed. We'll leave island travel to our next Greek holiday!

mbow

Comments? Anyone, Anyone...

Ozarksbill

Well, I'm no expert, but you did want a response. Yes, your trip seems doable. No mention of Corinth which is of course en route to Nafplio. Don't know anything about places to stay because we did a day tour out of Athens. I must say I was quite taken with Delphi as I'd done some study and even wrote a paper on it (we were oldsters enrolled in a college class on ancient Greece at the time).

Also impressed with Mycenae which our prof. said was a must. A reminder that some of the priceless artifacts fromm there are displayed in the National Museum in Athens. We did enjoy a day trip out of Piraeus...Poros, Aegina. Otherwise, we were in Rhodes and Crete.

Good luck.
Bill in Missouri [email protected]

mzani

Your routing is OK.
However,Nafplio/Delphi is a very long journey.

My suggestion;
Day 2-Nafplio/Mycenae then take the splendid scenic mountain road (via the village of Vitina) up to Olympia.
Day 3-after your breakfast visit the ancient Olympia, and via Patras/The Rion-Antirion sate of the art new bridge,the seaside Galaxidi you will reach Delphi.

mbow

Thank you for your replies. I really like the idea of scenic mountain roads and quaint villages to explore or eat lunch, but I have to say that after Epidavrus, Mycenae, and then to Delphi, not to mention ancient sites in Athens, I may have to take a pass on Olympia. I enjoy ancient ruins, but feel like I will get my fill. We are considering hiring a taxi tour guide to do all the driving. (Comments on that welcome too.) So, for Day 1 I land at 10:45am in Athens, car will be ready to go and we were planning to see the Corinth Canal, then Epidavrus, finally spending the night in Napflion. Day 2, we plan to visit the hilltop fortress above Nafplion, and then travel to Mycenae. After Mycenae, should we come back to Nafplion for the night or overnight closer to Patras on our way to Delphi? Can we make it all the way to Delphi for night 2? How can I get an idea of travel time between Naflion and Delphi?