samtraveler

My friend and I just booked our flights to Greece and now we're working on hotels and local transportation. We will be spending a couple of days in Nafplio before heading to Santorini. We've decided that we really do not want to rent a car for the Nafplio leg of our trip, so we'd like to take the bus (or whatever the best mode of transport is) from Athens to Nafplio and then from Nafplio back to Athens to catch our flight out to Santorini. I want to book my flight to Santorini ASAP, but I am uneasy booking this without plans for our Nafplio to Athens journey. Is there a way to book buses in advance? And can one take a bus from Nafplio directly to Athens airport? We'd like to travel from downtown Athens to Nafplio, but then from Nafplio to the Athens airport. Thanks for any help with this.

HappyTrvlr

I think there is bus transportation, however I highly recommend driving. It is an easy 2 hour + drive on good roads from Athens to Napflion. Once there, you'll want to explore the surrounding areas with their amazing antiquities- the Mycenae and Epidavros.
It is esy to drive directly to the Athens airport from Napflion.

samtraveler

I know everyone recommends driving, but we really have decided against it.

travelerjan

Sam, I've visited Nafplio 4 times and always by bus -- go to the "argolid" ticket window at the bus station. THey leave hourly on the half hour and take a little over 2 hrs on nice airconditioned busses--it's faster now that they modernized the highway to Corinth.. but don't try it on FRiday or Sunday afternoon you run into the Athenian getaway traffic. I don't think thy have a bus directly to airport from Nafplio but do from the Athens bus station... you can get the schedule before you leave for Nafplio.
If you want to see Mycenae & Epidaurus there's a 1-day bus tour out of Nafplio you book at an agency. But there is PLENTY to occupy your time right in/around Nafplio ... castles, fortresses, Venetian walls, lovely views,.. and if you want a good ruin, Tiryns is just 2 Km outside of the town... and if you want a good sandy beach (Santorini doesn't have any) Tolo is just 15 mins away by bus.
You'll like Santorini, but you'll want to return to Nafplio!

worldinabag

Hi

This might help too - http://athensguide.com/practicalinfo/busschedulesA.htm

samtraveler

Thanks travelerjan and worldinabag
for your replies. This is helpful. We're traveling to Nafplio on a Monday and head back to Athens on a Wednesday. I was really hoping I could book the buses in advance, since the bus trip affects how easily we make our flight to Santorini. It makes me nervous to book our flight to Santorini not having a bus ticket in hand. I suppose if they leave every 30 or 60 minutes we should be okay, though I worry about buses being full (second week of June). Do you know the name of the bus tour company who offers to the 1-day tour to Mycenae & Epidaurus out of Nafplio? That sounds ideal. Thanks for the help!

saltymuffin

I am also interested in the company's offering the one day trips to Mycenae & Epidaurus.

We had originally planned on renting a car and driving to Nafplio and back from the airport, but in the end have decided on the bus. We were then thinking of renting a car for the day in Nafplion to visit Mycenae & Epidaurus, but if we can do a tour, that would eliminate the car all together. What was the approx cost of the tour?

travelerjan

The agency that did the tours is on the large plaza that is to the seaward side of the bus station... there isn't an english-speaking tour every day, just certain days. I think it was about $40 in 1999...undoubtedly more now. It had a time-wasting obligatory taverna meal (u pay) that limited our time at Mycenae and the bus guide actually knew very little about mycenae and nothing about Epidaurus. It was my first trip to the area; since then I have learned more.

In 2005 had very good exprience driving with 3 other people.. you go at your own pace. Go to Mycenae first, to beat the day-trip buses from Athens... then drive to Epidaurus (u can even do a quickie stop at Tiryns on the way). After Epidaurus u can even have a dip in the nearby beach, if your trip is in May or later. On May 31 we got a car rental for 35 p d at Boumas rent-a-car...it's about 2 blocks from bus station, near the waterfront, best buy around. They'll deliver car to your hotel at 8 am or so. That time of year, NO traffic in that area, good roads, easy driving.

As for the info a tour guide gives -- you've plenty of time, get some guides from the library, readreadread, Xerox relevant pages & site maps, u will do just as well! Also go to the Thorn Tree Forum and google "Epidaurus" and read what the EXCELLENT Grecophile named "Xaroula"has to say about it.. sooo insightful.

travelerjan

Forgot to say for chronic worrier Sam -- don't fret about the busses! Yes, it's a good idea to get your bus ticket to Athens the day before, if you're taking an early bus... just to avoid last-minute hassle. But NO,there's no way the bus will be full. The bus STARTS at Naplio for Athens, and june is off-season, and WEdnesday is probablythe most "off"day of any week.

In all the worried postings you have not given the time of your Santorini flight, so it is difficult to know what your time constraints are. As I said, it will be about 2.5 hours to the bus station - then however long the airport bus takes from there. As mentioned, as you LEAVE athens, you can get info on the airport express bus, and plan accordingly. Relax, Sam, it will be OK.

GeoffHamer

Do not worry about Greek buses being full midweek in June. The bus operators are commercial concerns: if the buses were fully booked, they'd run extra buses. I've used buses all over Greece and never had a problem, usually booking before boarding the bus, but at most the day before. If the buses were fully booked in advance, the owners would lay on extra buses.

Kristinelaine

I don't want to worry anyone unnecessarily, but in September I could not find any one-day tour to both Mycenae and Epidaurus. Perhaps it was too late in the season. Or I didn't ask at the right place. We were able to do only one or the other by regular bus transportation in one day. If someone has more explicit information on this, I would be glad to hear about it.

Reen

We had the same experience regarding visits to Mycenae and Epidaurus last March. No tours were available. We had no trouble taking local buses to these sites, but we did need to do each trip on a separate day. We also took the bus to and from Nafplio with no problems.

saltymuffin

Thanks everyone. It sounds like the day trip isn't worth it, even if it were available. But the bus from Athens sounds easy. We'll plan on getting a car for a day or two while in Nafplio.

mikeantonios

Athens to Nafplio, the bus runs all the time. If buses are overloaded, they just ad another bus. Relax and have an ouzo. Don't try to do too much in one day. Getting there is half the fun. A plane you would make a reservation for, a boat in the dead of summer you would make a reservation for a few weeks in advance, but a bus, never.....just show up....

duncan_soton

I'll post the exact times when I return home on 1st Jan, but it is quite easy to have a couple of hours at both sights within the same day and do it all by scheduled bus as I did (changing at Argos and having lunch there for an hour). Alternatively, have an early start from Athens, and visit Epidaurus on day 1 and Mycenae on day 2, filling in the gaps with Tirys and a evening stroll around the Palamidi fortress. There is plenty to keep you occupied for several days around Nafplio if you have the time.

Kristinelaine

I wish I had known how to do this when we were there in September. Oh well, we'll just have to go back!