MEBoston

My boyfriend and I are headed to Greece in August. I'd love to get thoughts on our itinerary from seasoned Greek travelers!

We fly into Athens and are spending the majority of the time in Nafplio which is about 3 hours away. From what I've read, you can do Athens in 2-3 days. We wanted to do Athens first but when we coordinate with the other people that we're meeting over there, it seems that it makes more sense for us to head right to Nafplio and then Athens at the tail end.

Day 1: Arrive in Athens around 4:00 pm, either get a hotel for that night and leave for Nafplio in the morning, or head straight to Nafplio that night (haven't decided that yet)
Day 2: Nafplio and environs
Day 3: Nafplio and environs
Day 4: Nafplio and environs
Day 5: Nafplio and environs
Day 6: Nafplio and environs
Day 7: Leave Nafplio, travel back to Athens
Day 8: Athens
Day 9: Athens
Day 10: Travel home

Is this a good plan? Enough time in both areas?

Thanks!

mist

Don't you want to see some islands and/or Meteora and Delphi?

aredub

As much as I love Nafplion, you can easily see its sights and Mycene, Tiryns and Epidaurus in two to three days. Five days seems a lot unless you are intending to do a lot of travelling to and from Nafplion, or you want to spend a bit of time on a local beach. Nothing wrong with that!

Perhaps you should consider other areas in Greece as well. Delphi (mentioned above), Olympia, Hydra or Poros, or even the Mani could be included in the "extra" two days.

MEBoston

I should have done more planning with my itinerary before posting about it! Nafplio will be our base for a few days, will definitely visit the major attractions in that area (Mycenae, etc.).

What I'm wondering about is distance between Nafplio and a lot of other places such as Olympia, Meteora, Delphi.

For example, is it possible to drive from Nafplio to Delphi in a day? Would it make sense to leave Nafplio, drive to Delphi (we plan to rent a car), then stay in Delphi overnight and back to Athens for the last part of our trip?

What I really need is a good map that shows all areas with distances between them.

MEBoston

Also, I will be there on August 15th, which I've read is a major holiday in Greece (the Assumption). What does this mean as far as crowds, traffic, etc.? How do you think this will impact the drive from Athens to Nafplio?

aredub

Nafplion to Delphi is about a 4 hour drive, longer if you stop at some of the towns along the way like Nafpaktos or Itea.

Meteora is about 3 hours drive north from Delphi.

Nafplion to Olympia will take about 3 hours driving depending upon the route that you take. An interesting and scenic route would be via Karitaina, Dimitsana and Lagkadia. That would be closer to 4 hours travelling.

Olympia and Delphi could certainly be done as day trips from Nafplion but you would be driving for most of the day and not leaving enough time to enjoy the sights or the destinations.

But with an early start, and not forgetting that it doesn't get dark till anout 9pm, you could do them as individual day trips from Nafplion.

Meteora would require a nights stopover.

Have a look at http://www.viamichelin.com for maps and estimated travel times between towns.

The days leading up to 15 August will see an increase in traffic on the roads, but by the time the 15th comes around most Greeks will be at their holiday destination.

The road from Athens to Nafplion is freeway most of the way, so you shouldn't have too much trouble with traffic.

MEBoston

Thanks aredub! That was very helpful!

Here's a scenario. Say we leave Nafplio and drive to Olympia and then Delphi, and then on to Meteora with an overnight stay somewhere. Presuming we get a semi-early start, I assume we can do Olympia and Delphi in one day? And, would you stay overnight in Delphi and leave the next morning to Meteora, or head right to Meteora and get an early start at the monasteries?

I guess it boils down to how much time does one spend typically in Olympia and Delphi?