Stay in Delphi or Arachova to tour the site of Delphi?
 

Feedback wanted!

I’m debating between Delphi and Arachova for a 2 night stay in order to tour the site of Delphi.

Is the town of Delphi that unpleasant or Arachova that much nicer and is it easy to manage by car? As part of a longer road trip in the Pelopponese and northern Greece, we’ll be staying in Nafpaktos prior to visiting Delphi and traveling on to Meteora after Delphi. Originally, I planned to stay in Galaxidi, but because we’ll be in Nafpaktos, that doesn’t really make sense. In general, I prefer being IN a location but a short and easy drive away seems fine. Since we’ll be there for 2 nights, I figured we’d go to Galaxidi during the day for lunch and an exploration, so we won’t miss this lovely town.

I have a cancellable reservation at Hotel Nidimos in Delphi.

Delphi is beautiful! You stand among ancient artifacts looking all the way out to sea.
There is nothing unpleasant about Delphi.We were so happy that we spent the night there. Make sure your hotel offers the views I mentioned above.

Happytrvler
We’ll be going to the site! I just wanted to clarify where to stay for touring. I’ll edit my post to reflect that!

I far preferred Delphi to Arachova. As HappyTrvlr said, make sure your hotel offers a view out to the sea.

I’m curious why. So many people say the town is a bland tourist town while Arachova has character. I’m really interested in knowing why you preferred Delphi.

I’ve got cancellable reservations in both places so I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I preferred Delphi because of the views. Oh, those stunningly glorious views! I didn't spend much time in the town itself, though I had a wonderful dinner there. (See my trip report for details.) When I visited (2017), Arachova struck me as much more of a tourist town, which is not particularly appealing to me. When a bunch of tour buses drove into town, I high-tailed it out. I can understand that people might call Delphi's town "bland," but I certainly I would not have used the term, "character," to describe Arachova. Maybe I didn't spend enough time there to appreciate it.

Interesting! I did look at your TR and noticed your comment. Many people seem to like Arachova as a place to stay to visit Delphi, but I understand your point, too. I'm leaving that stop undecided for now. I saw a couple of youtube videos of Delphi (town) that look better than I imagined, so we might stay there after all.

Thanks for writing back so quickly. It's nice to "see" you again!

I spent a night in Delphi, in October 2018. The town was pleasantly quiet after most of the other tourists visiting just for a day trip, left. The town was pleasantly quiet during daylight hours too. The scenery was marvelously spectacular. Look up the charade with the Delphi Oracle that used to be performed there. I didn't make time for Arachova. I took the bus to and from Delphi. I didn't think to stay in another town and travel from there to Delphi, which I doubt would have made sense taking the bus; yeah I have a valid Michigan Drivers license but I don't rent cars in other countries, or at least I wouldn't rent a car unless public transportation wouldn't do the job good enough. I rented a car twice so far, in Florida and in California.

Thanks, michaelpianko,
I’m now leaning toward staying in Delphi again. Thanks for the description of your stay there.

One thing I realized after doing more research is that parking at Delphi can be difficult and that could prove to be a problem. So staying in the town and leaving our car by the hotel might make more sense.

Delphi was a highlight of our tri to Greece.

I’m looking forward to seeing the site. I’m still trying to decide where to actually stay to visit the site. Many people recommend staying in nearby , a short distance away, rather than in Delphi itself.

Where you stay might depend on whether you rent a car, which hotel looks most appealing, and how far from the site you want to allow yourself to stay. The main built-up part of the modern town of Delphi has one main street and two other semi-main streets that are roughly parallel to it. My hotel wasn't more than a mile from the ancient site. The modern town has few groceries and supplies for sale. In the evening i was there, I ate beans in a sauce and a piece of bread and some olives in a restaurant in the modern town, which was a relaxation of my fear that restaurant food was too high in sodium or fat or otherwise bad for you. The restaurant was nearly deserted. I don't require big crowds of other people to be happy. I am unsure whether it is safer to be in a crowded or uncrowded place. Also if you have time, there is a secondary ancient sight a fraction of a mile away from the main sight where there is a partially reconstructed round temple with columns and a lot of broken columns and remains of buildings scattered on the ground.

i would stay in Delphi. Then you can walk to the site. One part of the site you need a ticket but another that is below the main site you can go in w/o a ticket. So if you come in the afternoon you could go there and see the main site and museum the next morning. Get there early before other tours come.

in Meteora I would try to stay in Kastraki rather then Kalabaka.

Why do you prefer Kastraki? And how did you get around to the monasteries?